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How to grow Knockout Roses and Herbs How to control Leaf Cutter Ants Pine Trees and Customer Service How to put Tourist Farms on the Map How to control Snakes in the Garden
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Questions and Answers:Q. I understand the brown bug that looks like a stink bug attacking my tomatoes is a leaf-footed bug. What can I do to control them? A. This is the time of year to pick them by hand in the early morning and dispose of them by crushing between your fingers, or throwing in a can of soapy water. They haven’t developed the ability to fly yet, so they are easy to grab. In a few weeks they get tough, learn how to fly, and become difficult to control. Chances are they are gathering on one type of plant in the mornings so get them while you can. After they get big you can control them with a pesticide containing permethrin. You will need to get a direct hit, however. Liquid Sevin will also work, but it is not generally recommended for vegetables unless you can wait 14 days after application before consuming. Q. I’ve got aphids on everything in my vegetable garden, even my onions. What can I do? A. Aphids ingest the fluids from tender leaf tissue of plants and can rob it of nutrients. They over-winter on woody stems so you can treat perennials during the winter in order to break the cycle. That is, if you have woody perennials near your vegetable garden. They may be over-wintering on a fruit tree, such as an apple tree, and then invading the garden once spring comes around. Be sure to rotate your vegetable crops. In other words, don’t plant anything in the same place more than two years in a row. Don’t compost anything with a bug infestation, including aphids. The key is to break the cycle. If you spray the underside of the leaves with a strong jet of water to dislodge them, as recommended for organic control, try mixing some gentle dishwashing soap such as ivory with water-one tablespoon per gallon-and spraying the underside of the leaves and then rinsing it off. Don’t’ apply the solution, or any insecticide, when temperatures are over 80 degrees and it‘s sunny outside. There are a lot of pesticides listed for aphid control and there are also a lot of natural enemies. Try planting herbs such as dill, fennel, or plants with yellow flowers around the garden to attract the beneficial bugs that will provide natural control. Q. Leaf-cutter ants are harvesting everything. How can I control them? A. Difficult to control leaf-cutter ants, or town ants, harvest the leaves of plants and then grow a fungus with the leaves and eat the fungus. If you put a pesticide on your plants and the ants cut the leaves and carry them into the ground, the fungus send a chemical message to the ants that the leaves are poisoned. However, this will not keep the ants from coming back to the same plant , cutting the leaves, and giving it another try. Eventually you will forget to put the pesticide on and they will be successful at destroying the plant. They are moving around now and the queens are making new nests that start with a tiny bit of fungus she carries with her in which she lays a few eggs to start a new colony. Colonies can reach 10 feet underground and thrive for twenty years or more. If you move to the country, your dream home and garden can get sidetracked pretty quickly if you settle near an older colony. If you are building a new home, don’t site it on top of a colony. If you do, you must dig out the old colony with a backhoe and backfill with new dirt. If they are invading your barn or garden, follow the trail to the main mound and treat with a product called Amdro Ant Block. Use double or triple the recommended amount. If you don’t get them the first time you will need to wait a year before reapplication. The product is only 50 percent effective. Follow all label warnings carefully.
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