Flea Beetles. They are horrible little creatures. Horrible. And the bane of my garden. Well, not the bane of my whole garden. Just the crops that have a bitter taste.

Why do I despise them so? Take a look at the photo above. That is a kale leaf, looking like it’s been riddled with buckshot. But it’s not buckshot—this is the damage resulting from flea beetles feeding on the leaves.

What they don’t know—or don’t care about—is that I was planning on feeding on these leaves at some point myself.

What Are Flea Beetles?

For the most part, the miniscule black flea beetles enjoy feeding on anything bitter. Several years ago I tried seeding arugula and that was mown down as soon as the seedlings emerged. This year they are going gangbusters on this kale, as well as my cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower. They also love radishes.

I’ve been told—and I have seen it happen—that the plants will eventually overtake and bounce back from the damage, which occurs less frequently as the season goes on. However, from my own experience, if the damage is severe to begin with (such as with the arugula), the plants just cannot keep pace. That kale in the photo above should be 10 times bigger than it is, yet the whole crop is struggling at about 6 inches high. That’s because the beetles have been feeding on the whole row since the seedlings emerged.

What to do? Good question. I obviously haven’t employed any techniques that have been able to rid the garden of flea beetles. But, I have done some research and here’s what I found.

Cover your rows

Give the seedlings and small plants a little protection with row covers that they can’t get under.

Use garlic sprays to repel Flea Beetles

Reportedly they are repelled by garlic sprays. Your crop will also be safe from vampires (had to throw that in there).

Keep it shady

Flea beetles like the sun, so shade your crop in some way that won’t also prevent it from growing.

Try homeopathic remedies for flea beetles

A fellow gardening neighbor uses a homeopathic remedy to control and repel these pests. It’s a concoction produced in part with pulverized flea beetles that she trapped. Not exactly sure how it is made or how it works. But it works. Her kale is about 2 feet tall. I’m wondering if the flea beetles she’s repelling are then finding a smorgasbord of good eats in my garden plot