Beat the Beetles

Flea beetles are the bane of eggplant growers! On this week’s You Bet Your Garden, host Mike McGrath discusses how to use clay to turn them away. Plus: what potential harm can a warm winter do to our poor plants? And your fabulous phone calls!

Question of the Week:

I always have a problem with flea beetles on my eggplant. I follow your advice and grow the plants under row covers when they’re young, but the beetles attack as soon as I take the row covers off for pollination. I sometimes use “Pyola”—but would “Surround” kaolin clay spray work better and longer to control them?
—Deb in “Wagon Town” in Chester County, Pa

Will a spray of clay conquer the beetles of flea? »