A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Food Garden Forum Vegetable Gardening seriously what gets rid of Potato Beetles?!

Again this year I have potato bugs. I heard that in our potato growing county it is impossible for gardeners to not have potato bugs. Last year they found my taters at home and hadn't previously. This year they walked into my potatoes at the field. So I hand squish them every couple days and have killed thousands I think. I ruined 3 pairs of gloves (can't squish with bare hands). I spray every few days with Rotenone/Pyrethrin mix, pretty heavily mixed. Now the larvae are hatching on the one end and for some reason the adults are just wiping out 2 plants in particular on the other end. I have some ideas for next year but for now I am starting to think of not going organic. I have heard they are resistant to sevin now. I am curious what the potato farmers spray. Or maybe I should just spray more Rotenone/Pyrethrin?

I know this is a little late but I've been so busy this summer. I to have fought potato bugs every year too, your story sounds like mine. Tried all the toxic bug dusts/sprays which worked with mediocore success.

Well this winter I read a book by Eliot Coleman and he talked about using a heavy straw mulch around potatoes after they emerge from the ground and how he had not done any long term studies but in his experience so far it almost eliminated the problem from potato bugs. So this year I tried it and so far-knock on wood we haven't had potato bugs . And I'm not doing anything different-fertilizer, new field etc. So I don't know if its to late for this year but straw is easy to get, at the least you have a nice weed mulch. I'm sold on it so far. We grow Kennebec and the Red Pontiac varieties. The tops look great and the Kenny's are flowering like mad so we hope it pays off in a good bounty.

That is great. You must have to move the straw off to put more soil around the plants.
Next year I will dig a deep trench around the area and then put plastic in it and then straw around the potatoes. Hopefully that will work. They can't get over the plastic ditch/moat. I have straw around my sweet potatoes but they are so tiny I don't think the beetles are interested.
I just want my plants to finish flowering and die before they get too eaten up.