Oh wait...
Posted on 05/22/2011 3:10:09 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued
An insect with a voracious appetite, no domestic natural predators and a taste for everything from apples to lima beans has caused millions of dollars in crop damage and may just be getting started.
The brown marmorated stink bug, a three-quarter-inch invader native to Asia, is believed to have been brought first to the Allentown, Pa., area in 1998. The bug began appearing in mid-Atlantic orchards in 2003-04 and exploded in number last year.
This spring, stink bugs have been seen in 33 states, including every one east of the Mississippi River and as far west as California, Oregon and Washington.
"All that we do know for certain is that a tremendously large population went into overwintering in fall 2010. So, if they survived, there could be a very large population emerging in the spring," said Tracy Leskey, a research entomologist at the U.S. Agriculture Department's Appalachian Fruit Research Station in Kearneysville W.Va.
Growers in the mid-Atlantic region have reported the worst problems, and the apple industry appears hit hardest, with $37 million in damage to growers in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia, according to the U.S. Apple Association. That's about 18 percent of the Mid-Atlantic crop.
Mark Seetin, the association's director of regulatory and industry affairs, called it the worst threat to farmers he's see in his 40 years in agriculture.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Where’s the best places to look for the eggs and immature insects?
I don’t know that we’ve had any problem with stink bugs around here yet (Central NY) but do want to keep my eyes open for them and see what I can do for treating them.
I will be stocking up on DE in any event.
I saw an especially pretty variety of multiflora some years back and tried to propagate it; luckily that failed. My source plant they evidently got rid of with Roundup, but I've seen more of it, not a worry if you don't grow roses.
I learned all this on a garden group and was warned by my friend about the jap beetles, sure enough, they showed up that year right on schedule, first experience with them.
The YouTube link on #13 shows one eating a stink bug.
Looks like they may be.
Mine were meant as a /jk.
It must be me.
I thought anyone could tell them apart easily.
BTW, my father is a Grand Master Gardener of The Most High. If you are interested, I could ask him for advice on how to deal with the nasties. He also has his Master's in Agronomy, and spent his whole life in agriculture. So he knows his stuff.
Have you tried Malathion?
I think Parathion was banned. And Monitor 4 Spray may have been banned. Monitor is some nasty stuff. We asked the spray pilot one day how you could tell if you got a dose. He said oh, you just stop breathing.
Oh wait...
It has a hopper for the DE and a hand crank that turns a cage type blower fan. The DE comes out in a wispy cloud. Wear a dust mask.
I have seen the DE sold at Lowe's it also has baits and other stuff added into it.
If you want to be pinged on this kind of stuff just let me know. I host the Weekly Gardening Thread here at FR and maintain the ping list.
The gardening thread is posted every Friday morning and is active until the next Friday's post.
Weekly Gardening Thread
Ahhh, might be the bugs and not the birds.
I’m in North Central Texas. Could be those bugs doing damage on my tomatoes.
I’m using vegetable spray religiously this year top and bottom of the leaves, I check daily, spray every 3 days and rinse off the tops the next day or two.
I need to check the label for stinkie kill.
Diatomaceous Earth seems to be about the only thing that will kill boxelder bugs, too. I was up to my arse in those earlier this year. They kept getting “lost” and invading the house by the dozens! I did some sealing up of my exterior and put DE around outside in my stony borders. It took a week to have the desired effect, but I really think it has helped. I almost never see them inside now, and the masses outside have been decimated. Good stuff.
Just be sure you use the “food grade” stuff or some that is labeled for garden use, and not the DE that is used in pool filter media. The pool filter variety of DE is heat-treated, causing it to lose its efficacy (its microscopic sharp edges which cut the bugs and cause them to dehydrate and die).
Is your father a FReeper?
That dustin-mizer thing looks frickin’ awesome! Where did you get it?
I’ve been using a “puffer style” pump duster, which works OK but isn’t exactly ideal. Sometimes it belches out too much dust at once.
Mine are gray and I can usually smell them within a few feet.
I answered my own question with a quick Googling...
For the interested, Google ‘dustin mizer’.
Here’s the first hit:
http://www.gardenharvestsupply.com/productcart/pc/Dustin-Mizer-Garden-Duster-with-Deflector-p87.htm
See post 66
LOL Just about covers it.
I wonder of the little boy in the middle got his head chopped off for not bowing down?
Where can I go to get Weekly Gardening Thread besides entering Weekly Gardening Thread in the search?
Thanks. Menards has started carrying 4 pound bags of DE as well.
Search on the net for it. They are a little expensive. I bought mine at a local seed and feed store. I went in looking for the old style pump sprayer - the kind I remember gardeners used to use to dust sulpher on roses and such. The guy said he stopped selling them because he got to many complaints and showed me the Dustin-Mizer.
Yes he is. Sort of. Kind of. In spirit. He doesn’t own a computer. Hates the damn things. Same way I feel about cell phones. I know he uses Sevin and Malathion both. Had something else he would use on occasion. But that was mostly to keep someone’s dog from digging in his garden. Umm...I better stop there...;-)
By all means, please add me to your ping list, please.
I watched the video; that was a good idea, too, would try to tape in a low watt electric bulb soas not to have to buy more batteries.
I don't know if DE would be cost effective for farmers but forewarned is fore-armed.
We were talking about getting rid of soybean mold which requires a fungicide. Probably not cost effective, but thought why not hydrogen peroxide in the right strength? It's good for the plants, too. So then I find the Amish spray it on string bean plants after they've picked the first crop; the bean plants will flower again and produce more beans, probably not as many. I know that regular drugstore peroxide diluted one part hyd per to 9 parts of water worked wonders on some of my seedlings.
Any beans I've ever grown, no prob, just find something for them to climb on if I want a lot.
Back to farmers and stink bugs, I'll have to do more research on that. Been watching a lot of vids about farmers that get high yields. One contest winner got huge yields of soybeans (and corn, different strategy). For the beans, he treats the seeds with some root stimulant, then burns them down to the ground. Then they branch more, analogous to a gardener pinching back plants to get more branching and flowers but I don't pinch them back to the ground, would try it on a test patch first.
I put everything I've found out on this board so we can be brainstormng, working with a tight budget this year but can make room for one of those dusters. Thanks so much!
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