Outsmarting the Colorado Potato Beetle

The Colorado potato beetle is the most persistant pest for potatoes and other garden plants in the solonacea family.

We have had nearly complete control the last few years and here is how.


We have two fields separated by some woods and we rotate between fields every year.

I plant eggplant between the two locations and the beetles find those and are trapped there, where they can be picked and destroyed.

We had a very severe winter two years ago. We had almost no beetles. I have kept the population low using this IPM technique.

I have heard you can plant late. After June 15 in Minnesota and this will deny the beetle their food source and reduce the population. I have never done this as we want to catch the spring market.