Vacuuming the Garden
Posted in Events by Vanessa Vobis - Aug 28, 2012
The massed insects that recently are attacking Maggie & John’s collard greens (and now on their strawberry) are the dreaded “Bagrada bug”. It’s a new (relatively) pest that’s come over from Arizona (in 2009), and is spreading throughout the southland. It breeds prolifically, eats cabbage family plants, but also is getting onto lots of other vegetables – so this is a serious pest. There were so many that Florence suggested to John that he vacuum them up, drop them into soapy water, and then into the trash.
Left photo by Florence, right photo by Flickr/MargaretheBrummermann
COMMENTS
they are being attacked easily because there are not any other plants growing around them. plant bio-intensively with lots of flowers (a few are calendula, marigolds, nasturtium) and herbs and veggies interplanted..once the plants are established the pests should be minimal….one day in my garden i counted 18 different beneficial insects…i plant really biointesively and it works! do not give up!!!!!! just plant those flowers and herbs and other veggies….good luck!
2 different recipes I’ve found for the bug.
And an article on what to plant to help prevent infestations;
http://www.infonet-biovision.org/default/ct/103/pests#567
ANTI-BAGRADA BUG Solution Recipe by Katherine
in a 32 oz. bottle, mix:
20 or more cloves of crushed garlic
1 – 2 tablespoons of cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons of canola oil
2 tablespoons of liquid soap
hot (not boiling) water
The solution needs to be quite intense, yes stinky. (Research has shown that stink bugs don’t like other stinky things.) If one wants to make even a stronger potion, use garlic power or a product called Granular Garlic, which you can get at the 99-cent Store,
• Do not spray on the plants. The cayenne pepper will scorch the leaves.
• Pour a ring of the solution on the soil around the plants or on newly planted beds. The garlic smell needs to be thick — much like the rich aromas wafting from an Italian Restaurant.
• Repeat the procedure as soon as the garlic smell dissipates.
As usual, one still needs to pick off and kill any Bagrada bugs that manage to keep going. Leave the carcass there. Ants will carry it away.