cmajors
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Egg clusters on my Tomato & Squash plants

Can anyone tell me what these might be? I haven't seen too may insects in my garden except ants... There were a lot of moths early this year but these are popping up frequently and I haven't seen any moths lately...

[img]https://i758.photobucket.com/albums/xx228/cmajors2/2012%20Garden/photo.png[/img]

Thanks

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hendi_alex
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Leaf footed bug. Very damaging to squash, zucchini, and tomatoes. Get them under control in a hurry, or they will over run your plants.

cmajors
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How do I kill them? I have already given up organic this last week to kill spider-mites - A bad case of them too! I used Malathion for the spider-mites & Immunox for my squash's powerdy mildew. So I'll use gasoline if it will kill them and not kill my plants!

cynthia_h
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Squash the eggs with your fingers as soon as you see them. Very organic, very effective. :twisted: And non-combustible, too! :D

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

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rainbowgardener
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cmajors wrote:How do I kill them? I have already given up organic this last week to kill spider-mites - A bad case of them too! I used Malathion for the spider-mites & Immunox for my squash's powerdy mildew. So I'll use gasoline if it will kill them and not kill my plants!
Wow... straight to the big guns. Did you try anything else on your spider mites before you went for the Malathion?

Organic spider mite control:

Spider mites thrive in hot and dry, dusty. Simplest thing to try is to thoroughly mist/ spray your plants with very cold water a couple times a day.

If that isn't working fast enough for you, mix rubbing alcohol in the water 50:50. With anything you spray on plants except pure water, it's always good to test it on a couple plants first, but it is said that the alcohol evaporates very fast and doesn't harm the plants.

Neem oil, insecticidal soap, including home made soap sprays.

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applestar
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Malathione is so STINKY! How can you bearto put it on your edible plants? :x

BTW these could be stink bug eggs too. If they hatch you'll find a bunch of little red bugs if leaf footed or bunch of little black bugs if stink bugs. Squish the eggs and little ones while they stay clustered, before they spread out. Both bugs are easier to squish after spraying the foliage with WATER.

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hendi_alex
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I figure that the newly hatched nymphs are very fragile and must have food almost immediately after hatching. Using that as my premise, I simply remove any eggs, usually by tearing a small patch of leave with the eggs, and then toss the eggs a few feet from the garden. I don't think that there is a chance of the small freshly hatched bugs actually making several feed to find a host plant. They probably must be in contact with the host plant in order to have a fair chance at survival.

I usually water the entire plant during the morning. This makes both adults and nymphs start to move, but very lethargically. I believe that I get close to 90% or better kill rate using that technique. Just a day or two and the bugs are culled down to almost nothing. Wish that other pests were so easily handled.

The leaf footed buts that affect tomato plants are much more mobile and more difficult to catch and squish. Still, that is my primary method of control for them as well. A cold stream of water in morning or early afternoon, followed by a squishing attack on any visible leaf footed bugs or on any shield shield bugs.



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