He didn't appear to be eating anything so I left him be for the moment. If he is after me maters, how do I dissuade him? Or is he after other insects trying to get at me maters?
Friend or foe?
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Kill him NOW. That is a leaf footed stink bug. Check ALL of your plants for eggs. Look on the underside of leaves for clusters of 25-50 eggs and smash them. If you find baby stink bugs spray them with spinosad. Baby stink bugs are usually reddish with black legs and heads about 3/16" long.
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Im assuming that means they are harmful 
Do they eat the leaves? or damage in some other way? will spinosad help with the eggs if I don't see them? Ill give a good spray with spinosad this afternoon when I get home, hopefully that will get rid of the little . Maybe repeat every few days just to be sure.
Do they eat the leaves? or damage in some other way? will spinosad help with the eggs if I don't see them? Ill give a good spray with spinosad this afternoon when I get home, hopefully that will get rid of the little . Maybe repeat every few days just to be sure.
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Yes, they are very harmful. On tomatoes they will stick that pointed thing on their mouth into a tomato or pepper or just about anything else and inject a rotting agent into it. This will cause a black spot which will get bigger with time. Spinosad will not help with the eggs. Neem oil will smother the eggs but you have to cover them. The young will stay grouped together for a few days and they are easy to spot and kill with spinosad.Im assuming that means they are harmful
Well thanks to chuck I was worried about this guy all afternoon. This plant has given me about a dozen tomatoes, none of them edible so far (blossom end rot and black spots). So I'm really hoping for some good ones soon.
Anyway, I checked and no sign of eggs. Gave it a good spray with spinosad, spayed peppers and banana too just for good measure. I'll inspect in the morning for signs of activity, hopefully he stays away.
Anyway, I checked and no sign of eggs. Gave it a good spray with spinosad, spayed peppers and banana too just for good measure. I'll inspect in the morning for signs of activity, hopefully he stays away.
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Stink bugs almost always lay their eggs on large leaf plants such as squash, cantaloupes or cucumbers.
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Ah, yes. The price of fame
Better double check my cantaloupe! Does anything prey on these that won't also harm something in my garden?
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I know of nothing except some birds which prey on them.
Which my fake owl is keeping away, because they were getting all my berries!
Yesterday i out and there were 5 or six of the little bastards on my tomato! I sprayed spinosad directly on them, didn't seem to phase them at all. Maybe they will go off and die later? They all got a good soak. I then proceed to smash as many as I could, but I expected the spinosad would have some immediate effect. The stuff I'm using you mix with water, 1tbs per 32oz of water (IIRC, mixed per directions at any rate). Is there something else I should be using?
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As I said before, stink bugs are hard to kill with anything. Spinosad is not immediate, nothing is immediate that will not harm plants. Don't worry, they are dead by now. The best way to kill them is with your index finger and thumb. It's best to wear gloves though. I would also spray all of the fruit you have growing as spinosad has a residual effect.
I used up about 48oz worth of the mix yesterday on pretty much everything. More heavily on the tomatoes, but also thoroughly coated pepper and banana's and cantaloupe. No fruit on any of those yet, but if they lay eggs there hopefully it will discourage that. They don't seem to have found the cherry tomatoes yet, which are on the other side of the house. But I coated that good as well.
How often should I apply this stuff? I don't see anything on the label about that. Just how to mix it.
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You should only use it when bad insects appear. It kills the good guys too. Stink bugs seem to come and go in shifts. You MUST inspect everything on a regular basis, especially on the underside of the larger leafed plants.