This bacterium is also used on farms and large-scale crop industries, so it’s a proven method. Make sure it’s pure neem and opt for the organic formulas only- especially because you’ll be applying it to a vegetable plant. Asparagus damage can be seen and the vegetable may grow to “hooked” or “twisted” rather than straight. Of course, you can use anything really (BBQ brush, sink scrubber, toilet brush, sponge, etc.). The surefire way to break the beetle cycle is to just harvest early for one season. You should position a container filled with soap water below so they’ll fall into it and drown to kill them quickly. You can differentiate them because the spotted asparagus beetle larvae are completely orange, while the common asparagus beetle has visible limbs with a silver or green coloration. Just make sure that you rinse off beetles and eggs and cook to the right temperature to kill any remaining ones. Then go out and manually remove them by hand. Put on some garden gloves and wear some long sleeves. Pesticides kill beneficial predators and parasites, so be careful if you decide to use them. The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer. I started off with a nasty fly problem, and was very interested in finding ways to get rid of them without having to use harmful chemicals and pesticides. The adult beetles can fly and are … Typically, it’ll be diluted in water and made into a spray, which you’ll spray on your asparagus. There are some easy techniques to tell if you have asparagus beetle infestations on your edibles. Are you noticing eggs, wilted, twisted, or damaged foliage? Well, that’s all the tips I have for you. Similar to chickens, you can attract birds to your garden to help clean up the beetles. 10% or more of your plants have either species of adult asparagus beetles. After a couple weeks of intense feeding, they fall to the grou… The common asparagus beetle is blue or black with a metallic luster, yet should be on the only beetle-like pest on asparagus heads. I created this site to offer my 8 years of natural pest control experience to the public. The larvae will eat the spear tip. A hose is a fast, easy way to minimize their numbers without having to touch them. This is a primary attractant that’ll bring a ton of different bugs out your yard like jumping spiders, click beetles, and soldier beetles. Hint: Raising chickens is easy and they practically raise themselves. Then you probably have some degree of these brightly-colored beetles (who have no agenda other than to eat up your harvest!) The adults will eat the same thing, but prefer asparagus with some hefty leaves also. Handpicking, especially in small gardens, can be effective. Asparagus beetles are easy to tell apart from other beetles like the ones you find on your fig tree, blackberry plant, or even the June bugs. The larvae move to the ferns to start feeding. Asparagus beetles have a similar life cycle similar to any other beetle. How to get rid of asparagus beetles naturally, Apply bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) on your veggies. The spears will also get chewed up and covered with eggs which reduce the marketability of the plant. Your email address will not be published. They’ll naturally forage and seek out small insects to eat. Check each time you remove the beetles because the adults may lay eggs overnight and you’ll see a bunch of them … They overwinter and will stay hidden until spring when the temperatures pick up again. Chickens are one of the best natural foragers of all time. The most important natural enemy of common asparagus beetle is a tiny parasitic wasp (Tetrastichus asparagi) that attacks the egg stage. Cleaning up your garden also stops other bugs from establishing a nest or colony in your yard. Handpicking is less practical in large gardens. This is because the spears tend to grow faster with abundant plant food. If you see a common beetle, you should take action. They mainly feed on just the plant seeds rather than the actual fruiting portion. The spotted asparagus beetle has exactly 12 black spots on its hard shell with an orange to reddish coloration. The asparagus beetle has a few different aliases. And here’s one to see different techniques you can utilize to attract more birds. Drop them into the bucket of soapy water. Chicken is a common hobby of many enthusiasts and there are plenty of online forums you can read to see how to raise them prosperity. Asparagus beetle eggs laid on the tips of the spears. In simpler terms, the larvae and nymphs will eat the asparagus spears. Be patient and use different DIY home remedies to see what works for you. The spotted beetle hatches later than the common beetle. Its back also has a red border. If you find a lot of asparagus beetles in your garden you may want to use a pesticide. Numerous eggs of the common asparagus beetle laid on the spears can make the asparagus unmarketable. You should have some knowledge about how to control, manage, and eliminate beetles from eating up your asparagus. You should consider getting a pair of chickens just for the natural “janitorial” cleanup they can provide your yard. Sound good? Required fields are marked *. It’ll kill them after a few minutes. This will kill and eliminate the adults from continually feeding off of those plants, which will prevent future beetle infestations. As for human consumption, you need to remove all the eggs before using the edible portions. How to Get Rid of Cockroaches Naturally (Ultimate Guide), How to Get Rid of Carpenter Ants Naturally (Ultimate Guide), How to Get Rid of Bats Naturally (Little & Big Brown…, How to Get Rid of Mealybugs Naturally (Ultimate Guide). Let’s get your asparagus growing straight, not hooked. There are a ton of different brands available out there, but this is generally safer than using straight up poisons. Asparagus beetles lay eggs on spears during harvest (A), which reduces spear quality. They are wrinkled, 1/3 inch in length, and olive-green to gray with black heads and legs (Figure 3). You’ll see these beetles come out during the warmer months. It is especially important that the pesticide is labeled for use on asparagus or on vegetables. The beetles lay many dark brown, oval-shaped eggs in rows on the spears, ferns or flower buds of asparagus plants. The spotted asparagus beetle larvae feed on asparagus berries and do not affect the health of the plant. After harvest during the fern stage, larvae (B) hatch from eggs, … Use multiple ones at the same time for a higher success rate. But if you see a spotted one, you have less to worry about. https://www.gardengatemagazine.com/articles/web-extras/all/50 And don’t forget the free-range natural eggs you’ll harvest. The larvae move to the ferns to start feeding. eating up your plant! They will also eat squash bugsand other garden predators. Be sure to observe the number of days between pesticide application and when you can harvest the asparagus. You should wipe off the eggs before cooking and consuming them. Adults of both types overwinter in plant debris and garden trash. Excess nutrients in the soil that go unused by your plants will bring more bugs to your garden that feed off these nutrients such as crane flies and cactus bugs. Adults and larvae will be different in appearance. Turns out, there are a ton of DIY home remedies you can do for free (or damn close to free) without having to spend money on expensive and dangerous chemicals. The last manual method is to use a plant brush. But if you have a lot of beetles crawling all over your asparagus, you’ll want to resort to a more extreme approach. Read some reviews online, reach out to a few companies, and get a few quotes. Common asparagus beetle larvae are light gray with a black head. About a week later, adults emerge to start another generation, feeding on the ferns for the rest of the growing season. Jeffrey Hahn, Extension entomologist and Suzanne Wold-Burkness, College of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resource Sciences. As you probably know, the beetles are there because they want to eat up your asparagus plant. They’re definitely not the masters of camouflage. 50 to 75% of the plants have common asparagus beetle larvae. The asparagus beetle larvae, pupae or grubs are equally dangerous to the plants easting away at the foliage and spears. Dra… Removing plant residue in and around asparagus makes it difficult for adult beetles to survive through the winter. They emerge in May and June and lay elongate black eggs that are attached by one end to the asparagus spears and foliage. It is better to spray very early in the morning or in the evening when the bees are not gathering nectar or pollen as actively. This one looks very similar to a ladybug, with the spotted pattern on the back wing covers. This allows them to have additional feeding sources and lets them breed and deposit eggs as it shows the plant is mature enough to handle another generation of beetles. Shoots of A. officinalis (phenological stage: 10% of fruits have reached final size, corresponding to BBCH71 according to Hack et al. Common Asparagus Beetle Eggs on Spear Tip of Asparagus (Author–Raymond Cloyd, KSU) Larvae hatch from eggs after about a week, migrate onto the ferns, and commence feeding. The number of larvae and adults eating up your plant can inflict heavy damage and kill your harvest. If you keep your yard clean and free of debris, you minimize the shelter provided for them to continue their lifecycle. Since they overwinter, the cold season doesn’t kill them. If you harvest on time, rather than waiting until it’s overripe, this will help minimize pests from eating it. If you don’t have a TON of beetles on your veggies, then simple DIY organic control methods (like manually picking them off) can work. Adults appear in gardens just as the asparagus spears are coming out of the soil in spring. As they feed, they’ll continue to grow and develop a voracious appetite for the plant. If you have a pest problem that’s not covered here, feel free to contact me and let me know. Just turn the nozzle setting to “jet” or “stream” if you have an adjustable nozzle (or just do the old cover-up-the-outlet-with-your-thumb trick) and blast off the bugs. This also depends on the type of beetle you’re dealing with. (a) Plants and insects. There will be scars on your plants with damaged portions that are easily seen. All rights reserved. You can purchase Bt from online retailers. They also have a black head rather than the orange color. Then they come back to their nest to roost at night. Lacewings and ladybugs find asparagus beetles delicious! Similar to any other beetle, they prefer hotter temperatures and emerge when the asparagus spears are visible. These wasps parasitize asparagus beetle eggs (the wasp larvae live and feed inside the beetle eggs). Obviously, this only works for small beetle infestations. Moisture also attracts bugs to the plant. Regardless, try these out and see if they help get rid of the pests. Larva – The larvae of both species are plump, humpbacked, wrinkled, sluggish, and about 9 mm long when fully grown. The early harvested asparagus can still be eaten. But the larvae are just as destructive and have a completely different physical appearance compared to the adults. These spotted ones only eat the berries of the plant and aren’t considered to be nearly as harmful as the common beetle. This is usually between April and May. The best time to check for asparagus beetles is in the afternoon when they are most active. When it comes to frozen or canned asparagus, the maximum level of contamination is "10% by count of spears or pieces {that} are infested with 6 or more attached asparagus beetle eggs … Then let it sit on the plant overnight. Carbaryl (effective for about one to two weeks), Pyrethroids, including permethrin, lambda cyhalothrin and cyfluthrin (effective for two to three weeks). Are you growing asparagus? So, you have asparagus beetles eating your next harvest. But the common asparagus beetle needs to be controlled quickly as they’re the baddest of the bunch. Note that some people and pets may be sensitive to neem, and plants can be harmed if too much is sprayed. 1992) with attached eggs of the common Asparagus beetle, C. asparagi, were collected in the field of the Botanical Garden of the University of Hohenheim (Stuttgart-Hohenheim, Germany) and kept in Petri dishes with food plant and … Leave these beneficial insects alone and they can reduce the number of beetles eating your asparagus. They have bordered elytra with a noticeable pattern on their covers. Repeat this whenever you’re outside watering your plants. The stream will remove them quite easily. Common asparagus beetle eggs. Bright red, cream and dark blue coloured beetles, oval shaped and about 1cm long. Photos by Debbie Roos, Agricultural Extension Agent. They will be feeding or laying eggs on asparagus spears and fronds. This annoying insect is about half a centimeter long and is a metallic bluish-black color with white or yellow spots on its back. After a week or so, the larvae will hatch and start to feed immediately. Other signs of beetles on your asparagus: Asparagus beetles can be difficult to get rid of because of their sheer numbers. Use the brush and brush your asparagus plant to quickly remove the beetles. If you have a large number of larvae, the asparagus will appear withered or worn with visible plant damage. The most common symptom is the twisting of the asparagus head, which results in your spear becoming “hooked” and curving backward in a U-shape. Even if bees do not pollinate asparagus, they sometimes visit asparagus during bloom. How to Get Rid Asparagus Beetles - Dengarden - Home and Garden Your email address will not be published. Asparagus common beetles only feed on asparagus as their sole host plant. The asparagus will grow along with the larvae and this slowly moves the larvae up the plant. Following the extreme feeding from the larvae, this can result in damaged asparagus spears. They also hide in the trash and waste bins, compost bins, and other organic matter. This is effective against beetle anatomy and used for the majority of bug killers. Get a bucket of soap water (a few drops of dish detergent and a liter of water). Remove the dark brown eggs from the spears. They feed for about two weeks … While it may not be the most pleasant way to pull these beetles off your plants, you can use a variety of manual methods to eliminate them. So then I created this site to share everything I’ve learned over the years (and continuing to learn)- natural solutions that are proven to work against the bug that’s bugging you! The adults will then emerge about two weeks later. © Do this daily when the beetles are out and about. The first type is the common asparagus beetle, which is believed to have European origins. Did you get rid of the beetles on your asparagus? You can also use carbonates, spinetoram, and spinosad. There are a lot of different types of predators that eat beetles: There’s enough information online for you to get a full list of beetle-eating predators. When you see eggs deposited in neat rows on the tip of the plant, this is a sure sign you have common beetles. A hose can be an effective tool to easily remove the beetles from your plants. They drop to the soil and will complete pupation within a week. This is effective because you’re basically removing dozens of beetles at once and preventing the future generations from hatching. Neem oil can be used as a beetle spray and repellent. They come out when the spears of your asparagus grow out. But if you come across dozens of eggs just waiting to watch on your spears, then you should act quickly. When you’re out of ideas or you don’t know what you’re doing, contact a local pest control company. The orange larvae feed on the berries of the asparagus. Their bright orange marking makes them stand out and easy to spot, even on their host plant. Once the larvae drop off the plant (because of you or an external force), they usually can’t climb back onto the asparagus to continue and feed. A brush or garden hose is especially useful against getting rid of beetle larvae. The larvae of both species are slug-like with visible heads and legs. Asparagus beetles have a distinct appearance with their striking colors and warning patterns. They vary in color and size depending on the species and local environmental conditions. 20% or more of spears have dark brown, oval-shaped eggs on them. The eggs hatch within a week. The beetle eggs look like tiny silver to brown eggs that are deposited on the spears of your asparagus. The beetle eggs look like tiny silver to brown eggs that are deposited on the spears of your asparagus. Although neem is organic by nature, you should still wash your edibles thoroughly before cooking and eating. Simply removing them will diminish their numbers rapidly and if you repeat the process daily, you’ll be making significant reductions in overall beetle populations. Always get something natural or organic because if you’re spraying it on asparagus, you definitely don’t want to consume it. Eggs are usually found in groups of 3 to 8 oriented in a row and attached by one end to the host plant. Use a magnifying glass for a closer look. With proper usage, Bt can be a quick, affordable, and effective way to control and eradicate beetles on your asparagus. The orange-spotted beetle is readily seen and can be noted as eating the leaves of mature asparagus plants. Bacillus thuringiensis ( Bt ) on your asparagus, the larvae will eat the asparagus and a... 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