Help for "buggy" lettuces

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Permalink Reply by Joy Williams on June 3, 2009 at 5:49am

can you identify the bugs? Are they flea beetles? what exactly are they doing to the plants?

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Permalink Reply by Penelope on June 3, 2009 at 8:16am

If the "bugs" fly, sticky boards available from garden centers may help catch them. Electric bug zappers??

Washing the lettuce in several changes of water in a large bowl with a bit of vinegar or salt in the water may release the 'bugs". I know this works with broccoli and cauliflower when the white butterfly eggs have hatched into "invisible" green caterpillars.

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Permalink Reply by Michelle W. Flannery on June 3, 2009 at 8:28am

I agree with the sticky boards idea. Look in the grocery store isle where fly strips/traps and insecticides are sold. They are clear rectangular peel-peel offs that can be hung in the garden or attached to a stake.

I use a bug zapper just outside the perimeter of my garden area. It significantly diminishes the number of bad bugs that lay eggs on my plants. I highly recommend it if you have a severe bug problem.

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Permalink Reply by Martha Hill on June 3, 2009 at 4:28pm

Lettuce normally likes full sun and moist earth !! Shade could be causing the bugs !! They like it too !! Best thing in your area I would think is to stay with growing a fall crop !! Cooler temps that lettuce loves and not near so many bugs !! But you might try a healthy dusting of baking soda and corn starch 50/50 on the lettuce and on the ground around it !! Some bugs don`t like that !!

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Permalink Reply by Tamra on June 3, 2009 at 4:37pm

When I was a beginning gardener, I panicked at the sight of any bug. I now know that most are harmless, and some even beneficial. Lettuce is usually pest free, except for deer and bunnies. So unless these bugs are killing or eating your greens I would not worry. If you could post a photo or describe them, we could help you determine if they truly are a problem. And we could recommend the correct solution for that particular pest.

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Permalink Reply by Joy Williams on June 3, 2009 at 4:56pm

yes Tamra is right. Can you tell us what the bugs are doing? Are they eating your plants?

And in Phoenix you probably are right to shade them.

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Permalink Reply by Krista on June 11, 2009 at 11:29pm

I can honestly say that I was VERY surprised by the variety and quantity of the bugs. Some were aphid-like bugs, there were a lot of types of beetles, and there were some black-winged, red-winged, and brown flying bugs. There were so many bugs I had never seen in all my years of growing veggies and herbs!

I will try Baking Soda and Cornstarch. I honestly never considered a zapper (true story) so maybe that will work. I will admit that the reason I didn't think of this is that my husband has a pest control business and bugs generally are not a problem around my house. We are also very careful not to spray anywhere near our edible garden plants.

I grew quite a variety of lettuces: amish deer tongue, baby oakleaf, butter, simpson, flame, lolita, etc. I bought a ton of them from an organic website to grow baby-leaf lettuce. I did grow them in fall, but our fall is still quite warm. I will gladly try your suggestions this fall.

THANK YOU ALL!!!!

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Permalink Reply by Gillian on June 12, 2009 at 12:43am

Krista,
what kind of pest control is your husband spraying in the surrounding area? He may be killing off all the beneficial bugs. Maybe try to plant some flowers, (zinnias, cosmos etc) in the area that will attract some beneficial bugs, like bees, butterflies and ladybugs.

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Permalink Reply by Krista on June 19, 2009 at 12:11pm

We do not spray in the backyard at all. We have lots of ladybugs, butterflies, etc. I have flower beds that have butterfly attracting flowers and they do work! We did have bees last year, but in Arizona, many of the bees are Africanized and are very agressive. These bees made a nest behind our fireplace and we did have to exterminate those. We do have the other types of bees visit and those are welcome.

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Permalink Reply by Clarence on June 12, 2009 at 7:37am

Your best bet is to grow when the bugs are not around like fall or early spring. My best lettuce is grown in the spring in our hoop house. I can keep the slugs at bay pretty well but once the earwigs come out in full force I let everything go to seed and start over in the late summer for the fall. In late summer and early fall the plants take a hit from the bugs but once the temps start to drop so to the bugs!

Of course what works here in Michigan may not work in Arizona...

You may have to make a window screen cover for your lettuces. Wood frames would work pretty well. They could be made of 2''x2'' or 1''x2'' framing that would fit over your earth-boxes and be light enough to lift to harvest and tend. Screen would also offer some small sun block that you may need to grow in your AZ summer.

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Permalink Reply by Krista on June 19, 2009 at 12:13pm

Our growing season is early spring and fall in AZ. I have not tried to screen the lettuces in - that's another thing to try out. I grew the lettuces in the greenhouse once, but that does not make them bug-proof. I will also try to screen them in! Thank you!

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