[Potty Plotty Lotty]

I read this morning that mint helps deter flea beetle which is the first I've heard of this (was only looking at the T&M website due to the offer mentioned under frugal living).

http://www.thompson-morgan.com/companion-planting-guide

Does anyone have any experience of this? Or other options?

I might try out sinking a couple of pots of mint around my pak choi-it always gets badly affected.

[Ema]

Flea beetles distroys rocket on my plot and lettuce if planted near by also radish leaves. I've tried growing spring onions in between but that didn't help. I've gien up growing rocket on the plot. Will try mint this year!

[Yorkie]

PPL has already mentioned this but I thought I'd highlight it again for good measure.

Do not grow mint in open ground 

Unless you never want rid of it, and to grow nothing else ... 

[ghost61]

It didn't work for me.  Had to resort to chemicals.

[BabbyAnn]

Never heard of mint as a deterrant but it is possible.  French and African marigolds tend to be the plants that keep most pests away when used as a companion plant

I might try out sinking a couple of pots of mint around my pak choi-it always gets badly affected.

I grew mint in big deep pots sank into the soil and ... it still escaped LOL    How about spraying the plants with (fresh leaf) mint infused water and some of the natural oils may be just as effective?

[BumbleJo]

I had big flea beetle problem with swede seedlings so can sympathise, read that chives can help will try that next year...

[BabbyAnn]

THIS LINK to wikipedia suggests that mint is merely masking the scent of the target plants

Flea beetles can be deterred by a number of different companion plants, that can be grown intercropped in a garden to benefit neighboring plants. For example, thyme, catnip, and other kinds of mint cover up the scent of nearby plants

Radishes, on the other hand, can be grown as a trap crop, luring the flea beetles away from more important crops. Since the root isn't harmed by the beetles, they remain useful, themselves

I like the idea of using radishes as a lure as I've found from personal experience they tend to get hammered quite quickly but you would need to sow regularly

This is interesting too not that you can do much about the weather LOL but if you sprayed an oil based infusion (such as the tea I mentioned or perhaps a very dilute essential oil of mint or thyme?), it might be just as effective and not washed off by rain:

Flea beetles execute their most severe attacks during dry weather and are most active on sunny days

[tosca100]

We have a lot of hot and sunny here, though last year we also had plenty of humid spells too. We had awful flea beetle amongst the brassicas....we also have a problem with free range mint from former growers. They do spray here and we didn't but apart from the cabbage being 'normal' size rather than huge as they usually are here, the plants survived with the occasional dusting of DE.

However, we also grew nasturtiums last year and would like to credit them with the lack of caterpillars (only one of dozens of brassicas) but there were none on the nasturtiums either! Bizarre as we have a huge population of butterflies.

This year we are looking at doing companion planting in a more organised way....and the mint will have a different companion.

[beesrus]

I've had bad infestations of the beetle in the past on turnips and swede until I found that planting too early is not a good idea... No wonder my early turnips planted out in March used to get such a battering. I no longer grow them as I'm not particularly a fan

I do like swede however, so wait well into the season these days before I sow/plant them out. What a huge difference, virtually no beetle.
They are difficult to net successfully for, but as always, Autumn/Winter digging disturbs their sleep The infestations were always worse where I hadn't dug over.. I seem to remember the old soapy water trick used to work somewhat if one is interested in keeping plants looking their shiny best, not as a pesticide of course... I'm not a fan of spraying, tends to kill the good guys too.
I do have nasturtiums dotted around but don't know how effective they are with beetle... More for caterpillars

[sunshineband]

Flea beetles have ruined pak choi, turnip leaves etc in the past. I found that covered the plants with a fleece cloche with the edges weighted down improved matters considerably. Companion planting, lovely though the idea is, made no difference.

[beesrus]

Companion planting, lovely though the idea is, made no difference.

A bit like the human companion planting thing .... marriage. Very often does not live up to it's billing.
I wonder sometimes if those that say it's effective, actually do the gardening themselves. I see it as a guru/high church thing to paint pictures of some purrrrfect garden in the sky. A bit like Monty Don who actually admits to hardly ever gardening at all these days. And when said guru flies off for the Summer tour of sermons to those who need such talk, his workers suddenly run around netting and spraying anything and everything. Then, when he comes back in the Autumn asking how his companions worked, they all say "fine, great, Monty, those companions worked a treat, should be good advice for your next show "

My own choice is to grow without chemicals, and I often wish people wouldn't give out advice that doesn't really work and has the effect of putting people off the organic thing. It's not an easy way of growing, in fact it involves a lot more work and time, and sometimes the beds look ugly.
I do a little companion stuff, but if truth be known, mainly to add a bit of colour to the plot and to attract a few bees, hoverflies etc. I never plant onions with carrots.... waste of time.

[sunshineband]

Beesrus, I do garden largely organically -- I give in to slug pellets in desperation sometimes -- and I find it is not more work really, just different work.

I don't want to eat produce that has been sprayed with chemicals, like many of us, and end up with quite a lot of beds covered with netting of one sort or another to keep the beasties off.

The masses of flowers do make the place look much nicer than that sounds 

[BabbyAnn]

Companion planting, lovely though the idea is, made no difference.

I wonder sometimes if those that say it's effective, actually do the gardening themselves.

When I grew broccoli for the first time many (many) years ago, I made a cage and netted it with bird & butterfly netting from Wilkos.  I happen to have a few plants spare so bunged them in another bed.  When the cabbage whites started to appear, at first I smugly watched them flutter over the cage and then horrified to see they were then inside the cage (of course now I use debris netting with the finer mesh)  When I went for a closer look, the broccoli in the cage were chewed down to skeletal remains.  Surprisingly, the ones in the open were untouched - they were growing between 2 lavender bushes.  I've since learned that masking the scent of brassicas stops the butterflies from "tasting" the scent in the air, so some companion planting does work to repel certain pests.  I think it depends on what your expectations are when considering companion planting - and bear in mind seasonal trends (some years infestations can be higher or lower than average)

[sunshineband]

That's interesting BabbyAnn. I think that if you juts have a couple of plants this "scent masking" could well work, but when you have a whole bed, which is what we usually do, then it is likely to be less successful as the ratio of target plants to maskers is so high.

PS You can buy netting with holes small enough to keep out those pesky, wing-folding butterflies from Gardening Naturally. I found the debris netting I have is not wide enough to cater for taller brassicas like sprouts and PSB

[mumofstig]

I found the debris netting I have is not wide enough to cater for taller brassicas like sprouts and PSB

I get the sewing machine out