DL2

I am new to Tulsa since November so I have nothing local for comparison. However, now that you mention it there does seem to be a lack of almost anything that has 6 legs and flies (sp?). I have several large planters of cilantro that I have forced to bolt and flower for the bennificials (that's my story and I am sticking to it). But so far I haven't seen anything taking advantage of the free meal - including pollinators. On the positive side I have also not seen or felt any mosquitos or other pests either.

You mention that you have several acres, we had less than a half acre at our last house and had several neighbors that sprayed heavily, but we always had a large poulation of insects of all kinds. So I would think that overspray or drift would not be an issue for you. Many of the folks I work with here in Tulsa said that the last snow we got this spring was a little later than normal, so maybe it had something to do with it. If I had thought about it at all I would have chalked it up to my lack of knowledge about what is normal for this area. I am sure that it is nothing to worry about, to paraphrase "plant it (and don't spray) and the bugs will come" and I'm sure that pollinators will be there as well.

Your tomato plants will self-pollinate so they should not suffer from the lack of a certified and licensed insect pollinator. I have read that gently shaking the vines once a day will help insure that the job gets done, but I have never had a problem with a tomato plant not taking care of it by itself.

By the way, which pollinators are you refering to? Also, do you see any particular types of bennificials in this area?

Matt

I have several honeybees and bumblebees in the yard happily snacking away on the nepeta, cosmos, lavendar (plant catmint and lavendar - you'll always have pollinators), agastache, lantana, achillea, balloon flower, salvia, and gaura.

What I've noticed a lack of is butterflies.

Susan

I've seen only one butterfly this year, no hummingbird moths, no honey bees, no bumble bees none of those little tiny wasps that are so beneficial to the garden but I forget their names. Usually my crown vetch, which I have a least an acre of has almost a cloud of various flying insects above it - this year none. I have seen large paper wasps and mosquitos. Usually also have a ton of spiders around - especially those large yellow with black center ones that make the big nests (my children used to love to catch bugs and toss in the web to feed them) - but this year nada (other than a plague of spider mites). We saw a huge number of those tiny white moths in the oak trees earlier. This is worrisome but if no one else is experiencing it maybe it is just a weird thing right here - in the country, North and East of OKC. Am getting a few tomatoes but nothing like is usually produced from my garden (enough to eat your fill, can and share with everyone).

Other than a smaller population of butterflies, insect populations seem normal here.

Very early it looked like grasshoppers might make it to plague proportions, but I guess the wet few weeks and birds have made them "almost" unnoticeable.

randy

I live east of OKC and have not noticed a shortage of flying things. In fact, the lightening bugs seems to be at an all-time high! The bats still zoom around at dusk over the garden, so I assume there are things to eat there. It could be the wacky weather delayed the appearance of some insects, as everything's timing is a bit off-kilter this year, seems to me. I wonder if your neighbors are spraying and that is affecting your bug population?

May 8th, wow, very few polinators in Lawrenceville, GA. Last year it was very busy at this time, hundreds… now practically none. one carpenter bee, a wasp, a few others. But, with full bird feeders over the winter… lots of birds. Only three monarchs last year, and one the year before. No pesticide use at all. They seem to be disappearing. When I was a kid sixty years ago the windshield was full on a short drive, now none.