I hate these beetles. Gardening in the community gardens for years I was not exposed to these pesky well, pests. They have eaten my basil, zinnias, lemon balm, tarrragon, sunflowers and mint. They have an appetite for babies. They have invaded my house. They really are something out of a horror movie. In my naivety I accused bunnies as being the pests and was cursing them high and low until my friend Sarah B pointed out that the munching seemed to come from the center of the leaves out.
Being an organic gardener there is little I can do at this point to stop them. For the smaller plants I think row cover while they get established will be the best deterrent. It does seem like if the plant gets big enough it can handle a little munching as displayed by the two basils that were already established when I put them in the ground. I will be doing more research and updating my findings. For now my best plan of action is to let the chickens free range in the front yard in the spring and fall and see if they can eat up any of the eggs, which I think are grubs?
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