Grasshoppers and locusts: how to spot and manage them

Grasshoppers — including big ones like the Australian giant grasshopper — chew ragged holes in leaves, and in plague years locusts can strip a patch fast. A few are no drama; it's the numbers that hurt.

How to spot them

1. Chewed, ragged leaf edges and holes, sometimes whole seedlings gone.
2. The grasshoppers themselves, well camouflaged among the foliage.
3. Worst in warm, dry weather, especially along grassy garden edges.

Plants they target

Growing any of these? See our guides to lettuce, silverbeet and beans.

Almost anything leafy — lettuce, silverbeet, beans and young seedlings first.

How to manage them, safely

1. Netting is the most reliable protection for prized crops and seedlings.
2. Hand-pick in the cool of the morning, when they're slow.
3. Encourage birds, lizards and praying mantises — a lively garden keeps numbers down.
4. Keep grassy edges mown, where the eggs are laid.

Sprays do little against mobile adults — exclusion and predators are the go. For the bigger picture, see our guide to managing pests and problems safely.

Plan your patch: our free planting calendar shows what to plant now where you live. Ready to grow? Browse our raised garden beds or build your own with the garden bed builder.

Image: Auradyme, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.