How to Rid Your Garden of Potato Bugs

There are some pests that are good for your garden. But one can be devastating if allowed to remain. Cathy Isom has a few tips about how to rid your garden of Potato Bugs. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours. 

Potato bugs are a common pest in garden beds. Colorado potato beetles, in both adult and larval forms, chew the leaves on garden plants and can defoliate entire crops if you don’t get rid of them quickly.  Potato bugs can also reduce the yield that you have in your garden beds. In some cases, they can kill your entire plants and destroy any potential harvest you might have in your garden.

Since they’re called potato bugs, you might believe that they’re just common in potato plants. They like other host plants in the nightshade family as well, such as:  tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants. Potato bugs are one of the most frustrating pests that you can encounter in your garden.

Most chemical methods won’t work, so it’s important to be active in preventative measures, such as taking a close look at plants daily, planting resistant cultivars, and protecting your plants with a thin netting or row cover.  Potato beetles can also be managed through crop rotation.

I’m Cathy Isom…