Gardeners have an opportunity to avoid beetle problems by planting all of their potatoes either a month earlier or a month later than early-May. Use an early maturing variety and aim for an early-July harvest. Although the early-planted potatoes can tolerate much leaf feeding, the gardener must learn to tolerate the presence of infested plants. If the gardener can't stand the sight of infested plants, it would be better to try the late-planting strategy. Again, use an early-maturing variety so that the crop will mature before October.
Larger plants are better able to tolerate defoliation than smaller plants.
Use early-maturing cultivars and harvest as soon as the crop is mature. This reduces the food source for late-season beetles and can weaken them for their overwintering phase. Physical Control Hand-picking can effectively control the Colorado potato beetle in small plantings. Inspect plants once or twice per week, remove all larvae and adult beetles, drop them into a container of soapy water, then dispose. Eggs can be crushed by hand.