Assasin Bugs on Tomatoes

I have a horrible infestation of assasin bugs sucking the sap out of my tomatoes. I've been stung too many times to count. Does anyone have any advice on the best way to get rid of these pests?

knolan,

Good question. I hope tomato experts here will look at this thread. I have a question myself for tomatoes: how do you keep BIRDS from pecking 1-2 holes in EACH one??? A scarecrow didn't work.

Not sure about the bugs, but I use bird netting I found at Home Depot.

Using Murphy's Oil Soap and Gardens Alive Pyrola for the bugs. Quite successful this year. Just one grape tomato plant has some leaf-footed critters I'm still working on.

One problem with the bird netting - need a cage for it. Last year the tomatoes grew right through it - had to build a canopy and put on another layer. Recovered the first layer when everything died. So far, I have not had a bird problem this year - better folage is hiding the fruit. But when they finally start turning red, the birds may return.

Used to have a great yard cat -master birder and rodent catcher - presents on the patio every week, but now the outdoor cats don't come into the yard - afraid of the dogs, and we don't let the inside cats out enough to be effective birders.

And, the dogs don't care - unless a squirrel in in the yard - then the chase is on.

Like the birds - they help with the insects, but want them to leave the garden alone.

Thanks for the replies.

In answer to your question about keeping the birds away, I read that you can try hanging red christmas balls as a distraction. I haven't tried it myself but I need to. My cats are pretty good about keeping the birds away from the garden beds but not from my fig tree! Think I'll hang the ornaments there.


I'll try the oil soap for the assasins. The stings are very painful and literally "eat a hole" in the skin. I know they're good for aphids but they're eating my tomatoes instead! I've been power spraying every night before I can pick.

Currently I have more tomatoes than I know what to do with...neither one is a problem for me--I have my plants scattered around the landscape...confuses the insects I guess because I'm all organic here. Haven't hardy fertilized or ever sprayed anything this year.
Debbie

Black Prince.

Anybody close by need tomatoes? lol

Can I, Huh?

I would even pay for some. Need any parsley, rosemary, mint, or tri-color sage?

Finally eating a few grapes. Lots of tomatoes, but none turning yet.

I'd really like to dust the buffet....now that I survived the school year.
;)
Debbie

Gonna be a challenge unless you move all that produce:)

This afternoon that sounds too much like work Bubba. But I would like to talk to you about market growing for you starting in the fall some time.
Debbie

I have tomatoes growing out my ears as well.......we've been eating ALOT of bruschetta. I love the pictures of the different varieties. I've only been growing them for 4 years and haven't yet expanded my horizons to any heirlooms or exotics. But my plants are now taller than my fence and even though they are caged....the cup runneth way over.

I usually have a great crop of green beans too but this year I see the flowers but no beans. Found the culprit......my dog has been going out there and eating every one of them (and most likely a couply of racoons and possums).

Picking about 5 lbs. of cucumbers a day and plan to make pickles tomorrow. Hopefully I'll get it right this time. I've already made loquat marmalade, jalapeno jelly and pomegranite champagne jelly (tastes really good!).

My lettuce has had enoug of the heat and I think I'll clear out that bed this weekend for something new. Also, terrible luck with the zuchinni. Maybe 8 and the plants are dying. I'm certain that I overplanted. Okra is becoming bountiful. Plan to pickle it too. Would love recipes is anyone has some to share.

Also, if anyone needs basil, rosemary, mint or oregano....hollar!

Kristi

good year for green beans here too.

lettuce has been history here since March.

This message was edited May 26, 2006 8:08 PM

Debbie,

What type of lettuce are you planting? I planted a variety and had good luck with the Romaine until about two weeks ago. The bed i planted them in receives filtered light from an old pecan tree. Maybe that's why it lasted so long. But the iceberg? Forget it. I've had no luck with that or my spinach (little bugs eat my leaves before it's mature enough to pick and eat). I did plant another variety of lettuce, can't remember the name, but it's kind of spiky with lacy leaves. Believe it or not, that stuff is still going strong! Unfortuneately it's just a little too bitter for the tastebuds in the house so I'm yanking it as well.

Kristi

I plant lettuce from late Oct and never any later than Feb 1st. I usually grow Romaine Verte Mar (my favorite), Red Sails, ButterCrunch (everyone else in the house's favorite), Grand Rapids, Royal Oak Leaf, Salad Bowl, Ruby, Green Ice (another good one in my opinion), Great Lakes 659G (from Willhite Seeds--Poolville TX) does good for me.

Here's bolted lettuce as mulch for me March 15th....lol

But seriously, here's some from Feb....Great lakes front and center.

very nice. where do you get your seed supply from?

From another part of garden--Early Feb--all leaf varieties here.

i like!

My favorite favorite "winter veg" suppliers:
Willhite
Johnny's Select
Parks
Seeds of Change

Summer:
Tomato Growers Supply Co
Willhite
Johnny's
Seeds of Change

your last picture.....right in the front, the lettuce on the left. That's what I have that is still growing very well. I also had some red tipped like your in the back but it's done (and that's my favortite). I've never let them go to seed. Can you tell me what I need to do?

Thanks Kristi--but alas, a fond memory until Oct again.

I also do a couple of cabbage varieties, lots of broccoli, spinich, garlic, raddichio, and arugula in fall.

See 'edible landscapes' thread in vegetable forum...kinda lazy for a link tonight..lol
Deb

sorry we posted at the same time--that's Grand Rapids.

This message was edited May 26, 2006 9:20 PM

lettuce and okra about 2-3 weeks ago. Camera broke last week (the night before daughter's 5th grade graduation).

Tomato pic. to follow

hre's the tomatoes. I didn't plant this bunch until late March so they're not ready yet. I picking about 10/day from my other bed but don't have a pic.

These are already about a foot and a half taller than the fence.

and here's the horse fast food window....with Dominic the ferocious.

Kristi--Is that pic on a west facing fence where it gets shade after about 1 or 2 pm? That's a good place for me to plant. Have these bell peppers where that lettuce was now.

Yup...it's northwest and the picture was taken around 7:00pm.

I have peppers too but alas, I planted too late and no fruit yet. My hiny was lazy in February and it took my grandmother needing a trip to the nursery and Farmer's Market to get up and get going.

cool pics Kristi--cucumbers on the ground or melons?

what Farmer's Market? I'm thinking of getting into market growing--need to get out of the current "employment" I'm in....or at least start thinking about it.

I edited up there in the lettuce--its Grand Rapids

This message was edited May 26, 2006 9:32 PM

close up of baby tomatoes. When I get the camera fixed I'll take a pic. of the assasin bugs....scary little monsters.

Cucumbers. Zuchinni in the corner. Again...way overplanted but I'm learning.

Farmer's Market is on Airline Dr. right off of 610. In the front is Canino Produce and the back is the market. I save a bundle shopping there. My grandmother lives in te heights area and is blind and unable to drive. We try to make a trip every two weeks.

I understand about the "employment" thing. Personally, I quit my computer tech job of 10 years about 5 years ago and worked part time for a small oil and gas company from home and babysat 8-10 children after school up until last year. that's when my green thumb emerged. My garden was started to keep the children busy. Each child chose their favorite vegetable and we made the beds and they planted, weeded and kept the bounties of their hard work. It was wonderful but the contract job dried up and I began to get tired. Back to work full time for a small oil investment firm. Boy I miss being my own boss.

I also started a butterfly garden at my daughter's elementary. What a lot of hard work. Took me over a year to get the principal and teacher to buy in, hoping to recieve a grant from the Urban Harvest Program. The grant requires that the garden directly tie in to TAKS and I never could get a committment from the teachers to help out. The first year the gardne was planted we had about 10 parents come out to help (out of 987 students) and then no interest in the following two years from parents. My husband and I maintained the garden the first year and I had two other volunteers help the following years but there just wasn't the interest from other parents. I wrote a monthly column in our community newsletter and asked for help, sent notes home in every students folder. No luck. We had a garden committee but no one was truly committed. Big disappointment. However, there is one parent who has taken over and has been caring for the garden since spring. But no one helps her. She's done a beautiful job. I just hope that the legacy can somehow continue.

School Gardens....interesting subject. Marylyn, are you lurking on this thread? lol

wish i knew about this website when i was planning the garden. I mainly got information from the Ft. Bend Extension Service and searches on community gardens.

We also grew caterpillars here at home and released them when they became butterflies. It was awesome. Next, we did tadpoles in an aquarium and watched them grow legs and turn into little toads. It was a great learning experience. Think I'd like to grow the butterflies again.

Just wanted to correct a misconception. Assassin bugs do not eat tomato plants. They eat only other insects. The bugs that eat (suck the juice from) tomatos are stinkbugs. And stinkbugs don't eat aphids. So don't feel bad about doing away with them!
Another suggestion for saving your tomatoes from the birds: Since tomatoes ripen from the inside out, when you see them start to blush, pick them and let them finish ripening inside - safe from the birds. They will taste just as good. (Actually better, because they won't have any holes in them!)
CJ

So, is it Stink Bugs that are stinging me? I didn't know they had the capability.

I thought they were stink bugs when I first saw them but, over the years, as I've watched them grow, I'm unsure. The life cycle starts off with red nymphs with black legs. As they grow, the body becomes black with a red triangle at the base of their tail. At full maturity, yes, they lool like stink bugs. I've been reluctant to smush one, simply because I don't like smushing, but when it has accidentally happened, the normal stench of the stinkbug has not been observed on the bugs that are nesting on my tomatoes. And, looking at the fruit, you can see where the colony lived and "sucked" on the fruit. The areas of infestation will generally produce an indention in the fruit with hard, black spots that I can only describe as plaques. Underneath the areas of infestations on the fruit, a blackened fruit and seed area will appear. I feel the need to cut these areas off before we eat.

I've observed the bugs eating aphids in my garden and have welcomed them. But htey're messing with my tomatoes and that riles me.

Kristi

Those are two different bugs. And yes, both of them can bite you. They both have a straw-like mouth part that they use to puncture their prey with (assassin bug's prey is other insects; stink bug's prey is veggies, fruits, flowers...). They inject an enzyme that helps to break down the matter so they can slurp it up easily. That hurts! And that's what causes those little hard bumps in your tomatoes.

BTW, the nymph (youth) stage of the common assassin bug we see and the leaf-footed bug both have red bodies with black legs. But the back legs of the leaf-footed bugs quickly becomes wider - hence the name leaf-footed. The adult assassin bug (most common one) has a red body with black legs. The adult stink bug looks quite different. But the key in telling them apart is to look at what they're eating.

devious devils! carnivores and vegans.

I'll pay much closer attention to their diet and report back. Thanks for the info. ...... this is what I'm looking for.

Gotta agree with CJ about picking the tomatoes before they are fully ripe. Although this would be blasphemy on the tomato forum...lol. Some of these hard rocks are still turning.

And birds clearly don't care for green tomatoes.

Debbie - I am so glad to see your tomato still standing next to your RC vine. It looks so healthy and is loaded with tomatoes! Sure wish you lived closer! We only planted two this year - Juliet and Sweet Chelsea - and neither of those are slicers.
And I don't know why that would be blasphemy, but I haven't checked out the tomato forum. That's what the Extension tomato experts teach. I've found it to be true, and that's what I do. And that's the truth! Thhppp! (or however you spell that sound that Edith Ann makes)
We used to live in Denver (in a past lifetime) and the season there is very short. We planted in June and harvested the first week of September. That meant lots of green tomatoes. We would wrap them in paper and put them in the basement - then bring them into the light of the kitchen to finish ripening as we needed them. Tomatoes don't last all winter like squash, but it helped to string them out a little, and that was the only way we were going to get ripe tomatoes. Oh, the hardship of it all! LOL