Kill the Grasshoppers

July 9, 2008 9:14 PM

How do i kill grasshoppers?

They keep eating everything. I've had to barricade some plants within water walls. They even ate my native flowers. I live in Flagstaff, AZ.

I've tried Nola Bait, pesticides and other organic measures. Still they keep coming.

help!

posted by stephmoto to home & garden (6 comments total)

Grieve for your lost greenery while waiting for the plague to pass. In the meantime, plant lots of native shrubs to create habitats for your local insect-eating bird species.
posted by flabdablet at 10:26 PM on July 9, 2008

My cats take care of them for me. Fun for my cats, and good for my garden.
posted by Asparagirl at 10:48 PM on July 9, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Catch them, and then eat them! Save the world while you are at it!

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/10/magazine/10wwln-essay-t.html
posted by zackola at 4:58 AM on July 10, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Throw an old blanket down on the ground. They will jump on it and get stuck. Then you use zackola's suggestion.
posted by bricoleur at 6:12 AM on July 10, 2008

The gardener Elliot Coleman would say that you are not suffering from an excess of grasshoppers, you have a deficiency of geese. A friend of mine keeps his vineyard (~3/4 acre) free of grasshoppers with the help of a single goose named theo. He eats about a grasshopper a minute all day, every day.

The downside is that they're cantankerous bastards. I don't have recommendations for where to purchase a goose in your neck of the woods but I'd check craigslist and local feed stores.
posted by stet at 8:29 AM on July 10, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Gallon or quart jar half-filled with water + sugar syrup. Wire mesh shaped into a cone with a hole at the tip inserted into the mouth of the jar.

The Grasshoppers check in, but they don't check out.

Grasshoppers are attracted to yellow, I've heard, so you might add some food coloring. We never did. The jars filled up just fine on their own.
posted by notyou at 9:17 AM on July 10, 2008