Since we had such a mild winter, the insects here are the
worst we've seen in a long time. I've got the brown stink
bugs, and they've had a good feed on my tomatoes.
I've had to pick cantaloupes before they truly ripen, just to
keep the bugs from ruining them. I've also had insects I've never seen before. So don't feel like lonesome George.

Harvestman,

They are bad here as well...far as killing them...good luck. Adults laugh at poison, they are tough. The only way to control them is to spray constantly to kill the nymphs as the poison will kill them and to clean up any brushy areas. The other good control is ducks or guineas. My ducks chase them down and crunch but it is only a partial fix.

Its no better up here. I'm still seeing the occasional Japanese beetles. Plum Curculio were active from March until June. They basically destroyed my entire plum crop and peach crop. The apples look horrible (mostly PC). The birds attacked everything that wasn't infested with larvae. The heat was relentless in July. No rain for most of the month. Had to hide in the AC for most of the days...

This year was forgettable...I'll just look forward to next year and hope for a little more success.. The tomatoes and peppers, grapes and sweet cherries were all good.

One experiment I did this year which may have helped was to get several stinkbug traps and put them in a spot with nothing you mind getting eaten. You won't trap any bugs but the bugs fly to the smell of their peers and you will help get fliers away from your fruits. I came up with this idea when I noticed that the stinkers were bugging the fruits closest to the traps when I first put them in the fruit trees this spring. When I moved the traps I stopped finding stinkers in those spots.

I am doing OK on stinkbugs this year, a few asian pears and peaches got pretty bad damage and its minor/spotty on everything else.

Scott

Wonder if squash bugs would respond to the stinker traps. They're related.