Tomatoes and Stink Bugs

Howdy y'all. I am wondering what happened and if there is anything I can do now to get rid of a pest - stinkbugs.

A couple days ago, I went out and harvested a few tomatoes from the jungle that I call my tomato plants. These are some MASSIVELY healthy and annoyingly humongous plants that have been growing like wildfire and attempting to take over the entire yard. Since they are so healthy, I've been pretty much ignoring them other than the occasional caging attempt, and (of course) watering.

Last night, however, when I went out to get some more tomatoes, I was all but attacked by stink bugs. We are not talking the cute little ones that are annoying to squish, but seem reasonably harmless. We are talking Texas sized, inch long, but looked like they were four feet long, type. And a swarm of them. Like as in, one or two on each tomato and all through the leaves and all over the plants. Seriously, it was like something from a horror movie, there were so many of them. And these were definitely stink bugs (which by the way I did not know could fly, nor did I realize that they click at you when they are dive bombing your hair).

So, my questions are:

- What the heck? Why do I suddenly have an entire swarm of the bloody things on there?
- How can I get rid of them, preferably in a reasonably organic manner?
- Does this infestation mean that my tomatoes are suddenly really unhealthy?

Thank you, in advance for any and all advice offered.

Stink bugs are spawned in hell and only attack really good healthy crops and are the devil to get rid of. They all fly and all stink and all puncture and mess up garden stuff. I'm not organic so can't help you there. I use a pyretharoid to spray mine, brand label Pounce. You have to buy it at a farm chemical outlet. I like it because it kills instantly especially stink bugs and in one hour it is gone. It is expensive because you can't buy less than a gallon but it is cheap in the long run because it only takes an ounce per gallon of water. Might have to find someone with a pesticide license to buy it for you if you decide to go that route. I use what ever it takes, I don't eat after my wife and I'm sure not going to eat after a stink bug.

They only ... attack healthy? Ye flipping cats! I thought that the key to a pest free garden was what I was doing!

I am totally taking your advice because I want my tomatoes - and while I PREFER organic, I have no compunctions about using non-organic means if that is the only way to go.

I ha ve heard & read that there is an epidemic of bugs this year. Something about the weather this year. I have an epidemic of pill bugs, catapilliars,scorpions. Seems like the birds are eating out of seed hangings & not eating the bugs.

Knock on wood, but so far all I've had is loopers that attack my cabbage and a few black aphids on my cukes. My wife did find some kind of striped beetle on my potatoes this morning so will probably give a preventative shot of poison tomorrow.

" . . . the key to a pest free garden . . .". No such thing.

Mother nature will take her share, no matter what - sometimes more, sometimes less. "Organic" or not, it's all the same to her.

This message was edited May 28, 2010 12:11 PM

Where I live, it you don't live with a poison gun in your hand, you never get a bean or a pea. Tomatoes, peppers, okra, chard and the rest I usually don't have a problem. Last year I had a lot of aphids but found that good soapy water usually wiped them out.

My garden is loaded with bugs. I thought because it was cold for so long and we had a late freeze we would have less bugs, but they are worse then ever. The pill bugs are everywhere. My plants have been stripped by the Colorado Potato Beetle and I just came in from the garden and some more plants have been eaten (blooms and leaves) by a horned worm, I know because I killed him organically. I picked it off and stepped on it. I also have those catapillers that roll up in the leaves. Looks like I may have to spray also.

Lisa,

I think I remember that you were trying to stay organic. I've been keeping the bugs under control with Carbaryl (Sevin 5%) which is a fairly mild chemical insecticide and neem oil, which is officially organic. I use the Sevin with a "Dustin Mizer" which creates a nice aerosol powder. I apply only very early in the morning (before sunrise) and the dew binds the dust to the plants. I spray the neem oil in solution with water, and try to drench everything. Hopefully the neem will control the spider mites. That was my most serious pest last year.

David R

The secret of controling the bugs is to stay on top of it. You have to break the hatch out cycle. Good luck.

David-only the starts I sell are organic Z(naturally grown). I don't garden organically. I used sevin dust in my garden and neem, also. I just didn't want to start a big debate on organic v. inorganic. Anyway, I thought SM wouldn't be a problem because they don't like wet cond. but now that it has stopped raining they maybe a problem again.
Thanks for the info

BUG B GONE FROM YOUR GARDEN SPRAY
THE NATURAL WAY
6 Jalapeños
4 Cloves of Garlic
1 Yellow (Hot) Onion
1 Cup of Ground /Crushed Red Pepper
*Grind all ingredients in blender let set.
* Boil 4 Quarts of water to raging boil.
Put Ingredients in one (1) Gallon (Wide Mouth) Jug or Equivalent.
Pour Hot water in on top, let stand 48 hours.
Strain mix through panty hose.(NOT wife’s good ones! Ya could get hurt)
Mix will yield one gallon that can be mixed in 2 ½ gal sprayer.(Add cool water to fill line)
***Spray New and growing plants until fruit starts to grow well.
There is not a bug or critter around that will bother you garden.
*** The Bees don’t Care****

I am so very much going to start making that mixture. If nothing else, I bet it would be good on salad.... well, not really.

I know tht there is no such thing as a 100% pest free garden - but most of the time, if the plants are super healthy, then the number of pests is minimal. Heck, even my strawberries only get one or two slugs on them. That's why the stink bugs surprised me so much. I expect one or two critters now and again, but not a massive fleet of them, bent on destruction.

I was thinking the same thing. That mixture would never make it to my garden, I would eat it first.

lol it works just make sure you strain it well first so it dont clog the sprayer. I live in Tennessee

I have heard many times that if your garden is healthy you won't have a lot of bugs. That may hold true elsewhere, but not in TX. This is the buggest place I have ever seen, and the bugs are huge. Some of the flying bugs look like Lear Jets.

that goes both ways though the bigger the bugs the bigger the harvest . it was like this for the last two years here in Tennessee sort of odd but the Good Lord provides for the critters as well the trees were over bearring with fruit befor winter and we did have a heaver winter than usual and the grass lands and gardens are growing about double around here so one could reason that it would be a good idea to store for a hard time to come .

Hastur - I've never experienced a stink bug invasion, so don't feel the best one to give advise about how to get rid of them. Personally, I've never gardened any way except the "organic way" because I'm a great believer in letting nature take it's own course, with a little "organic" help from me.

Perhaps you could try knocking off the stink bugs into a bucket of soapy water? This is how I control Japanese beetles.

Is there a preditor that likes them? I don't think birds will eat them. I seem to remember reading that they taste unpleasant to birds.

You could say that I am a little nuts for gardening. When I go out into my garden , I wear long socks, tennis shoes, long pants, long sleeve shirt, gloves,cream on my face. Because, I may get poison ivy, mosquitoes attack my arms & legs, fire ants will get to my feet & legs, & the dry sun attacks my face. I also have to watch for Asps, which are stinging catapillars, & we have spotted some Scorpion. The Wasps & Yellow Jackets, & Bumble Bees aren't too bad because I am used to them. I have been stung by them as a child so I know how to watch for them. I might have to get myself an army tank to garden in the furture.

behillman-what state are you in? sounds like it might be TX.

lol yep I remember Ft.Hoot TX them Skeeters had their own landing crew when they bit you and if they did not finish drinking from you you better hopt your buddys were paying attention to you cause they would try to carry you off and Finish the Job you could see folks looken pail from the sketers sucken blood from them LOL. did not like Ft, HOOD that much .

behillman - I'm the opposite - I wear as little as possible - just some short-shorts, tee-shirt, plastic slip-on shoes, gloves, and a cap. I must taste bad, 'cause I rarely get bitten by anything, and I used to keep 30+ stands of bees when I lived in South Florida, so they sure don't scare me.

Scorpions would hang-out under the bee hive covers, so I learned to avoid them, and spiders are a gardeners best friend. I must be one of the few people on the planet that's not bothered by poison ivy.

honey bee you can have my part of the PI I dont like it and would fly 10,000 miles to avoid it .LOL thats a job for any one but me i get the Eraser spray out and spray it Full strength on that stuff as for the critters i'll hunt for them i love them any kind i hace all kinds snakes spiders scorpions you name it no problem . finely got pictures of the Garden Imposable up on my blog if folks are interested yes the veggies look small but hay it awesome after all the fighten i had to do to get it out .... and the good Lord has blessed it this far so i'm greatful.

I can't wait to try that bug spray!! Stink bugs are from hell. I had a really bad case a few years ago. Now I do companion gardening. I plant onions near my tomatoes along with chamomile and other plants that work as natural insecticides. I also use neem oil to keep certain pests away and keep leaves looking healthy!

Good luck
rae
http://landscaping.about.com/od/pestcontrol/p/neem_oil.htm

Rae, try this one it has a lot of good info on it too .

http://www.ghorganics.com/page2.html


these's are my lil cherry maters from seeds not ready for the garden yet

Sgt Yates - that's quite a field you have. Does you family eat everything you grow, or do you sell some of it?

My neighbor had a black snake in her house a couple of weeks ago. I managed to find it, but didn't want to harm it trying to get it out from where it was hiding, so she called an expert. I wanted him to leave it in my garden, but he said he had to take it with him.

I sure would have liked that snake to take care of the voles and ground squirrels that are making a pest of themselves this year!

Well Honeybee this year is the very first year this ground has been turned in 20+ years and we tilled ant cleared it and planted it in just a short time . it started out as the Garden Imposable and Now it is the Garden Made Possible By The Grace Of God My Neighbor always has shared his bounty with my family and my mother and father in law . however, my mother in law has passed so I guess we will be doing the putting up for poppy this year. And we have a few brothers that will be receiving some of the bounty as well. Then there is another two famileys that are close to us that both my neighbor and I help out that will get some too we do not sell mush of the veggies but his dad is 87 and does sell a few next to the road throughout the season and we still have plenty it’s awesome . with our small town it’s nice to beable to help folks out and know whats right. And I wish I could have had the snake too but whan I got the 18th one the wife said no more lol

baby carrots are looking good he he he

Sgt Yates - I like the spacing of your carrots. Me - I just throw out the seed and they grow in a crowded mess!

Now I know why you have such a large garden with that big family of yours. I just have hubby and myself. Our daughter and son-in-law live a half-mile from us, but for some reason they never take us up on the offer of free fresh vegetables. I do take extras into work to share, but mostly I freeze the excess for our winter enjoyment. I purchased a freezer last year.

them are planted with the Tp method it wotks well . I dont do the frezzzze thing on root vegges I made a root storeing system the old ways of doing things dry straw veggies not touching veggies dry sand straw veggies sand layered like that ina lg wash tub no veggies touch the tub or each other and to the root cellar holds all winter the new tubs (last year were made of wood ) toung and grove style and they stack on runners so they dont crush the one the sit on .something to think about and their like picken them out of the garden year round ~;>)

My mother stored apples and potatoes in layers of cork. Goodness knows where she found cork, but it worked. Every day when I came home from school, I grabbed an apple.

She stored green beans in layers of salt. We didn't have refrigerators back then. I grew up in England.

Believe it or not you can still get ground cork for storing food and root veggies and fruits LOL the salt trick is still used today in preserving foods of many sorts

Sgt Yates - it's a shame that so many young gardeners don't know about the old "tricks" of food preservation. It may not be the "best way" but in times of strife, you never know what might come in useful.

so true HB but it works and it's good LOL

sgt yates

Thanks! I wish you were my neighbor you're so knowledgeable!!! I love reading your posts!

your welcome hun there are sevral folks on here that are real nice and wellversed on the old ways i'll help you any way i can and they will too just holler at us Darlen we dont mind the old ways are too good to lose and if we keep them going they wont die ~;{>)