[Quetzal]

I have some new asparagus crowns in this year, and they have been growing pretty well so far. I had to go away for a while, and just returned to discover that they had asparagus beetle, and that a few of the (~2 ft high) frondy shoots have been reduced to strawlike sticks.

I've squashed as many as a i can, and read up on them, including a quick search here, but it's not clear to me how much of a threat they are - from an annoyance but not so bad, through to a potential death knell for the new bed, and so i'm unclear how seriously to take my battle with them.

Any advice gratefully appreciated.

[Trillium]

If you don't put a serious dent in their population now, they'll keep returning and really strip your asparagus which need those fronds to feed the roots. A trick I've just learned is to first spray the bugs with some washing up liquid and water which slows them down and then I can easily catch and squish them.

[Kristen]

Hmmm ... another thing to worry about  my Asparagus bed is only in its first year.

Will covering the bed with Debris netting prevent an invasion?

[fatcat1955]

No because the adult beetle lays her eggs beneathy the soil, so they hatch next year and it starts over again. Washing up liquid will only clean them. You need to use an insecticide. I used the Bayer one in the yellow bottle from Wilko's and so far it has done the trick.

[Salmo]

The Bayer systemic product is Provado Ultimate Bug Killer. Being systemic to will stay in the leaves for a while and hopefully break the life cycle of the beetle. I am sure it will do the job, but there is no reccommendation for Asparagus on the bottle.

Logically you are not going to eat the fronds and by eight months when the new shoots appear any trace of chemical should be long gone.

Sometimes asparagus beetle will attack newly emerged shoots in the Spring and cause them to distort. This chemical SHOULD NOT be used then. Instead use one of the quick knockdowns with a short harvest interval such as Bug Off, or just put up with a little damage.