STINK BUGS!!!

LOL
well, i feel bad telling you all to run out and get something and then it doesn't work for you. you know how we florida folks talk a good story.......but it won't hold water in texas! ROF

No worries, Track!

I know you were only trying to help!

Hugs!

it makes a nice dog shampoo.......sigh.

No dog. But, I might try washing my hair with it!

They didn't like the rifle butt too much either....SQUISH!!!

I wouldn't dare use a lighter in the garden - too many dry leaves everywhere!

You should'a seen me trying to snuff out burning poofs! of stinkbug last summer as they wafted ever so slowly downward, onto those dried patches of grass!

I created a whole new war dance on the spot. Thank GOD, it rained within minutes of my insanity!!!

And, afterwards, I thought to myself, "so, this is how forest fires start!"

I don't think I've told this story...

It was either fall or early winter and I was working in the garden. I smelled smoke, but didn't take much notice because I knew that various neighbors were using their fireplaces. I carried on busy, busy, busy. When I looked up I realized I was surrounded by wood-smoke!

Decided I better find the source "just in case" - got to the south/west corner of our lot and realized the smoke was coming from a neighbor's house to the rear of our property. Ran in the house, grabbed the 'phone and dialed 911. Tried to explain that the fire was in the next street, and not at our house. When they asked what the house number was, I very calmly replied: "You'll know which house it is, it's the one with smoke coming from the rear!"

Evidently, the neighbor had thrown some "not-so-dead" ashes into a pile of leaves right outside of her backdoor. She had no idea that the side of her house and deck were in danger. If I hadn't been in the garden that day, who knows what the "end story" would have been.

WOW!

i've used the regular, the peppermint, the lavender, the eucalyptus, the citrus. they all work the same in the killing for me.
i hate killing spiders but we do get a big Southern House Spider inside once in a while and it kills them too. normally, spiders are harder to kill than other insects, imho.

so your bugs are dying and ours are not, and we're using the same thing. let's figure out this mystery ...
tell me again exactly how you're mixing it. what measure are you using? what type sprayer? are you misting them or blasting off the leaves? I'll start over Saturday .

ok. i have a squirt bottle, 16 oz. that has the twist nozzle where you can turn it to off, then mist, then some heavier mist and finally a stream....typical bottle i buy at the grocery store or garden center. i turn the nozzle until it is somewhere in between. you want coverage over the whole bug. not a blast that makes them jump or fly off but a soaking "shower". i usually pump it twice for total coverage of a large bug. i add 1 tablespoon to the bottle of water and shake it up. i don't fill the bottle to the top with water, just to where the neck starts.
i realize this method isn't feasible for a million bugs..you'd be filling every couple of minutes but it is a good "spot" control method.
i also have a one gallon pump up sprayer from ACE hardware. i add water to the one gallon fill line and add a third of a cup of bronner's, shake it up and spray for larger areas. i set the nozzle basically the same as on the little bottle. you want the bug or bugs to stay put and be covering. it almost looks like a foam when i spray a bug.
we'll get those suckers yet!!! LOL
i dearly love the little bottle for instant gratification.....

Ok. I have a spray bottle, but mine is a bit smaller than 16 oz. More like 8-10 oz. I'll mix more tomorrow with 1 Tbsp. and go after them again.

There IS good news. Even though I'm still seeing the buggies on the old leaves (the leaves look sort of speckled...), there are NEW leaves coming out fast! So, the Dr. Bronner's may be giving the plant enough relief from the buggies for it to grow past them.

Apart from the speckled leaves, the plant does look fine. Maybe the buggies aren't doing any damage at all, and I just think they should be gone away?

Thanks!

I didn't go heavier than 1/4 cup to a gallon.

I accidentally discovered a cool, weird way to get rid of the stinkbugs.

When I go out to harvest, my roommate comes with me, with her "bee-bammer". It's one of those electrified fly swatter/badmitton racket looking things. She basically watches for aggressive wasps for me, as I am allergic, and while I don't mind sharing with vespids as a rule, I can't have one actually sting me.

Well, I reached for a tomato, and a stinkbug came zipping out. After the initial "incoming!" scream and determining that it's just a stinkbug and not a wasp, she had the clever idea of turning it on, and shaking the tomatoes with it. I swear that it sounded like she was cooking popcorn in there! After about 3 minutes, there were no more zaps, so, with trepidation, I went to collect the tomatoes. There were about a billion and one carcasses on the ground, but I did not get buzzed when I was harvesting.

Best of all, she came out with me a few days later and did the shaking of the bushes with the bee-bammer again, and there were only a few pops. It was great!

So, an alternative, that may be slightly less flammable, might be the electric swatter thingy. It definitely worked for us!

Ok. I just googled the bug zappers, and this looks promising for next tomato season!

Thanks!

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=mosquito+electric+zapper&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=12963246848&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13167699422074475741&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&ref=pd_sl_2m6sxyu18j_b

Happy to help! For what it is worth, I DID try to kill off the nymphs in the spring, but I was not doing very well at it, and got tired of them hiding from me. I'm ecstatic that the bee-bammer seems to be working.

I got a bunch of tomatoes yesterday, and we only killed off a few of the stinkers.

I looked up bug zapper at Amazon but there were several brands. Which one do you have, Hastur?

http://www.amazon.com/Charcoal-Companion-Amazing-Bug-Zapper/dp/B00008GS96/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341586900&sr=8-1&keywords=battery+powered+electric+fly+swatter

That looks like the right one.

This one http://www.amazon.com/Koolatron-Lentek-Biteshield-RZ02-Electronic/dp/B000H7CUSQ/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t seemed to get better reviews than the Charcoal Companion and several people said they liked it better than the CC for specific reasons.

I wonder if it would get squash bugs...

I'm adding this one to my Amazon wish list.

http://www.amazon.com/Extra-Large-Volts-Seasons-Zapper/dp/B003PC3U20/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

Love the reviews this thing received.

Edit: Decided to ask for it for my birthday!

This message was edited Jul 6, 2012 12:26 PM

Linda,

The perfect subject line for your next thread...."Best Bug Zapper & Why??"

I want the one you attach to a car battery!!!!

You got stinkbugs in your car???!!!! LOLOLOL!!!!

^^_^^^^_^^^^_^^^^_^^ (all my stinkbug zapping friends!)

And, there I was wondering about the sadistic BIC flickers....give 'em a BIC and they'll want an electric chair!


LOLOL!!!

Gymgirl, the visual of you firing the Bic at the bugs is just too funny for words. I am imagining you with a Bic at the bottom of the plants, and my roommate above with the bammer - there wouldn't be a bug left to do ANYTHING.

Greenhouse Gal: I don't see why not. If you swing it at a flying critter, that thing is going DOWN. So, if you were to shake up the plants with it, I bet you could 'enjoy' the sound of popcorn, too. My roommate has gotten all kinds of things with hers, although the stinkbugs were the best.

Hastur,
The REAL FUNNY visual would be the look on my face, as I realized those little puffs! of flames were falling into my bone dry backyard grass, in last summer's drought, and the Indian "Stompum Outtum" dance I was doing in a quick, fast, hurry!

Now, THAT was funny!!!

Lynda, do you remember the commercials for Tabasco sauce in the mid-80's?? The guys were eating some food and splashed Tabasco sauce on it, then you see a mosquito bite one of the guys and fly off. A couple of seconds later you see the mosquito explode... That was a great commercial....

LOL!!!!!!

I'm sitting here drinking my morning coffee and laughing as I read through this thread - thanks guys and gals for the levity! I too have tomatoes that get zapped by leaf-footed bugs, got to be on guard for the nymphs - that's when Spinosad will work on them.

It's another story when the adults invade - TRY - a Dust Buster hand vac! Sucks those B-----Ds right off the toms but you must get out early in the morning before they get warmed up and moving fast. Love that electric bug paddle idea; I've seen such at Harbor Freight stores. No bugs to dump from the vac bag!