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Re: Flea Beetles



Yes, the Common sense Pest Control is really a topnotch book. I quoted it
extensively in my Organic Method Primer UPDATE, in the chapter on
beneficials and pests.

But the index is very inadequate. It was done by the publisher, not by the
authors, which is the reason it is insufficient.

But what I wanted to emphasize is that it is best to just NOT HAVE the
pest, and the way to avoid pests, generally, is to have good, REAL soil. 
I always wonder why it is so very hard for people to understand that SOIL
is the answer.

Maybe because the entire academic/farm advisor clique never tells about
soil at all, but is so gungho on remedies. Everywhere there is talk about
remedies. Even in the organic field, the most one hears is
remedies--organically approved ones, but stiill, remedies, rather than
upbuilding of the soil.

I realize it is hard for most people, having heard the wrong approach all
their lives, to believe this, but the reason for the unbelief is the lack
of knowledge.

That's why I was so pleased that Prof. Phil Callahan, retired from U
FLorida, graciously agreed to go over every word I wrote about how insects
recognize which plants to attack. That is why I feel confident in
recommending that you read those pages in the UPDATE:  

(I did mention this once, when I was on Prodigy, and all I got was sneers.
The lack of good education in America is  phenomenal.)

So read pp 263-269, where I have quoted from those people who really know
what they are talking about, so you can understand WHY it is that you have
flea beetles or any other insect pest.


Or, in the cheaper, 100 pp condensed version I did last year, the Primer
BASICS, it is also recorded on pp 61-66/


You won't find this in any other garden/farming books.

Nevertheless, there is quite a bit on rmedies in the UPDATE, pr 296, for
flea beetle.  If you want this into, let me know.

B. Rateaver