well, i found out grasshoppers are among the things eating my morning glory leaves. Hours and hours of reading - many sources said, after the nymph stage nothing can be done. Then, hurrah! Found one book that says hot-pepper spray may repel and molasses may trap! Here I come.
still don't know what is causing leaves to curl.

ellen

How in the world do you trap grasshoppers with molasses?

Please tell.

-nita

I have given up on the grasshoppers, they have totally eaten my broccoli and cauliflower plants. Most everything else they leave alone. Oh, they love asters too.

Nita,
This is what "The Encylopedia of Natural INsect & Disease Control" edited by Roger Yepsen says:

"A few well-placed traps will do much to rid the garden of grasshoppers. Half-fill two-quart mason jars with one part molasses in 10 parts water, and put several where the grasshoppers are at their worst."

ellen

Thanks for the info - do ya think this will trap crickets, too? I have hordes of crickets that make us wear earplugs to bed. Their hideous cacophony echoes off the flagstones and stucco, tripling or quadrupling the sounds into our windows. Maybe that's a different post.

-nita

Something else to try is to invite more birds to your yard. Put up a bird bath, bird feeder, and a bird house.

Here in west-central Arkansas (Zone 7), we are in our third year of a true grasshopper plague--they are more than I and the birds can keep up with. Plain soap (Dawn) spray works for a day or so, but nothing has really helped. After some research I ordered a grasshopper-specific, environmentall safe product called Semaspore Bait from Planet Natural. Unfortunately, we had a very wet spring--rained on literally all my days off--and I never got to put it out. Has anyone had experience with this product? I'm really eager to try it next spring

Praying Mantis prey on hoppers.

Chickens will also clean up the hopper infestation. They may do more damage than the hoppers though since they tend to sample everything growing, flora and fauna, except boxelder bugs.

Hmmm, I miss falling asleep to the sound of crickets. It took so long for me to figure out why I couldn't sleep when I moved away from home. Then it dawned on me...no crickets!! I had never slept in silence before!

I had no idea grasshoppers were so distructive! Learn something new every day!

yes grasshoppers are very destructive. I tried the molasses trap for crickets, this is the 2nd day, none so far.
There is a nemotode which works against grasshoppers. I forget the name, but a search will turn it up. Also I have read in several places that is is *important* to turn the soil in the fall, thus exposing the eggs to cold which will kill them. {Guess that only works in the North!}
From what I've read if they emerge in the Spring it is almost impossible to get rid of them.

-they don't call 'em 'Plague of Locusts' for nothing!


ellen

ellenr: I think the nematode you mentioned for grasshoppers may be the Semaspore Bait I bought from Planet Natural(www.planetnatural.com). Haven't used itdue to a very wet spring and literal impossibility of getting to work in the garden when I needed to; but everything I was able to find out indicated that it is specific for grasshoppers and grasshoppers only--it's a parasite that eats them from within, and then the other grasshoppers cannibalize the dead ones to spread the nematode.

riverrat:
I used the Semspore bait this summer for the first time. According to planet natural, the bait works best when the grasshoppers are very small so early application gets the best results. I had them all sizes and it did help. I plan to use it next spring as well.

Also, according to PN, grasshoppers prefer to lay their eggs in undisturbed ground and it's not likely that they will use a worked garden as a spawing field (although they certainly find their way to the good stuff quickly enough). Therefore, turning your gardens at the end of the season to expose eggs will help to control other pests but probable not grasshoppers.

growitall: glad to hear that the semaspore bait worked for your grasshoppers. My garden is in the middle of what was once an open field (I live in the woods), so I'm hoping that treating the area surrounding the actual garden will help. I also am working on building an orchard, and the grasshoppers totally destroyed one of my baby apple trees--ate the leaves and then chewed into the new bud sites! So I am desperate to get rid of these pests!

Ducks will also eat grasshoppers and will do less damage to your other plants.