Stink Bugs And Tomato Challenge

[BigVanVader]

Lol it doesn't take that much time. It is more about timing. Knowing when they start laying eggs, destroy them and stop the cycle. I spend wayyyyyyy more time tending my tomatoes than anything else.

[Rockporter]

Originally Posted by b54red

SVBs are most effectively controlled by dusting the lower stem near the ground with Sevin dust. It doesn't bother the bees which are up in the flowers but it does stop SVBs if you can keep it on the stems below the blooms and new growth. I have been doing this for years now after trying everything under the sun to slow the buggers down with only limited or no success. I have only lost a couple of plants to SVBs since starting this method of control and that was usually because I got sick of squash and quit dusting the stems. The trick is every time it rains or every time you water the squash well you need to go out and dust them with fresh Sevin again. If it is raining in the evening then really make the effort to go out first thing in the morning and dust the stems because the SVB moth seems to be most active just as the sun starts hitting the plants and for the next hour or two.

Bill

Bill, I've been using DE and/or Captain Jacks Powder on the stems of my plants in hopes of keeping the SVB out. Do you think these are effective?

[BigVanVader]

Thanks Bill, but I don't use stuff like Sevin. Kids/dogs always in the garden.

[brownrexx]

I also choose not to use things like Sevin so I do 2 things for SVB. I assume that the plants will be infected so I inject the main stem with a syringe of bt (Thuricide) which kills the larvae that I KNOW will be in there and I also plant a second hill of squash about 4 weeks after the first one so if the first one dies then the second one will be producing. This keeps us supplied with squash all summer long.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by BigVanVader

Thanks Bill, but I don't use stuff like Sevin. Kids/dogs always in the garden.

The small amount of Sevin that I use to dust the stem base is tiny. Sevin at vegetable garden strength should not harm dogs unless large amounts are consumed which is not possible in the tiny amount needed to dust a stem base. I have seven dogs who are constantly slipping under the electric fence to roam the garden and never had a problem; but that decision is totally up to you. I was just letting fellow Tomatoville readers know of a method that works in stopping SVBs with a very small amount of Sevin. After 30 plus years of watching them destroy my squash every year I found a simple solution that actually works unlike the other methods I have tried.

Bill

[Worth1]

I used to dust the critters with it to rid them of ticks and fleas.
Before the drop stuff came out.
Worth

[b54red]

Originally Posted by Rockporter

Bill, I've been using DE and/or Captain Jacks Powder on the stems of my plants in hopes of keeping the SVB out. Do you think these are effective?

I have no idea if it will work or not. I am a big believer in DE as a pest control but haven't tried it on squash stems to see if it would stop SVBs. I am looking forward to seeing if it works for you. Let us know. Good luck and I hope it does work.

I had high hopes that DE would stop slugs but so far it hasn't seemed to work but nothing else does either. I'm tired of buying slug bait only to cut a cabbage and find the lower portion invaded by an army of slugs while the bait just sits there under the leaves. I guess they just slime right past the bait because they would rather have cabbage.

I'm thinking of just mixing all the different forms of DE I have and just mulching cabbage with it and see if that will work. Other than an occasional lettuce that is the only thing that slugs bother in my garden but in the spring they are relentless in attacking cabbage.

Bill

[brownrexx]

I was thinking about this thread as I was in Lowe's today so I looked at a container of Sevin dust. It says not to use more than 6 times annually. It sounds like you are dusting your squash a lot more than that.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by brownrexx

I was thinking about this thread as I was in Lowe's today so I looked at a container of Sevin dust. It says not to use more than 6 times annually. It sounds like you are dusting your squash a lot more than that.

I am not putting it on the plants leaves, buds or fruit but just on the base of the stem and the mulch right next to it. This is where the first SVBs always lay their eggs and start the journey to destroying my squash. I use a small bulb duster and just dust out a little bit so that when I am finished there is a little dust on the bottom few inches of the stem and out about a half inch onto the mulch or soil. I'll try to take a picture and show you if I can remember to do it.

Bill

[gorbelly]

Bill,

I don't have the same severity of issues with SVBs up here, and I have a small garden, anyway, so using spinosad and manually checking for eggs and removing them works OK for me on the single generation of SVBs who manage to find my two susceptible squash plants (the few other squash plants are C. moschatas and usually not harmed seriously by SVBs so far). I prefer to stick to organic and biological methods, but it's nice to know that, if climate change makes the SVBs a real plague up here like they are further south, this is an option to consider for the home gardener who can be very conscientious about how much is being applied and be very precise about where it's applied.

IMO, it's a creative and responsible solution that takes advantage of a powerful available option while being aware of and limiting its potential harms.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by gorbelly

Bill,

I don't have the same severity of issues with SVBs up here, and I have a small garden, anyway, so using spinosad and manually checking for eggs and removing them works OK for me on the single generation of SVBs who manage to find my two susceptible squash plants (the few other squash plants are C. moschatas and usually not harmed seriously by SVBs so far). I prefer to stick to organic and biological methods, but it's nice to know that, if climate change makes the SVBs a real plague up here like they are further south, this is an option to consider for the home gardener who can be very conscientious about how much is being applied and be very precise about where it's applied.

IMO, it's a creative and responsible solution that takes advantage of a powerful available option while being aware of and limiting its potential harms.

Thanks. I can't even imagine not having to fight SVBs after 40 years of growing squash and watching the little monsters ruin them way too early. I used to plant 25 to 40 squash plants in order to have a few still producing by mid June. Now I plant between 4 and 6 and have squash til we are sick of them. The best thing about this solution is it frees up more of my garden for tomatoes and other summer crops.

Bill

[Rockporter]

Originally Posted by b54red

I have no idea if it will work or not. I am a big believer in DE as a pest control but haven't tried it on squash stems to see if it would stop SVBs. I am looking forward to seeing if it works for you. Let us know. Good luck and I hope it does work.

I had high hopes that DE would stop slugs but so far it hasn't seemed to work but nothing else does either. I'm tired of buying slug bait only to cut a cabbage and find the lower portion invaded by an army of slugs while the bait just sits there under the leaves. I guess they just slime right past the bait because they would rather have cabbage.
Bill

I guess I should say I am using it on everything in the garden. I don't have squash growing but I have cantaloupe and I have a watermelon seedling now. I put it on the tomato stems, the bean stems, everything. If I am doing too much, well that is okay because it makes me feel better, lol.

[Gardeneer]

Good discussions .
Like I said , i don't see a big infestation. I hardly see any SB. But every tomato that I pick has SB signature all over it.
I keep flipping leaves, NO SB. But I find and kill quite a few Horn Worms. Those stupid ugly things go all the way to the top of branch and do their work in a "top-to-down " fashion. That makes is so much easier to know where to look for them, find them and smash them.

When the rain stops, I will do some killing with Sevin liquid spray, just the ground ground though.
I've got zillions of grasshppers , tics, and fleas. They seem to be mostly interested in my beans.

[Worth1]

After my sevin dust blitzkrieg the other day I only saw one leaf hopper and it didn't hang around, no baby grasshoppers.
All other good critters are fine.
From untold hundreds to none.
My garden and yard was infested with the darn things..
Worst year ever, I had to do something.
Worth

[Gardeneer]

I just checked the weather forecast:

FRIDAY: sunny
SATURDAY: mostly sunny, w/ 10% chance of precipitation.

Got to do it morrow morning after the dew has evaporated.
Fleas are worse than grasshoppers. My beans ( leaves ) are perforated like a coarse colander. .

UPDATE:
Just an hour ago I made a 1 1/2 gallon solution of Sevin and sprayed my SISTERS garden.
Interestingly, As I was reading the booklet on the bottle , they said that it works on stink bugs too. Woohoo. I drink to that.
I mainly sprayed the soil/mulch not so much the plants except for the beans. I want to kill them not just deter them.