If you’ve noticed jagged holes in your lettuce leaves, you might be wondering: do grasshoppers eat lettuce? The answer is a definite yes, and these common insects can become a surprising and hungry pest in your garden. While we often think of them in fields or meadows, grasshoppers will readily hop into vegetable patches, with tender lettuce being a favorite target.
Understanding their habits is the first step to protecting your greens. This guide will help you identify grasshoppers damage, explain why they’re attracted to your garden, and give you practical ways to manage them.
Do Grasshoppers Eat Lettuce
Grasshoppers are chewing insects with strong mandibles designed to tear plant material. They aren’t picky, but they do prefer plants with soft, lush foliage. Your lettuce bed, especially young, succulent leaves, fits the menu perfectly.
They typically feed from the outer edge of the leaf inward, creating large, irregular chewed areas. Unlike some pests that eat tiny holes, grasshopper damage is often substantial and obvious. If the infestation is bad, they can skeletonize leaves, leaving only the tough veins behind.
How to Spot Grasshopper Damage
It’s important to confirm the culprit. Look for these signs:
- Large, Ragged Holes: Chewing starts at the leaf margins, creating big, uneven gaps.
- Missing Seedlings: Young lettuce plants can be completely eaten overnight.
- Frass (Droppings): Look for small, solid, greenish-brown pellets on and around plants.
- The Insects Themselves: You’ll often see the grasshoppers resting on plants or hopping away when you approach.
Why Are Grasshoppers in My Garden?
Grasshoppers are drawn to gardens for a few key reasons. First, they seek food, and a diverse garden offers a buffet. Second, they prefer areas with open soil for laying eggs and tall plants or weeds for shelter. A dry, hot summer can also drive them from dried-out wild grasses into your irrigated, green oasis.
Preventing Grasshoppers Naturally
Prevention is always easier than control. Here are effective strategies to make your garden less inviting.
1. Encourage Natural Predators
Birds, frogs, lizards, and even some spiders eat grasshoppers. You can attract them by:
- Putting up bird feeders and bird baths.
- Having a small garden pond for frogs.
- Leaving some areas of dense, native plants for predator habitat.
2. Use Floating Row Covers
This is one of the most effective physical barriers. Lightweight fabric row covers placed over your lettuce beds block grasshoppers from reaching the plants. Just be sure to secure the edges tightly with soil or pins.
3. Keep Your Garden Tidy
Reduce hiding spots by mowing grass and weeds around your garden perimeter. Till your soil in fall and early spring to expose and destroy grasshopper eggs, which are laid in the soil.
4. Plant a Trap Crop
Grasshoppers have preferences. Planting a more attractive crop, like tall grasses, millet, or even zinnias, on the garden edge can lure them away from your lettuce. You’ll need to manage the pests on the trap crop, but it’s easier to concentrate them in one area.
How to Get Rid of Grasshoppers Safely
If grasshoppers are already present, you need action. Start with the least toxic methods.
Hand-Picking
It’s simple but effective, especially in the cool morning when grasshoppers are slow. Drop them into a bucket of soapy water. It’s a immediate solution for smaller gardens.
Apply Diatomaceous Earth (DE)
Food-grade DE is a fine powder made from fossilized algae. It’s harmless to people and pets but works by dehydrating insects with exoskeletons. Dust it lightly on dry leaves, focusing on the undersides. It needs to be reapplied after rain or watering.
Try a Natural Spray
Several organic sprays can deter or kill grasshoppers.
- Garlic or Hot Pepper Spray: A homemade mix can repel them. Steep crushed garlic or hot peppers in water, strain, add a little dish soap, and spray plants thoroughly.
- Neem Oil: This natural insecticide disrupts feeding and growth. Follow label instructions and spray in the evening to avoid harming beneficial insects.
- Nosema locustae Bait: This is a biological control—a spore that affects grasshoppers and crickets. They eat the bait, get sick, and die. It’s slow-acting but good for long-term control in larger areas.
What Not to Do: Common Mistakes
Some reactions can make the problem worse or harm your garden.
- Overusing Broad-Spectrum Pesticides: These kill everything, including the beneficial insects that prey on grasshoppers and pollinate your plants.
- Ignoring the Problem Early: A few grasshoppers can quickly become many. They lay lots of eggs, so act at the first signs of damage.
- Leaving Weeds Unchecked: Tall weeds are a nursery for grasshopper nymphs, giving them a place to grow before moving to your crops.
Long-Term Garden Health
A resilient garden is your best defense. Healthy plants can often outgrow minor pest damage. Ensure your lettuce gets consistent water and appropriate fertilizer. Strong plants are less suseptible to severe damage. Also, rotating your crops each year can break pest cycles, including those of insects that overwinter in the soil.
FAQ: Your Grasshopper Questions Answered
Do grasshoppers eat other vegetables besides lettuce?
Absolutely. Grasshoppers will eat beans, corn, carrots, and many other vegetables. They also feed on ornamental flowers and herbs, pretty much any green plant they can find.
Are some types of lettuce more resistant?
While no lettuce is immune, grasshoppers seem to prefer the most tender varieties. Thicker-leaved types like romaine or crisphead might suffer slightly less damage than very delicate butterhead or leaf lettuce.
What’s the difference between a grasshopper and a cricket?
They are related but different. Grasshoppers are active during the day, have short antennae, and their damage is usually larger. Crickets are more nocturnal and can sometimes feed on seedlings at night.
Will chickens help control grasshoppers?
Yes, if you can have chickens, they are excellent at hunting and eating grasshoppers. Letting them range in the garden area after the season ends can help reduce the egg population for next year.
Finding chewed lettuce can be frustrating, but now you know the answer to “do grasshoppers eat lettuce” and, more importantly, what to do about it. With a combination of encouraging predators, using barriers, and applying targeted organic controls, you can protect your harvest. Remember, consistency is key—regular monitoring and early action will keep these surprising garden pests from hopping away with your dinner.