Sunflowers & Sungolds
June 15, 2009
This week in our backyard garden…
…we’re harvesting sungold cherry tomatoes and enjoying big, beautiful sunflowers! Actually, we’ve left the sunflowers in our garden to act as a “trap” crop for stink bugs. Stink bugs like to suck the juicy sweetness out of tomatoes, peppers and other fruits. Watch out for them in your garden since they’ll sneak up on you this time of year! Notice the netting around the tomatoes? That’s used to keep birds and squirrels from nabbing our sweet little sungolds.
AAAAGGGHHH! My son and I found a bunch of stinkbugs last night on our tomatoes. This is our first garden so I’m learning as I go. What can we use to get rid of them and/or deter them in the first place?
Kathy, The best and safest way to deal with the stinkbugs is to pick them off your plants and squish them or drown them. Be sure to check under your fruits and under the leaves and handpick at least twice a day. Also watch for the reddish nymphs – they will grow into adult stinkbugs. You can use some organic pesticide sprays as a last resort such as a citrus oil spray or something with pyrethrin in it though sprays can harm beneficial insects. Most nurseries carry a variety of organic pesticides these days – just be sure to follow the directions on the product. Hope that helps!