Organic Bedbug Control -- Cheap!

Bedbugs are all over the news these days as a growing scourge, so I thought I'd share my experience treating an infestation with an easy, inexpensive insecticide that kills bedbugs (and does so without any smelly and scary neurotoxins such as are found in many commercial insecticides).

I don't know if they came in on my luggage or what, but after a while it dawned on me that the itchy welts on my legs weren't mosquito bites, and I found the telltale 2-3cm diameter stains on the sheets, which I guess is from their urine or whatever the entomologists call it.

As a gardener with a preference for organic pest control, I was familiar with using Diatomaceous Earth powder (DE) for pest control on plants, and after I did some research I decided DE would probably kill bedbugs, too, and I already had some DE at hand.

This happened several years ago, so I don't recall exactly how long it took to get rid of them completely, but in very short order (a few days, I think) the biting was greatly reduced, and possibly even eliminated.

As the dust kills them mechanically by dehydrating them, it may not kill eggs, so I would leave the dust in place for a few weeks in case any eggs hatch. Females lay a few eggs per day, and it takes 1 - 4 months until they reach adulthood^{(Rutgers University)}.

The EPA's website on bedbugs has links to youtube videos explaining how to use DE to control bedbugs, and also links to lots of fact sheets and other materials outlining bedbug control strategies.

Amazon has many vendors selling DE, and Google Product Search links to even more. Your local garden center or feed store may carry it, too. Prices vary very widely, so look around -- a little DE goes a long way. I think I used less than half a cup for the one bedroom I treated.

Camouflaged Black Swallowtail Butterfly Caterpillar in the fennel patch

"There is nothing about a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly." -Buckminster Fuller (of Buckyball fame, etc.)

The fennel is the fine-leaved plant with the yellow florets. (The broad-leaved plant is, I believe, Russian Tarragon.) Isn't it cool how the green & black stripes and yellow dots on the Black Swallowtail caterpillar help it blend in with the flowering fennel plants and avoid the notice of hungry predators?