An Abundant Spring Garden... without the pests
Spring is the time when everything comes back to life…
The suns sits in the sky a little longer, shades of white and pink dot the landscape, and plants begin to bud and set leaves bringing bright greens back to the landscape. This is also the time that all those garden pests awaken and begin to prey on our hard work and labor. One of these pests is the leaf footed bug.
The identifying features of an adult Leaf footed bug
Although native the western United States, the leaf footed bug is on the move, wreaking havoc to the Southeast and quickly moving north. It pops up in the early spring and can really stunt, or even eliminate, early crops and newly planted gardens. A cousin of the stinkbug, that we are also seeing more and more of, these insects prey on fruits and vegetables. Left unchecked, they can totally demolish young fruits and veggies, and make mature crops quite unsightly and totally unpalatable. We hope to help you identify these unwanted visitors and provide a few tips on how to control, and hopefully eliminate them.
Young Leaf footed bug are orange and black.
Leaf footed bug eggs can be found on stems and branches.
TIPS:
Get on it early! Keeping your garden area clean will go a long way to keeping these critters at bay. Remove wood piles and other build up to give mature adults few places to hide. Check your plants daily and remove adults and eggs wherever possible. Where gloves because they can secret a nasty odor. Place the bugs in a bucket of water with a TBSP of dish soap mixed in to make sure they are killed. We’ve also had some success setting a few mature, fruiting tomato plants out as decoys. Allow them to come to these plants and when you see that the bugs are there, put the entire plants in a trash bag and dispose of it off site.
Attract assassins! A good way to keep the leaf footed bugs at bay on a more long term basis, attract the things that naturally prey on them. Birds, lizards, frogs and assassin bugs are good examples of natural predators. Plant small flowers like Queen Anne’s Lace, Daisies and alfalfa to bring in assassin bugs, and plant small shrubs and trees to attract songbirds. Make sure you have a source of water which is an important resource for all predatory species, including frogs, toads and lizards.
Take good care of your plants. Early spring pruning will also help to minimize your unwanted insect population. Remove all limbs and growth touching the ground, and thin fruit tree and shrub branches to provide less cover for adults. While you’re pruning, it’ll also give you a good opportunity to give plants a thorough examination to remove adults, nymphs, and eggs.
Remove weeds! Insects love as much cover as possible and weeds will provide them with it. Make sure to get on this early and keep those weeds out as much as possible.
We really hope this helps, and remember, the best thing you can do for your garden and your growing things on all fronts is to actively observe! Be an integral part of the process and the landscape, and keep a vigilant eye. When things come up, see if you can get on the early and often! After all the early bird gets the worm (Or the leaf footed bug).