Flea Beetles

spooney7

Hi all!
I was hoping to try growing some veg in our garden this summer, but I’m needing some advice. We’d be planting mostly in containers, but the garden has 2 beds built into the patio. I wanted to use these to plant potatoes and swede, but after clearing out a lot of the weeds from one of them, I found that the soil seems to be infested with flea beetles.
I was just wondering what is the best thing to do with the beds now? Should I empty all the soil out and try to flush it clean? Or is there a soil treatment I could use?
Thanks in advance

Farway

Flea beetles tend to stick to chomping brassica type stuff, so planting spuds should be fine, I think swedes would be susceptible, maybe consider an alternative vegetable in that spot? Or as RHS advise, grow them quickly to outgrow the beetles

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=510

spooney7

Farway said:

Flea beetles tend to stick to chomping brassica type stuff, so planting spuds should be fine, I think swedes would be susceptible, maybe consider an alternative vegetable in that spot? Or as RHS advise, grow them quickly to outgrow the beetles

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=510

Thank you

I think I’ll stick to potatoes for both beds and save the swedes for next year, maybe we can build a separate raised bed. I’m just hoping to get something to grow, it’s my first time gardening. But I’m most excited about the electric daisy seeds I ordered, they sound so interesting!

Justagardener

Grow radish, flea beetle love radish leaves and use sticky yellow traps to start breaking the cycle. Always try and grow what you want, don't let the pests dictate your crops. 

spooney7

Thank you! I actually have ordered radish seeds along with everything else, so I’ll chuck some in there and see how they do. Just getting impatient waiting for it to arrive now.

Mojisola

spooney7 said:

I think I’ll stick to potatoes for both beds and save the swedes for next year, maybe we can build a separate raised bed. I’m just hoping to get something to grow, it’s my first time gardening. But I’m most excited about the electric daisy seeds I ordered, they sound so interesting!

If there is tasty food nearby, the pests will move to the new bed.  Work on reducing the population now.

"Seedlings are especially vulnerable to attack, so protect them by waiting until they’re a good size before planting out. Exploit the beetles’ habit of jumping and catch them with a sticky trap. Coat a piece of card with grease, such as insect barrier glue, leaving a clean strip along one edge. Brush the clean edge of the card over the top of your plants – when the beetles hop into the air they’ll stick to the grease. Repeat as necessary." -  from www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/solve-problems/flea-beetle/