I've had an issue with some strawberries cat facing in the past, and last year some issues with something eating my artichokes. All a mystery. I've tracked down the culprit....lygus bugs. And boy oh boy are they an issue this year. Apparently they are a problem in northern gardens. Two of my artichokes won't develop properly. I have to keep an eye on the others and the cauliflower to make sure they don't get in there and I get "blind plants" ( all plant no veg/flower). They apparently suck on the seeds of strawberries so that they don't develop properly. It is the only pest listed on the Gov BC agriculture site that says if you find them, you are justified using pesticide. ( which only work on the nymphs not the adults) I'm out there on search and destroy bug squashing missions, but they are very fast. I'd prefer to not use anything because I don't want to risk hurting the good guys and the bees. Once I see nymphs I will use soaps like I use on aphids, but right now it is the adults that are an issue. Has anyone else had to deal with this little monsters? Any suggestions?
I looked them up, and by golly, there's a bug Texas doesn't have! A reliable website said that three dusting of pyrethrum spaced two or three days apart will kill adults. If the infestation is heavy, dust with sabadilla. They are also attracted to white sticky traps. If you are worried about the good guys and bees, do your dusting just at sundown. The good guys go home and the baddies like the dark (kinda like people).
This made me laugh. And I will keep the Lygus....and you can keep ALL of yours Marlingardner. And your snakes. Thank you for this information. I've never heard of sabadilla. I can't get the powder pyrethrum locally or on line, but I have some eco sense bug b gon that is a liquid concentrate and has a small amount of pyrethrin. I'll give that a try on a few leaves of the strawberries to make sure it won't hurt them. I saw that about the white sticky traps. I'm going to try making my own today with some honey and another with vaseline. Maybe even when they jump off while I'm trying to squash them they will hit that instead of camofloging in the dirt. This is a photo of what they have done to the artichoke and a strawberry. Neither of these will develop properly. Hubby worked so hard on these two new beds for me, I would hate to lose both crops. Thanks again.
https://www.amazon.com/pyrethrin-powder/s?k=pyrethrin+powder offers several versions (pyrethrin is the same as pyrethrum). That is a shame about the strawberry and artichoke. Get after those little bugs!
I'm afraid your " .com " is so much better than my ".ca." - all I could find on Canada's was diatomacious earth. I could have missed it though. A big box store in the city has a powder version , and I'll check the feed store when I travel in to town next week. They are usually my gold mine. In the mean time....it is take no prisoners I am ixnaying the honey traps though and will use vaseline...a bruin found my compost last night. Hubby had a banana peel in there, and he aslo ate the cabbage leaves and egg shells. Maybe the lygus honey sticky trap would stick to it's nose.
So sorry for your bug infestation! I do hope you'll get them under control. I read about them online and learned that they are responsible for million-dollars crop losses every year.
@marlingardener - My kids came to visit and brought me some of the pyrethum powder. These little creatures are now into my beans, dill and some peas in addition to the strawbs and artichokes. Thank you so much for the suggestion and help! Fingers crossed I can manage them now over the next reproduction cycle without losing my crops.
I have used pyrethrin spray for he last 20 years ! Its the best thing I have found for gardens and the safest ! Its even good and approved for repelling mosquitoes ! Just doesn`t smell good !
It helped a lot. They were destroying my precious artichokes, which were right at the edge of the field where the lygus live. I lost two artichokes, but the rest were saved. I was pretty careful about using it on the strawberries, but in the end I had to try or lose the entire crop. They are very quick moving little creatures, and I swear their head is on a swivel and they have a Spiderman ability to drop from great heights and run. It seemed that the powder helped me get through the worst part of their invasion. Lygus are always around, but not always in such large numbers. I think our province was seeing them because of the drought and extreme heat last year. My son-in-law's brother works at a large tree nursary and they were also having an issue with Lygus damage on the growth point of seedlings. They shared the pyrethrin success with him and they were going to try it at the nursary. I'm going to try a trap crop of mustard between the garden and the fallow field this year. I'll just have to be very careful with timing and removal - the little bugs are wicked fast. Lady J....making a postitive impact all the way up in Canada. (that's you @marlingardener )