Aphids do not discriminate

[River]

My pink eye purple hull peas and my crowder peas are covered up with aphids.
It's doubtful that enough beneficial insects will get it under control.

Plus the stink bugs showed up earlier this year and have really affected a lot of folks growing
Tomatoes,

[imafan26]

My beans are usually loaded with aphids too. Mine have black aphids and not green ones so the ladybugs don't care for them as much. I just keep hosing them off. the beans usually still keep producing. I try to avoid spraying any parts I might want to eat. Sometimes when I plant a little later I have better luck. More predators are around and the aphids move one since there are fewer plants with new growth. However, they do get replaced with spider mites in the hot dry weather. Sometimes, you just can't win.

[rainbowgardener]

Aphids aren't so bad. Unless the plant is getting really covered in them, healthy plants can withstand a fair amount of aphid activity. If you have a small garden, you can just go over your plants with a gloved hand and squish a bunch of them. IME often they don't come back after that - I speculate that the squished bodies of their companions serves as a warning, but that's just a story I made up. Aphids are soft bodied, so they are susceptible to being sprayed with a soapy water solution (use real soap, not detergent, which can burn your plants).

Stinkbugs are a whole different level of pest! Amaranth and okra are trap crops for them, also crimson clover and vetch, sorghum, millet, buckwheat, and sunflower, mustard Grow some near your regular crops (starting early, so the trap crop is pretty well growing, by the time the tomatoes or whatever are planted). Then watch your trap crop closely for stinkbugs. When you see them, just pull the plant and bag it. If you put the bag in the sun and leave it for awhile until the bugs are cooked, you probably could compost the plant.

Otherwise early in the season keep a close eye on the underside of leaves and watch for stinkbug egg clusters.



depending on your variety of bug, they can be pearly, bronzy-orange, greenish etc, but always laid tightly packed. When you find them, remove the leaf with eggs and destroy.

In the long run, ladybugs, lacewings and other insects prey on the eggs and birds, toads and other critters will eat the bugs. You want to have lots of the kinds of flowers that attract beneficial insects and lots of bird feeders, bird baths, etc to keep birds around through the winter. The aim is to have your garden eco-system pretty well in balance, but that doesn't happen in a season.

[River]

Yep I have been smushing them up. I have a major infestation but between yesterday and this am I have gone thru and I will check it out tomorrow.

[rainbowgardener]

When talking about stinkbug control, I should have mentioned that one of the easiest/ most effective is just sucking them up with a hand vacuum, like a Dirt Devil or Shark or whatever. But if you are going to do this, have a dedicated garden vacuum, don't bring it back in the house. They are called stinkbugs for a reason and your vacuum will smell nasty!

[Susan W]

Aphid infestations can be (are) horrible. This is one reason most people don't grow brussel sprouts here, or after trying once or twice, don't bother. After the hard water spray, soap and water, and if still going strong, perhaps time to re-group! As for spray, can try the pyrethrin (Schultz, Garden Safe etc). As a side not the females are born pregnant, so hard to stop the reproductive cycle. If you decide to pull up the plants, I'd suggest to trash baggie them, and note that eggs and more are in the soil. Ughhhh!!!!! I'm wondering if the bad infestations more common in our warmer zones. Just thinking out loud.

[sweetiepie]

[quote="Susan Ughhhh!!!!! I'm wondering if the bad infestations more common in our warmer zones. Just thinking out loud.[/quote]
Last year was the first year I had any problems with aphids. Never having to deal with them before, I did not release what was causing my problems. The aphids we have fly away when you approach so I could not clearly see what they were since they were so tiny and my garden was at it's fullest. I first tryed spraying and could not see where I was making a dent. I got ladybugs and completely moved out of the garden. This year they were eating the crop as it emerged. So I got ladybugs right away. Hoping they can contain it. So No not just a southern thing, nasty bug.

[Susan W]

sp, thanks for aphid update from the frozen north country. Perhaps with an infestation, one needs an army of lady bugs.

[River]

When talking about stinkbug control, I should have mentioned that one of the easiest/ most effective is just sucking them up with a hand vacuum, like a Dirt Devil or Shark or whatever. But if you are going to do this, have a dedicated garden vacuum, don't bring it back in the house. They are called stinkbugs for a reason and your vacuum will smell nasty!

I have looked at those on the Internet. You would have to be retired and like hanging out all day in the garden. Here in mobile by July u might as well give up. U are not going to win.

[pepperhead212]

I just went out today to discover that I had black aphids all over the undersides of my okra leaves! They were not on anything next to them, just the okra, so I sprayed them down with Safer 3 in 1, and I uncovered my peppers, to see if the aphids had spread to those (the peppers covered with light agribon to prevent pepepr maggots are very prone to these), but fortunately, no sign of them anywhere. No sign of any live ladybugs, either, which I had put under there to prevent these. I let the rest loose in the rest of my garden, but they must have stayed away from the okra! I also sprayed the peppers, as a precautionary, and dusted them with DE, and re-covered them. I have to watch them closely, now that I know they are around.

[rainbowgardener]

When talking about stinkbug control, I should have mentioned that one of the easiest/ most effective is just sucking them up with a hand vacuum, like a Dirt Devil or Shark or whatever. But if you are going to do this, have a dedicated garden vacuum, don't bring it back in the house. They are called stinkbugs for a reason and your vacuum will smell nasty!

I have looked at those on the Internet. You would have to be retired and like hanging out all day in the garden. Here in mobile by July u might as well give up. U are not going to win.

Well probably you are not going to win against stinkbugs no matter what. But if you water thoroughly at the base of the plant, you will suddenly discover how many stinkbugs you have, because they will start climbing up, away from the water. That's a good time to vacuum them.