Re: Asparagus

If you live in a cold climate your supposed to leave the ferns on to
collect snow for insulation.  In my climate I don't worry about it.  But
it never seems to make a difference when or if I remove the ferns. 
Still plenty of beetles.

(Rene: you don't have to respond to email *and* the mailing list.  That
just means I get your response twice in my inbox.)

Steve  (Maritime...)


Rene M. Lipshires wrote:
> 
> Because of these beetles, I discard the brown ferns in the fall/winter and
> burn them the next spring; rather than using them for mulch on the bed.  I
> read (somewhere) that the beetles may overwinter in the stalks.
> 
> Rene.
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Nick Day <nday@zoo.co.uk>
> To: Rebecca.Neason@foxinternet.net <Rebecca.Neason@foxinternet.net>
> Cc: veggie-list@eskimo.com <veggie-list@eskimo.com>
> Date: Sunday, January 10, 1999 7:37 AM
> Subject: Re: Asparagus
> 
> >Steve wrote...
> >
> >> Also, asparagus beetles can be a problem early in the season.  I
> >> hand-pick the adults but you have to develop the technique as they drop
> >> to the ground or fly away at the slightest disturbance.  The larvae are
> >> like grey slugs, but not slimy.  If hand-picking bothers you, use
> >> rotenone on them.  By June the ladybugs usually are quite activly eating
> >> the larvae and I don't worry about it after that.  (Note that a ladybug
> >> larva looks like a tiny grey dragon.  Don't confuse the ladybug larva
> >> for an asparagus beetle larva and pinch or spray it.  The ladybug larvae
> >> eat the asparagus beetle larvae.)
> >
> >Good advice, Mr. Maritime.
> >
> >I often wonder how many people kill their ladybird larvae, thinking they
> are
> >something nasty. Anyone using a Mac might like to seek out my
> Insecticons --
> >icons of insects, real and imaginary; these include a picture of a ladybird
> >larva. They are on most shareware sites, so you'll find them quite easily
> >from a search engine.
> >
> >Rather than picking off the asparagus beetle larvae, I squash them by hand
> >in situ which is faster.
> >
> >Cheers,
> >
> >Nick
> >
> >
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