speedster7926
Senior Member
Posts: 130
Joined: Tue May 18, 2010 11:10 pm
Location: southport FL

Help I'm being invaded by the leaf footed bugs (stink bugs)

I walk out to my garden and I get bombarded by fleeing leaf footed bugs they are eating my tomatoes. they are everywhere and when I either scare them , kill them, or just graze them I get sprayed and it stinks what can I do and where do I get it

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rainbowgardener
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 25279
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
Location: TN/GA 7b

Wow... very nasty!!

For future reference ( a little late now), intersperse aromatic plants through your garden, including marigolds, radishes, mint, garlic, onions, tansy. Helps repel the stink bugs and other bugs and keep them away from your tomatoes and other things.

Now that you have them you can try Neem oil, Safer insecticidal soap, or a hot pepper-garlic spray. (Type garlic pepper spray into the search the forum feature for a variety of recipes.)

Brand D NATURALS
Full Member
Posts: 23
Joined: Sun Jul 18, 2010 11:08 pm
Location: Leesburg, Ga

I too have been invaded by leaf footed bugs as well as the shield type stink bugs on just about everything in my garden. The tomatoes and field peas and green beans have suffered the most damage. As a matter of fact, the leaf footed bugs have completely destroyed nearly all of my beans and peas. I planted several different types in succession, hoping to have a continuous supply all season. We have only had enough for a couple of meals.
The shield shaped stink bugs seem pretty slow and can be knocked off of the plant into a cup of soapy water where they meet their end pretty quickly. The leaf footed bugs are much faster and fly much better, so I have spent alot of time with a spray bottle of soapy water, stalking them all over the garden. They do not like to be wet, so if you water the plants from the top, a few minutes later, they will start coming out to dry themselves and you can get quite a few with the soapy solution. It has been an ongoing battle. They got a huge head start on me and getting the upper hand has been a challenge. Good luck in your "war with the bugs".

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applestar
Mod
Posts: 30514
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

I haven't tried it, but doesn't this sound like the perfect scenario for shop vac'ing?

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Ozark Lady
Greener Thumb
Posts: 1862
Joined: Tue Jan 05, 2010 5:28 pm
Location: NW Arkansas, USA zone 7A elevation 1561 feet

Round three of my battle with them, involves, DE.

I bought a new 5 pound bag of food grade DE, just yesterday!
I haven't seen a single ladybug, or praying mantis all year, just budworms, cutworms, hornworms, stink bugs, cucumber beetles, harlequin bugs, bag worms, grasshoppers, a weird looking grasshopper and the list of bad guys goes on.
Time to get mean! Frogs are the only ally I have in this battle, and birds and DE shouldn't hurt either of those.

I sprayed all 4 garden areas with Bt yesterday, the worms are taking over! With the other bugs to share the bounty with. At this rate I will not get my fair share at all.

With only a few bugs, I live and let live, but this is an invasion!



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