Colorado has its fair share of fruit and vegetable pests, and they’re not shy about wrecking your harvest. If you’re tired of losing ground in your garden to these insects, it might be time to get a better game plan. Here are the most common pests and how to manage them.
1. Colorado Potato Beetle
These yellow-orange bugs with bold black stripes have a serious appetite for potatoes, tomatoes, and eggplants. Left unchecked, they’ll chew your leaves down to stubs. To help keep them away, rotate your crops each season, and pick the little troublemakers off by hand when possible. Use targeted pesticide treatments to keep the population in check before they multiply and become much harder to eliminate.
2. Grasshoppers
Grasshoppers love Colorado’s dry, sunny summers, and they show their appreciation by chomping through grains, alfalfa, and the leafy parts of vegetables like it’s a buffet. They are fairly predictable, however, and therefore somewhat easier to get a handle on. Since their numbers explode when it’s hot and dry, early intervention will always be your best bet.
Start with baiting in the early season before the nymphs grow into their mature form. Encouraging natural predators like birds and beneficial insects can also help keep the hopping horde in check. The best part of these natural management techniques is that you can effectively keep your crops safe without using pesticides.
3. Aphids
Aphids might be tiny, but they’re relentless—especially in Colorado’s vegetable patches and orchards. Green peach aphids, melon aphids, and potato aphids are just a few of the freeloaders you’ll find on your plants. They drain sap, leave behind sticky residue, and carry viruses that can ruin your crop before you get a single harvest. The good news is that they’re soft-bodied and pretty easy to manage. Insecticidal soap does the trick, and ladybugs love munching on them like popcorn. Keep an eye out early and often—aphid populations grow fast, and they don’t wait for an invitation.
4. Cutworms
Cutworms are sneaky little bugs that do their damage under cover of darkness. These plump, grayish caterpillars like to hang out just below the soil surface and chomp through stems like it’s their job. They love going after corn, beans, and lettuce, and you usually won’t notice the damage until your young plants are lying flat in the dirt. One way to make life harder for them is to till your soil before planting to disturb their cozy underground hideouts. Barrier collars around seedlings work like mini shields, and if you catch them in the act, pesticide treatments can stop the destruction before it spreads.
5. Alfalfa Weevil
Alfalfa weevils have a real taste for hay fields—they won’t pester the average gardener, but can give headaches to the rancher. Their larvae chew up alfalfa leaves like there’s no tomorrow, which tanks both your yield and the overall quality of the crop. One solid move is to time your harvest before the infestation gets out of hand. If you notice their presence growing significantly and it’s still too early for harvest, a well-timed insecticide application should do the trick to cull them back.
6. Spider Mites
Spider mites love Colorado summers almost as much as we do—hot, dry, and perfect for multiplying. These tiny pests can cause yellowing, speckled leaves, and stunted growth in beans, melons, and a bunch of other crops. Keep them in check by managing irrigation, encouraging natural predators, and using miticides if things get out of hand. Catching them early makes all the difference.
Beat Back Garden Pests with Bug Control Specialist
At Bug Control Specialist, we don’t do one-size-fits-all. We work with home owners and gardeners to build customized strategies that suit your property and provide long-lasting pest prevention. Ready to regain control of your garden? Contact Bug Control Specialist today!