Asparagus Beetles-Oh my!
Posted by: TammyAfter patiently, or maybe impatiently, waiting for the time that I could harvest asparagus freely from my patch, I discovered that something else was waiting for my asparagus besides me!
I’ve got the “common” variety as opposed to the “spotted” variety, not that they do anything different except that the spotted variety seems more robust, according to University of R.I. literature. They can cause damage to the newly erupting shoots.
I’m not sure if I was oblivious to their existence last spring or if this is a new invasion. I can tell you that I didn’t remove the old asparagus shoots last fall. Our early fall snow storm threw off my fall clean-up routing and I didn’t think that leaving the dried shoots was a big deal but apparently the larva hang out in the old shoots until spring. I’ll have to be very careful about disposing of the old shoots this fall!
In the meantime, being an organic-type gardener, I spent about 45 minutes with a bowl of soapy water, a keen eye and my fingers tracking down and pinching off the offending critters and drowning them in the water. Yeah, I’m a vicious gardener. I’m drowning the slugs in beer, too!
So, if you’re new to the asparagus world, like myself, make sure you read up on U.R.I.’s asparagus beetle fact sheet, and put your asparagus bed “to bed” nice and clean in the fall!
- Tags: asparagus beetle