Grasshopper Control in Home Landscaping and Gardens
Carbaryl (Sevin)
Cyfluthrin (Bayer Advanced Lawn & Garden, Tempo)
Click on product for link to it's label. Products and labels listed are for examples only and not an endorsement of any particular company, please read the product label to be sure that the pest (grasshopper) and the location you will be using it (lawn, garden, etc.) are listed on the label.
Read and follow all label application and safety directions when using any pesticide product.
You may be able to limit sprays to border areas facing infestation sources.
Grasshoppers overwinter as eggs laid in clusters of up to 30 to 60 in cracks in the soil. The eggs hatch in the spring and young nymphs begin feeding. After five molts, they reach maturity in midsummer or fall.
Biological Control
Grasshoppers have many natural enemies, which include many bird species as well as coyotes, skunks, snakes, and spiders. Many insect, mite, and nematode species are also predators of grasshoppers. Avoid disrupting these controls with unnecessary sprays.
Cultural Control
Working the soil kills grasshoppers in several ways. It can bury their eggs so deep that young grasshoppers do not hatch. It can bring the eggs to the surface where they are destroyed by the drying action of sun and wind. It is also a means of discouraging egg laying, preventing dispersal of the pests, and forcing grasshoppers scattered over a field to concentrate in a small area.
Proper tillage before eggs have hatched often gives excellent control of light or threatening grain stubble infestations.
Fall tillage is preferable, but spring tillage sometimes is just as effective. Till the soil right after harvest, grasshoppers spend 6 to 8 months as eggs in the surface layer of the soil. Tilling makes the soil unattractive to egg-laying females and helps destroy the eggs already laid. Till to a depth of 5 inches.
Chemical Control
Follow information on the label about the timing and cutoff date for spraying the particular vegetable you are treating. Spray damaged plants and any grass or weeds surrounding the vegetable garden when young hoppers or winged adults are seen.
To avoid harming bees, do not apply products containing carbaryl to plants in bloom.
Read and follow all label application and safety directions when using any pesticide product.