How to Repel Flea Beetles

You will recall I have been battling flea beetles for years.

Flea beetles are tiny black flying bugs that chew tiny holes in leaves of veggies that taste somewhat on the bitter side. Arugula and cole crops are favorites on their menus. They will eat tiny holes in small plants I buy in the garden center, but the plants are usually big enough that they bounce back. Seedlings, on the other hand, cannot survive the flea beetle’s chewing.

Preventing Flea Beetle Damage

I have tried many methods of capture, destruction, and deterrence, many of which I have logged here. Not much works.

Sure, I’m part of the problem in that I need to be consistent in applying horticultural oils and other deterrents. Even so, when I do apply some sort of control, not much flea beetle activity is being controlled.

New idea that I think will work: Sowing seeds into my large container outside my front door. The container was made from scraps of the hardwood called Ipe left over from when contractors built our neighbor’s roof deck. It’s a rectangular wooden box lined with plastic and filled with good-quality potting soil. Its purpose for the past year and a half has been mostly ornamental. This season, however, I’ve decided to sow seeds of kale, broccolini, and sugar snap peas in the container instead of filling it with big, beautiful, inedible blooms.

Why this strategy?

First, the container has no history of flea beetle infestation, so the soil most likely doesn’t have overwintering flea beetle eggs or larvae.

Second, the container is not that close to other plants flea beetles enjoy. That is, flea beetles aren’t going to be nearby. Flea beetles might not even be within a two-block radius. By the time they get wind of the tasty leafy greens the plants will be large enough to survive any damage they can cause.

I hope to grow the broccolini, kale, and peas until they are large enough to transplant into the community garden plot. At that point, my container can go back to serving its original ornamental purpose.