Re: [gardeners] Re:'hopper deterrents
Martha Brown (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Fri, 5 Feb 1999 12:31:41 -0600
Allen;
Do you have bird feeders? I had a serious hopper problem. I have even
had them eat onions right out of the ground leaving only the papery shell
and roots. I began feeding the birds and making sure there was always
water for them by placing a stock tank heater in the pond. The first year
I noticed a decline in hoppers with less every year since. We live in the
middle of grass pastures so we will never totally eliminate them from
coming in from the pastures but the birds definitely have earned their
keep.
I spend less each year on bird feed than I was spending on pesticides.
Martha
M Brown
NW Oklahoma, USA
USDA Zone 6b, Sunset Zone 35
----------
: From: Allen and Judy Merten <jbmerten@swbell.net>
: To: gardeners@globalgarden.com
: Subject: Re: [gardeners] Re:'hopper deterents
: Date: Friday, February 05, 1999 12:22 AM
:
: Hi,
: Thanks for the tip. I will do just about anything I can to cut down
on the
: 'hoppers.
: Allen
: Bastrop Co.,Tx
: Zone 8
:
: bsk wrote:
:
: > Allen if you have the ability to do it, try to water well around your
yard and
: > garden areas, even the grass. I was doing some look - ups about
grasshoppers
: > last year for our Oklahoma herd of green hoppers. The research said
that if the
: > moisture level is high enough in the soil that it will make the hopper
eggs go
: > bad before they even hatch! That is why when it is dry you get so many
of the
: > monsters! So it looks like even though you have a mild winter if you
can keep
: > some steady moisture in the ground it does help deter the green
meanies. Now if
: > we just new how much moisture that is would help out!.
: >
: > >The earthy smell of the plowed garden has gotten me all excited.
: >
: > Oh my! Do you think we can bottle this and use it for Valentines
Day
: > excitement for my husband?
: >
: > bsk (central Oklahoma)
: > zone 7a
: > ---------------------------------------------------------
: >
: > > I did find something today that I think will confirm my
suspicions about
: > > the lack of cold weather equaling a bad insect season. I found a
newly
: > > hatched grasshopper. Last year during the drought we had a plague of
: > > grasshoppers. I figured that unless we had some hard freezes this
winter the
: > > large population of grasshoppers from last year would also mean a
larger
: > > number of grasshopper eggs. No freeze equals no winter kill. Bad
news. I
: > > don't recall seeing baby grasshoppers in Feb. in a long time.
: > > I have read that ducks are good grasshopper predators. I think
I'll try
: > > some ducks for insect control.
: > > Allen
: > > Bastrop Co.,Tx
:
:
: