flea beetles

Jennie Lee tulipcreek at dixie-net.com
Tue Mar 4 16:45:48 EST 2008


Hi all -
	I need some advice about flea beetles. I lost a lot of 
beautiful greens last year to these guys so I've been really diligent 
this year about keeping row covers on all my brassicas and arugula - 
I put them on right after seeding and they've been on ever since. 
However, there are some flea beetles under my row covers - not a ton 
of them but enough to riddle all my little greens - particularly the 
Asian greens - with holes. My Organic Gardener's Handbook of Natural 
Insect and Disease Control says that I should leave the row covers on 
and the adults that have taken up residence underneath them will 
eventually die off, leaving my mizuna to continue growing¨unriddled.
	What I'd like to know is - how likely is this to happen 
really? I'm interested in hearing particularly from Southern 
gardeners (I'm in north Mississippi, zone 7) as I find my insect 
experiences often radically different (i.e. more vicious) from the 
way they're described in the books. I tried last year to avoid peak 
populations by staggering my plantings of susceptible plants but 
seemed to have peak populations pretty consistently into late June. 
And by then, its fairly hot and dry here to be starting leafy green 
things. Should I stop fighting Mother Nature and just give up on 
spring planted brassicas? They grow beautifully here in the fall, 
untouched by any insects.
	Any observations or experiences would be greatly appreciated -
Jennie Lee
Oxford, MS
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