Colorado beetles in Le Marche

Good Morning Kevan,I'm afraid the only way forward is to pick them off - and keep picking them off. We have spent many 'happy' hours with a tub of diesel (with lid) murdering the little beggars. (On advice from farmers next door)Good news it does not mean the end of your potatoes at all! We thought much the same but so long as you are determined and keep up with the picking your spuds should be ok.Tip - Next year move your potato patch as far away from this years as possible!Good LuckMoxie

Hi MoxieThanks for the info - Tina is out amongst the potatoes picking off the eggs as I write and I'm about to go out and join her (day off today as it's a public holiday in the UK and I'm on UK calendar for work so can spend a happy hour or two drowning them in diesel - or come to think of it I've only got petrol so I hope that will do!)Cheers for the tip! Kevan

This website may help http://www.ehow.com/how_4430363_control-colorado-potato-beetles.html .

Locals here use a chemical called Decis. We pick & pick & pick...

Thanks for all the tips - we'll keeping picking off the eggs and will try some of the tips that Alan pointed us to on the eHow website - I like the idea of planting with horseradish and green beans to keep them away but that's one for next year's crop of potatoes which we will plant on the far side of the garden from the current crop.

When I was a mere strip of a 9 year old, (way way back in the 1950's) I remember posters outside Old Street Police Station, on my way back from school. They weren't there to warn me of Eugene, The Mad Axe Man, or even Spring Heeled Jack; instead I was advised to be vigilant, to study the illustration and to report even a glimmer of a sighting of ... "wanted, the Colorado Beetle". I couldn't find them in Shoreditch then and a few country miles on from there, I still haven't found one in order to claim my bounty; but I've noticed the new, old roses, planted this winter (thanks to the ever efficient Peter Beales nursery in Norfolk) are attracting a winged bug thing: maybe twice the size of a ladybird, black with white spots all over and a slightly more rugged looking texture. they don't bother with the leaves but they certainly love getting inside the multiple petals of the roses. Harmless? I'm not yet sure ... it's only their very first Spring and we did have hailstorms that you would need a hard hat to walk out in, but I'm not convinced that these little creatures are members of the `Friends of the Old, Newly Planted, Roses Society'. Anyone out there familiar with these?

We had one colorado beetle, dead now, and have not seen anymore since. Hope it was on holiday here and not part of a bigger group.Any tips on curing peach tree leaf curl?

look at:- http://www.gardenaction.co.uk/fruit_veg_diary/fruit_veg_mini_project_november_2d_peach.asp

Damiano,Just bought some 'Compo Score 25 EC Fungicide Polivalente' from the consortium on the corner near the new roundabout in Comunanza for the peach leaf curl. It costs €9 and comes in a 20ml bottle which you dilute and spray on the leaves.Hope this helps.Sarah and MarkPS Did you ever get to the concert in Ancona - have seen your listing - quite fancy the AC-DC tribute band!

When you have harvested your crop do not compost or otherwise discard your potato vines/ flowers/roots, etc but rather burn them. This will destroy any bacterial presence remaining and will keep down the beetle population for the following year as they happily live in the ground all winter. I too am picking the little blighters off, its a shame they cause so much problem as they are such an attractive little beetle.