Content

• To step
• Method 1 of 2: The natural way
• Method 2 of 2: Pesticide
• Tips
• Warnings

Are there so many grasshoppers around that your summer will turn into a bad horror? While they make good food for birds, they destroy your plants and are also just plain annoying. We'll show you some ways you can get rid of these tiny, annoying insects.

To step

Method 1 of 2: The natural way

1. Buy a few chickens. They love the tasty little jumpers and have an amazingly large appetite. They eat large quantities of grasshoppers and will save your garden from destruction. In many cities and towns you can apply for a permit to keep these birds.
   • Not only is the grasshopper population kept in check, but you also get fresh eggs (if you have hens) and the occasional chicken pie!
2. Use pepper spray. "Hot pepper wax insect repellent" is best. It is not readily available here, but a garden center may have it in their range so you can use it on your plants. Insects cannot tolerate its taste and therefore do not eat the leaves!
   • Be careful when spraying this repellant on edible plants, as it will burn your mouth if you eat the plants afterward without properly washing them first.
   • You can also use methylated spirits or garlic spray as a grasshopper remedy.
3. Crush them. Go to the places where the locusts reside at dawn and dusk. They move more slowly as the temperature drops. Sweep the grasshoppers off the leaves into a bucket of soapy water to drown them, or just sweep them on the ground and step on them.

Method 2 of 2: Pesticide

1. Do it quickly. Pesticides become less effective as grasshoppers age - and they probably have already reproduced.
2. Look for neem oil. Natural insecticides that contain neem as the active ingredient are deadly to grasshoppers. Neem trees are native to the Indian subcontinent and are considered very precious in villages where they are. The leaves are a natural disinfectant and insecticide.
   • Toothpaste with neem extract is available in the US.
3. Try Ecobran. There is a product called "Ecobran" that only affects grasshoppers and their close relatives. It has no effect on other insects or birds. Go to ecobran.com.
   • Ecobran contains carbaryl, an organophosphate. It is a good product for landowners with a grasshopper problem and a limited amount of land. It is easy to use and has minimal impact on the insect populations that are good for the land, compared to other formulas containing carbaryl.

Tips

• Chickens also provide hours of entertainment. It is very funny to watch a chicken chase a surprised grasshopper!
• With four chickens you can get rid of your grasshopper problem within a few weeks.

Warnings

• Chickens can dig in the flower beds and you will have to spend more time tidying and keeping the garden clean, but it is worth it if you get rid of the grasshoppers like that.
• Don't get into raising chickens if you just want to use them to keep your yard free of annoying insects, but you can't take good care of them.