Control Grasshoppers Organically
Steve Bridges

Have the grasshoppers started to eat the paint off your car yet? It seems those little buggers are going to be worse this year than last year. Many people think that the boom in their population is due to the mild winter weather we have experienced for the last three years. There is some truth to that. However, the major cause of the exploding grasshopper populations is the three to four years of drought that we've been through. Wet weather allows for the development of disease and an increase in the fungal populations that attack the eggs of the grasshopper. This gives us yet another reason to pray for rain!

The lifecycle of a grasshopper is one year. In the fall, adult grasshoppers begin to lay their eggs. The egg pods, consisting of 20-120 eggs, are deposited ½ inch to two inches beneath the soil surface. There is very little damage caused by winter weather if the soil is not disturbed. Egg hatching begins in late April with the peak period being mid-June. Outbreaks are caused by a hot, dry summer that is followed by a warm and dry autumn. And this is just what we have had for the last three years. It would be expected that this year the grasshoppers will be worse than last year. So what can we do?

Grasshoppers are difficult to control because they are migratory. You could kill them all today and they will move in from somewhere else tomorrow. There are, however, several organic approaches to controlling this pest. The key word here is control. It is impossible to completely eradicate the species from your yard. There is a biological control called Nosema locustae. It is protozoan spore that sells under the brand name of Nolo Bait. It is distributed on a bran flake that you broadcast in your yard. It is target specific to the grasshopper, hurting nothing else. Timing is everything with Nolo Bait. You have to use it when the grasshoppers are in their nymph stage. The ideal time is when they are ¼ long. The spore causes blood poisoning, which brings on death. Dead grasshoppers are eaten by live grasshoppers who are then infected. It can carry through the season this way and even last year to year by over-wintering on an infected egg pod. One pound covers one acre.

Neem oil from the Neem tree in Australia can be used as a repellent. Last year a friend of mine was having a horrible time with the grasshoppers. She basically lived in the middle of an old farm field. She began a weekly spraying of Neem oil. Within one week they were gone and they left her yard alone the rest of the year. It works in several different ways. It is a repellent, a feeding inhibitor, deters egg-laying, and retards growth. It can even be picked up by certain plants as a systemic, which means it is distributed through the plant. You can increase this systemic effect by mixing the Neem oil with a fish emulsion/seaweed blend. Just use the recommended amount per neem and the fish/seaweed mix, per gallon of water. You may have to reapply after three to four weeks.

Pesticidal soaps may also be used. It is the fatty acids in the soaps that make them work. When the soap touches the outer body of the grasshopper it slowly begins to dissolve this outer membrane. This causes dehydration and death. Not pretty, but aren't your tomatoes more important? You need to be careful when using this on your plants. It can do the same thing to your plants that it does to grasshoppers. Test a small portion of the plant first before your treat the whole plant.

An organic repellent can be homemade that is effective. Make a garlic/pepper/orange oil spray. Liquefy two large cloves of garlic with two large habenero peppers in a blender 1/3 full of water. Strain the solids out and add the liquid to one gallon of water. You now have a concentrate. Add ¼ cup of this concentrate and six ounces of orange oil to one gallon of water. Be aware that this is a repellent. You would not want to use this on plants that need pollination by bees. If all else fails, get yourself a cold beverage and a good pellet gun and practice your aim in the garden every evening!

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