Handpicking garden pests - picking off pests as opposed to use chemicals to destroy them

Flower & Garden Magazine, June-July, 1994 by Rhonda Hart

Last Night For Amusement I went grasshopper picking. Maybe I've lived in the boonies a little too long, but it was fun!

Picking individual insects by hand may seem like a slow and tedious means to an end more quickly realized by the use of a chemical insecticide. But where is the fun in that? There is no thrill of the hunt, no battle of wits and wills. And is it really necessary to rely on costly synthetic chemicals to control a handful of bugs here and there? The long-fought battle of man against bug has gotten out of hand. Let's get back to the hands-on approach.

If your garden is anything like mine you are in for a diverse and rewarding hunt. Organic garden plots brim with life, animal as well as plant. The good news is that many of the critters are beneficial insects, and they want to get those "other" bugs as much as you do.

The bad news, of course, is that some garden inhabitants are harmful. If the level of insect damage passes your tolerance level, or if there just seem to be too many of them, here are some tips for catching your limit.

* Hunt in the evening or early morning. Because insects are heat-activated, cooler morning and evening temperatures make them sluggish and more easily caught. Even those spring-coiled grasshopper just sit there and allow the hand of doom to snatch them up. These times are also the best for monitoring slugs and snails as they congregate under boards or garden debris until the dark of night. Under the cover of darkness they, and various other nocturnal nuisances, emerge to pilfer your produce. Surprise sneak thieves like snails and cutworms after hours by spotlighting their activities with a flashlight.

* Don't hunt among wet plants. Moving through wet foliage is a good way to spread plant diseases. If you're hunting in the morning, wait until the dew has evaporated.

* Learn the difference between the good and the bad bugs. It doesn't matter if they're ugly; they may be allies. This distinction is made no easier by the fact that different stages of insects often bear little or no resemblance to the recognizable adults. Our friends the ladybugs, for example, hatch as tiny grubs with alligator-shaped jaws and grow into plump adolescents. They must go through a pupal stage before emerging as cute little spotted red beetles. On the contrary, grasshoppers do hatch out looking just like mini-grasshoppers.

* If you're squeamish, wear gloves. Some gardening enthusiasts don't relish the wriggling, wiggling, scratching, crawly, oftentimes oozy or slimy feel of the prey in hand. There are some insects that are very unpleasant to touch, most notably blister beetles, so named because of caustic secretions that can chemically burn the skin.

* Unless you bag a record-size bug, chances are you won't be terribly concerned about preserving your catch. Kill the insects by squashing them between your fingers as you work. A quick, reliable alternative is to half-fill a bucket with soapy water. Drop the bugs in the solution and they will quickly drown. For a more portable version of this method, carry a water-filled jar.

* Lots of insects, from those delectable grasshoppers to beetles and fat, naked grubs, are very appealing to barnyard birds and good for them too. Chickens, ducks, geese and other fowl will greedily down grubs as long as they are still squirming and bare. They tend to turn their beaks up, however, at hairy or bristly food. If your catch is destined to become poultry feed, you'll want to do your hunting with a container that can be opened and closed easily. Fumbling with a lid while your handful of grasshoppers struggles and squirms is no fun, and you'll need to keep these pests alive until feeding time.

* Dead bugs make good compost. In fact, some gardeners bury those high-nitrogen bodies beneath trees or bushes so they may at least redeem themselves as they decompose.

Here are a few more helpful tips regarding specific pests:

Grasshoppers. I figure I can catch most any grasshopper within 10 jumps. That assumes I can keep track of him that long. After eight or 10 leaps they lose stamina. Not surprisingly, so do I, which is why I now hunt them only in the evening. Towards dusk, as if by some mutually agreed-upon pact, every grasshopper in the garden looks for a high spot to call it a night. In a breakout year there will be hordes of 'hoppers, clinging en masse to the tops of trellises, bean poles, fence posts and corn stalks. It's almost too easy. One has only to amble down the rows, plucking grasshopper after grasshopper from its roost.

Japanese beetles. These creepy beetles must really believe in togetherness. It seems they do everything in large groups. You can pick them off nearly every green growing thing in the yard in the evening. Rather than stay out all night pinching these pests, there is a handy shortcut. Spread a sheet (or sheets of newspaper) under an infested plant. Grab a limb and shake it. The sleepy beetles tumble to the ground and are easily collected by folding up the sheet. This tactic is also useful for other beetles and weevils.