Okra leaf, showing the damage caused by striped blister beetles in just a few hours. This leaf was about 10 inches across.
Surprisingly, it wasn't as bad as I had feared. The only plants that showed any significant damage were the okra plants, and the worst of that was at the far end of the row, where I had not gone with my bucket and stick. So I was somewhat hopeful as I left for work. Perhaps the worst was over, and the situation was now under control.
However, around noon, I got an urgent message from home. The invaders were back, and this time they weren't confined to the okra row. Two of the Rutgers tomatoes were already being stripped. They were munching the foliage on the potatoes and the corn. They were starting to congregate on the pepper plants. "If we don't do something quick, we're not going to have a garden!" the message said.
How were we going to stop them? Of course - ask The Google! So I did. The Google had heard of the striped blister beetles before, and had lots of suggestions about how to control them. The year before we had used a spray, but I've tried very hard to avoid dusts and sprays. The most promising solution seemed to be diatomaceous earth. DE, as it is called, is really not "earth." It is the fossilized remains of trillions of tiny creatures called diatoms. The theory behind using it for insect control is that the sharp edges of the silica particles puncture the exoskeleton of the insects who come in contact with it. This, in turn, causes the insect to become dehydrated and to eventually die.
While DE is a non-selective method of control (any insect that comes in contact with it could be killed), it doesn't last in the environment like some of the garden pesticides. I decided it was worth a try, and made a last-minute stop at Blossomberry Nursery on my way home to purchase a bag of it. Luckily, the nursery had one small bag left.
When I got home I went on the offensive. I sprinkled the DE on top of the beetles hanging from the pepper plants and watched to see how they reacted. Would they clutch their front legs to their abdomen and cry out "This is the big one! You hear that, Elizabeth? I'm coming to join ya, honey!"
If that was my expectation, I was to be sorely disappointed. The DE seemed to have no effect on the beetles, other than causing them to run for cover. I could almost see them looking up at me, laughing, and saying to each other, "Look! It's snowing! Wheeeeeee!" as they ran down the stems and over into the green beans. Well, perhaps it just takes a while for them to succumb to the dehydration. I walked around the entire garden and spread the stuff on and around as many plants as I could. I emptied the entire 4 lb bag, and lamented that the nursery hadn't had a bigger one. Then I went inside to leave the DE to its dirty work.
The sun set, and it was soon pitch dark out. I took the flashlight out to look at the carnage - I wanted to see their hateful destructive little bodies littering the ground where the DE had sucked the life out of them. Click. I shined the light on the ground. Where were the carcasses? I shined the light up on the pepper plants. NO!!!! It couldn't be true! The beetles were back, and the leaves were no longer smooth and oblong. They looked more like the leaves on a pin oak, with deep lobes all around them. The beetles didn't appear to be the least bit ill.
I think it was at that moment that I had my epiphany. While DE may be an effective method of insect control, it simply isn't the answer to an acute attack like the blister beetles were carrying out on our garden. "It is like putting a band aid on a severed artery," I thought. "Yes, you might stop bleeding, but it might be because you ran out of blood." A control method that takes five days to work, I thought, is also going to give the invaders five days to eat. By that time, everything in the garden would be decimated.
Sadly, I went back inside and picked up the ShopVac to once again fight the beetles who had found their way into the house. As I vacuumed over the washing machine, I saw, sitting at the very end of the shelf, an old, old bag of Bug-B-Gone dust. I turned off the vacuum and reached up to get the bag. It was almost empty, and the seal had come unsealed. There was no telling how long it had set there open. But I supposed it was worth a try anyway. If it didn't work, well, we were no worse off than we were right now. If it did, the peppers might be saved.
Back at the garden, I shined the flashlight on the first pepper plant. I took at scoop of the dust and scattered it over the beetles. This wasn't like the other snow. This wasn't fun. The beetles were angry. They began to swarm frantically around on the plant and began dropping off onto the ground. I worked my way down the row, sprinkling the poison snow onto and around each plant. That was all the bag had - just enough to treat the peppers.
What a wonderful sight I saw when I shined the light on that first plant. The beetles were staggering around the base of the plant. They were not well, not well at all. I watched for a while, as their legs gave out and they fell onto their sides, legs twitching convulsively.
It had worked.
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