stinkbug help?

KKinAL · December 9, 2008

The main pest problem I have during the summer is with stinkbugs, leaf footed bugs, & aphids. I really don't want to spray, but I always get frustrated & end up blasting them all with insecticide. Are there any predator bugs for these 3, and what could I plant alonside the veggies to attract predators, or are there plants they like better than tomatoes I could plant to distract them? thanks!

LenaBeanNZ · December 10, 2008

My mother taught me to plant garlic cloves in among the tomatoes, specifically to keep stinkbugs away. It seems to work, because I have never had a stinkbug problem. I put a clove or two in between each plant in the row, shortly after I set my transplants out.

BigdaddyJ · December 10, 2008

There aren't any predator bugs I am aware of for stinkbugs. Green Lacewings are great for controlling aphids though. I wish I had the same results as the previous poster from NZ but planting garlic did nothing to prevent stinkbugs from hanging around my vegetables.

You might try a trap crop of millet.

Raymondo · December 10, 2008

I often have trouble with stinkbugs. Last year I had pole beans right next to the tomatoes. The stinkbugs preferred the bean pods, to which they did little damage.
With gloves on, try knocking them into a bucket of water. I don't know whether I ever managed to reduce their numbers doing this but it made me feel a whole lot better!

GIZZARDFARM · December 10, 2008

I always plant marigolds between each tomato plant it seems to help.

KKinAL · December 11, 2008

thanks so much for the help--- what is a trap crop? (millet) Also, is there anything to attract the lacewings for aphids, or just the aphids?

BigdaddyJ · December 12, 2008

Trap cropping is the planting of a trap crop to protect the main cash crop from a certain pest or several pests. The trap crop can be from the same or different family group, than that of the main crop, as long as it is more attractive to the pest. There are two types of planting the trap crops; perimeter trap cropping and row intercropping. Perimeter trap cropping (border trap cropping) is the planting of trap crop completely surrounding the main cash crop. It prevents a pest attack that comes from all sides of the field. It works best on pests that are found near the borderline of the farm. Row intercropping is the planting of the trap crop in alternating rows within the main crop.

Lessens the use of pesticide
Lowers the pesticide cost
Preserves the indigenous natural enemies
Improves the crop's quality
Helps conserve the soil and the environment

An easy method is to plant the millet about 30 to 100 feet away from the tomatoes. Hopefully, the stinkbugs will prefer the millet and do minor damage to your tomatoes if any at all. Near the end of the season, kill all those stinkbugs on the millet. An organic solution would be to spray the bejeebers on the affected millet with a product like Pyola, chop it down and then burn it so they don't overwinter.

I buy greenlacewing larva every season. It is a cheap investment vs pesticide use. And they are so easy to release. A lot cheaper and easier than spraying poisons all over your yard. I never had luck getting them to overwinter in large enough numbers. Alyssum, herbs from the dill family, and flowers from the daisy family are all said to attract green lacewings. I'll close by saying those aphids sure disappear quickly when the lacewing larva are out on the prowl.

Wi-sunflower · December 12, 2008

For anyone interested in a trap crop to protect their Potatoes from Colorado Potato Beetles, grow some of the oriental Eggplants. The kind with the purple caylix rather than green.

Some commercial potato farmers are using this method around their fields so they don't have to spray as much. It's also because CPBs are imune to almost all sprays now since they have been over sprayed for so many years.

The problem is if you want to actually grow Eggplant like I do for my market. You better not have Potatoes nearby. But even then it doesn't always help. We DON'T grow potatoes but last year the CPBs were horrible.

Personally I have also found that if you can get Lady Bugs and larva in your fields about the time CPBs are just hatching, the lady bugs will eat a lot of them and slow down the CPBs a lot. They won't totally control CPBs but they make them tolerable. We usually then go out about once/week and just squish the CPBs and larva. Takes about an hour or so on 10 rows if they aren't EVERYWHERE.

KKinAL · December 20, 2008

thanks for all of the help--I really appreciate it.

stormymater · January 11, 2009

I really detest those leaf-footed stink bugs, the way they knoodle all over my maters & stick their pointy proboscis' where they don't belong. They scuttle too fast for me to get in those 8 foot cw towers unless they're knoodling - then it feels sorta voyeuristic when i grab & crunch them (but I do it by gum).
They laughed when I shook Sevin on them last summer/fall - my supreme act of attempted genocide - & knoodled some more.... & stuck their proboscis' in my maters, no doubt infecting them with God Knows What STDs (stinkbug transmitted diseases). Would that someone could me how to nix these stinky fleet footed fecund critters.

December 9, 2008	#1
KKinAL Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: McCalla, Alabama Posts: 60	stinkbug help? The main pest problem I have during the summer is with stinkbugs, leaf footed bugs, & aphids. I really don't want to spray, but I always get frustrated & end up blasting them all with insecticide. Are there any predator bugs for these 3, and what could I plant alonside the veggies to attract predators, or are there plants they like better than tomatoes I could plant to distract them? thanks!

December 10, 2008	#3
BigdaddyJ Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Zone7 Delaware Posts: 399	There aren't any predator bugs I am aware of for stinkbugs. Green Lacewings are great for controlling aphids though. I wish I had the same results as the previous poster from NZ but planting garlic did nothing to prevent stinkbugs from hanging around my vegetables. You might try a trap crop of millet. __________________ Farmer at Heart

December 10, 2008	#4
Raymondo Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Saumarez Ponds, NSW, Australia Posts: 946	I often have trouble with stinkbugs. Last year I had pole beans right next to the tomatoes. The stinkbugs preferred the bean pods, to which they did little damage. With gloves on, try knocking them into a bucket of water. I don't know whether I ever managed to reduce their numbers doing this but it made me feel a whole lot better! __________________ Ray

December 12, 2008	#7
BigdaddyJ Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Zone7 Delaware Posts: 399	Trap cropping is the planting of a trap crop to protect the main cash crop from a certain pest or several pests. The trap crop can be from the same or different family group, than that of the main crop, as long as it is more attractive to the pest. There are two types of planting the trap crops; perimeter trap cropping and row intercropping. Perimeter trap cropping (border trap cropping) is the planting of trap crop completely surrounding the main cash crop. It prevents a pest attack that comes from all sides of the field. It works best on pests that are found near the borderline of the farm. Row intercropping is the planting of the trap crop in alternating rows within the main crop. Lessens the use of pesticide Lowers the pesticide cost Preserves the indigenous natural enemies Improves the crop's quality Helps conserve the soil and the environment An easy method is to plant the millet about 30 to 100 feet away from the tomatoes. Hopefully, the stinkbugs will prefer the millet and do minor damage to your tomatoes if any at all. Near the end of the season, kill all those stinkbugs on the millet. An organic solution would be to spray the bejeebers on the affected millet with a product like Pyola, chop it down and then burn it so they don't overwinter. I buy greenlacewing larva every season. It is a cheap investment vs pesticide use. And they are so easy to release. A lot cheaper and easier than spraying poisons all over your yard. I never had luck getting them to overwinter in large enough numbers. Alyssum, herbs from the dill family, and flowers from the daisy family are all said to attract green lacewings. I'll close by saying those aphids sure disappear quickly when the lacewing larva are out on the prowl. __________________ Farmer at Heart

December 10, 2008	#2
LenaBeanNZ Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 114	My mother taught me to plant garlic cloves in among the tomatoes, specifically to keep stinkbugs away. It seems to work, because I have never had a stinkbug problem. I put a clove or two in between each plant in the row, shortly after I set my transplants out.

December 10, 2008	#5
GIZZARDFARM Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: COMFORT TENNESSEE Posts: 300	I always plant marigolds between each tomato plant it seems to help.

December 11, 2008	#6
KKinAL Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: McCalla, Alabama Posts: 60	thanks so much for the help--- what is a trap crop? (millet) Also, is there anything to attract the lacewings for aphids, or just the aphids?

December 12, 2008	#8
Wi-sunflower Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 2,591	For anyone interested in a trap crop to protect their Potatoes from Colorado Potato Beetles, grow some of the oriental Eggplants. The kind with the purple caylix rather than green. Some commercial potato farmers are using this method around their fields so they don't have to spray as much. It's also because CPBs are imune to almost all sprays now since they have been over sprayed for so many years. The problem is if you want to actually grow Eggplant like I do for my market. You better not have Potatoes nearby. But even then it doesn't always help. We DON'T grow potatoes but last year the CPBs were horrible. Personally I have also found that if you can get Lady Bugs and larva in your fields about the time CPBs are just hatching, the lady bugs will eat a lot of them and slow down the CPBs a lot. They won't totally control CPBs but they make them tolerable. We usually then go out about once/week and just squish the CPBs and larva. Takes about an hour or so on 10 rows if they aren't EVERYWHERE.

December 20, 2008	#9
KKinAL Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: McCalla, Alabama Posts: 60	thanks for all of the help--I really appreciate it.

January 11, 2009	#10
stormymater Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Pleasure Island, NC 8a Posts: 1,162	I really detest those leaf-footed stink bugs, the way they knoodle all over my maters & stick their pointy proboscis' where they don't belong. They scuttle too fast for me to get in those 8 foot cw towers unless they're knoodling - then it feels sorta voyeuristic when i grab & crunch them (but I do it by gum). They laughed when I shook Sevin on them last summer/fall - my supreme act of attempted genocide - & knoodled some more.... & stuck their proboscis' in my maters, no doubt infecting them with God Knows What STDs (stinkbug transmitted diseases). Would that someone could me how to nix these stinky fleet footed fecund critters.