Just a couple of questions for the experts

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2busygardening Dade City, FL(Zone 9a) Jun 16, 2008

I am hearing about the pickleworm and have seen the eggs or whatever on the leaves of my cucumbers. Didn't know what they were at the time, now I do. What can I do to stop them, as my cucumbers are doing great so far. I have some that have shriveled up before growing larger than 3 or 4 inches, others grow great.

Also, any word from BocaBob lately?

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2busygardening Dade City, FL(Zone 9a) Jun 16, 2008

One more thing...

I have stink bugs in my raised boxes. I try to spray them away, should I bother? What do they hurt? I am spraying with a mix of baking soda/dish soap/beer and water.

Ideas?

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feldon30 Houston, TX(Zone 9a) Jun 16, 2008

Spray your plants with Bacillus Thuringiensis (Dipel Dust, BT Worm Killer, etc.) and when the pickle worms take a bite out of the fruit or leaves, they will lose interest in eating.

As for stink bugs, you can spray them with baking soda, soap, beer, and water all day long and they will just giggle uncontrollably. Stink bugs are tough and I know of no organic pesticide that kills them. I use a dustbuster to pick up as many as I can. Some folks grow Millet or some other "trap crop" which is even more attractive to them than tomatoes. Then they are much easier to pick. Stink bugs will find the most dense, sheltered foliage of your tomato plants and hide there, so if you have any really thick foliage such as between plants, I might thin it out a bit so you can see more easily and to eliminate the safe haven. This year, I did end up spraying with chemicals to get rid of them.

Stink bugs not only suck the juice out of healthy leaves and stems, they also suck the juice out of fruit especially tomatoes, leaving behind inedible corky white spots on the fruit. Stink bugs are a menace and can ruin a crop of tomatoes if left unchecked.

Baby stink bugs and leaf-footed bugs have orangish-red nymphs (young).

This message was edited Jun 16, 2008 11:18 AM

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Bubba_MoCity Missouri City, TX Jun 16, 2008

Gardens Alive's Pyrola and Murphy's Oil Soap seem to work pretty well on the leaf-footed nymphs, but have no affect on adults.

Was advised a couple of years ago to try Ortho-Max. I don't want to use any non-organic pesticide, but decided to give it a try.

Mixed up a small batch and sprayed an adult, full in the face and body. That thing moved then took off. Flew up about 10 feet high, then kept flying all the way to the front yard 60-70 feet away - I lost sight of it after it passed the fence. So just gave up even attempting to do more than crush the adults (if you can catch them).

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