Go Away Grasshopper

Posted by Dionne Victor

One Homegrown listener has had it with the grasshoppers who seem to love vegetables just as much as she does.  She's noticed that they've taken more than a bite out of what's in her veggie garden.  They've also taken it upon themselves to eat leaves, parts of her flowering boxes and even foliage.  The caller who's had enough called into Tuesday's Homegrown to get some advice from Andrew and Tony on how to get rid of her hopping garden pest.

There's only one thing, grasshoppers are a pretty hard pest to rid your garden of, but the caller could start with the protozoan Nosema locustae, which is used as a bait and sold under the names NoLo Bait or Semaspore.

These baits work best with young grasshoppers and it's slow acting, it could take up to four weeks.  Since these baits are perishable and have expiration dates, they have to be refrigerated. For more information about grasshoppers or ways to rid your garden or small yard of them go to the Colorado State University Extension here.