Whether in planters, raised beds or outdoors - flea beetles are never welcome. Instead of chemicals, the pests can be effectively combated with one or the other home remedy.

In a nutshell

  • Fleas infest a wide variety of plants and eat countless holes in the leaves
  • natural tools are usually sufficient to drive away the pests
  • the flea disdains well-weeded and loosened beds

Means against flea beetles

The simplest solution would certainly be to fight flea beetles with chemical preparations. However, in doing so, you also affect countless other, often even useful, animals in the garden. It is therefore better to use household remedies that have been proven to be effective.

Deterrent tillage

It is best, of course, if the flea beetles do not settle in the home garden in the first place. Since the animals love heavy, uncultivated soil and dry, dark, sheltered hiding places, a few simple measures can be used to create an uninviting environment:

  • Pull weeds to clear hiding spots
  • Chop soil regularly
  • Loosen the soil with sand and mulch
  • water regularly

Notice: Also work on unplanted beds and garden areas, as the fleas will also settle here if there are enough host plants in the area.

Lure plants as a distraction

While attractants won't repel or eliminate the animals, you can place plants between your actual vegetable crops that will distract the fleas and lure them away from the plants you want to protect. It is important that these attractants are larger than the protégés and ideally already flower when the plants to be protected are still small and developing.

Flea beetles infest a plant.

Protection nets against the vermin

Immediately after planting the seedlings, an effective barrier against the flea beetle can be set up with close-meshed protective nets. It is important that the nets are close to the ground on all sides in order to block this path as well.

Sud and liquid manure

Instead of classic sprays, the fleas cannot be killed with a decoction or liquid manure, but they can be driven away very effectively.

For a broth, boil onions or garlic with water, using around a liter of water per onion or clove of garlic. After cooling, the broth can be sprayed directly onto the affected plants.

Wormwood, tansy or stinging nettles, on the other hand, can be processed into liquid manure, which is used in the same way:

  • Add 1 kilogram of chopped plant mass to 10 liters
  • cover with an air-permeable cloth
  • stir occasionally

Fermentation is complete when no more foam forms while stirring. Now the liquid manure can be strained and used. The resulting green matter can in turn be used for mulching around infested plants.

1 kilogram of stinging nettles, chopped up, to 10 liters of water - and the pest-repellent brew is ready.

Attention: Manure in particular is associated with intensive odor formation. Therefore, use tools such as sticks or other disposable utensils for stirring and mixing.

Soft soap against the vermin

Probably the best-known means of combating all kinds of pests is soft soap. And it also helps reliably against the ground flea. Mix a soap solution with a liter of water and a generous squirt of soft soap and spray directly onto the infested plants.

Notice: Soapy water is capable of burning plants in intense sunlight. Therefore, use this home remedy preferably in the evening.

pollinate

A useful tool, with which you can not fight the flea beetles, but with which you can taint the selected plants, are various substances for pollination:

  • rye flour
  • algae lime
  • rock flour

Make sure to use the powders in dry weather and dust all surfaces intensively. This makes the plant unattractive and henceforth avoided. However, you have to repeat the procedure after rain, as the various flours are quickly washed away.

Rye flour can be used to ward off flea beetles. It makes the plant unattractive to pests.

predators of pests

It is particularly convenient for you as a gardener if the fleas are eliminated from their natural enemies. Which includes:

  • Hedgehog
  • shrews
  • parasitic wasps

Normally, all of these animals are present in functioning gardens anyway. If necessary, parasitic wasps can be purchased as eggs and positioned in the garden.

Sticky traps - better than poison

If an infestation gets out of hand, even the most effective natural remedies can reach their limits. In this case, there is often nothing left but to use chemicals to fight flea beetles. Here, however, you should always give sticky traps with pheromone attractants preference over sprays. Because they have a specific effect on the flea and do not cover the entire fauna with a deadly cloud.

frequently asked Questions

Is it true that spinach deters flea beetles?

In fact, a beetle does not dare to touch spinach, so old leaves, for example, can be used as mulch around plants to be protected. However, you should definitely combine this measure with a snail fence, since snails, unlike fleas, love spinach.

Which plants are suitable as attractants?

Radish is used particularly often because it is very attractive to fleas and is also very robust and durable in the event of an infestation.

Do mixed cultures work against flea beetles?

Mixed cultures can help control rapid spread throughout the garden. However, the preferred plants are still affected. A mixed culture does not work in this respect.

Category:

Garden pests