I pulled the majority of my plants three weeks earlier than normal (mid-June) because they were so bad this year. Some years I only have a handful and then there are years like this. I did leave two Sun Gold plants and after a few weeks they started producing again ... free of stink bugs. That lasted about 3 weeks then the bugs returned.

Sorry, I don't have an answer, but I was happy for the bit of lagniappe. In a stink bug-free year I would have pulled all plants by mid-July and totally missed out on the second round of Sun Gold production.

You made me think. There aren't any stinkbugs on my Sungold plant. Maybe with 30 large varieties in the area they bypass the cherries or maybe they just don't like Sungold? I just can't eat any of the fruit that is really clouded up like some people can. Terrible waste of great tasting organically raised food going on here...:-(

They are my worst enemy. I used Surround but started late after I already had ripe big tomatoes. Some tomatoes that I had left over I finally planted late. These had Surround on them from little tomatoes on. The stink bugs still got on the white sprayed tomatoes but the ones that got the Surround from the early stage are not infested. But they suffered through two weeks of 100 degree weather and drought so were not a great success either. When it is raining you have to keep putting the Surround on and I thought it was a pain to do that.

Yes Helen I agree, that would be a royal pain applying powder after every rain...

Yes, Surround can help. But also make a super-duper effort to control weeds. Plus, next year, try planting a trap crop in an area near the garden but set apart to attract the stink bugs.
Here's more on identifying and controlling stink bugs on tomatoes:
http://www.tomatodirt.com/stink-bugs.html

Here is a link that might be useful: Tomato Dirt: growing tomatoes and using them

Thank you Kathy but I am looking for something to eradicate stinkbugs and as my post above reads I am not interested in attracting them with trap crops like millet. I want to destroy the ones already here! I am not able to cover hundreds of tomatoes either with Surround after every rain. I also found no explicit info on stinkbug eradication on the link you provided.

Stinkbugs were prolific this year! We're all angry as Heck at those bugs! And guess what? They winter over and mate in the Spring, so look for them in numbers next year too.

There are some measures you can take to reduce their numbers and damage (greatly reduce it in my experience), but Bigdaddy you seem to be asking for some magic solution to eradicate them without toxic sprays, but at the same time rejecting the measures that organic gardeners use to control them. Ain't going to happen without some effort on your part.

If you seriously want to do something organic to minimize stinkbugs, you could do several of the following (all approved by usda as organic):

1. Floating row covers
2. Pyrethrin spray or dust
3. Pick the ones you can catch and drop into a can or bucket with a little rubbing alcohol (especially the wintergreen kind)
4. Watch for the red egg clusters and pick those
5. Spray the ones you see with Organic Gardening's recipe: Two cups water, one cup rubbing alcohol, one tablespoon neem oil (or veg oil), one tablespoon liquid soap (like Dr Bronners, not dish detergent), 25-30 drops of mint oil or cinnamon oil (or both). Shake well and spray on bugs with a hand sprayer (not a hose). This will kill all bugs and caterpillars upon contact, even Japanese beetles and grasshoppers.
6. I know Bigdaddy doesn't want a bait crop, but for the rest of you readers, I have found them to be very effective. My favorite is to plant Crowder Peas (Field Peas) across the garden from my tomatoes. Not only do the stinkbugs love them but they are also extremely heat hardy and drought hardy, and will produce a crop of peas for you, stinkbugs notwithstanding. I use the peas as a magnet, then spray them with the mint spray every few days. Works like a charm!

Bigdaddy, maybe organic gardening is not the right hobby for you?

Where do you find your crowder peas? I tried a pot of ornamental millet but the stinkbugs preferred tomatoes. They do seem to like rose of sharon seed pods so I am thinking its relative okra would attract them.

OK I found crowder peas. There are sprawling or vining and non vining. One called iron and clay is used for soil improvement. What particular kind worked for you?

Rick, thanx for your concern regarding my choice of hobbies but I've been organic for many years now and don't ever plan on changing...;-)

Yes, I AM looking for a magic bullet! I am looking for something NEW that works great! I can dream, can't I? LOL

I do kill as many as I can find. While picking I knock them into a bucket of soapy water as I find them.

I have only a half acre. Not a huge farm where trap cropping makes perfect sense. I want to discourage them from my half acre, not attract more.

Floating row covers...My plants are huge and yes I am lazy and don't want to install and remove giant tents every single day I pick.

Your 2, 3, 4 and 5 I am aware of and yes it works but doesn't eradicate. Despite hundreds I kill, eggs and adults, thousands more take their place. I also deploy green lacewing eggs each June which do a great job at controlling mites, whitefly and aphids naturally and have ladybugs each year here and I am very judicious about spraying anything that also kills these beneficial insects. I did spray two plants as a test with Safer's Soap and Summer hort oil but it didn't work. Stink bugs back the next day....:(

But seriously I thank you and all others who have responded here. I appreciate it. And yes I am hoping for some natural NEW remedy to fight these armor plated devils!

Standing beside you BigDaddy ... hoping for that magic bullet.

Speaking of stinkbugs ... I found a bunch of babies munching on a couple serrano peppers the other day. Squished 'em en masse. They stink just like the adults.

You are so right natal...everything about these little demons STINK! LOL Green lacewings have been sort of a magic bullet for me, especially against mites. I used to have mites in biblical proportions but then I got rid of the plants that seemed to attract them like marigolds and now I haven't seen a mite in many years and I know lace wings eat them because my first year using the winged warriors you could actually see the larva chomping on them and the aphids! And the whiteflys continue to fight a losing battle against my lace wings as I only see a few here and there and not white clouds of them like before. Nature is perfect when in balance but sometimes we need to help nature along a little...;-)

Stinkbugs now called Epidemic in PA!

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-20017382-10391704.html

I live in a development of 123 homes on half to 1 acre lots. I might be able to persuade maybe 4 or 5 other homeowners to grow a trap crop but that still leaves close to 120 who won't! This is truly biblical. They are clinging onto the sides of the houses. They get inside cars even with all the windows closed. They are in our homes. It's all my neighbors are talking about and they all keep calling me because I am the landscape committee of 1. It's a plague...:(

To helenh: Crowder peas are all pretty similar in their growing characteristics as far as I know. They are all heat and drought hearty. I think any would work as a bait crop for stinkbugs - I prefer the vining type. My favorites as far as the pea crop goes are "cream peas" and also "holstein peas". The blackeye pea varieties also work just as well for attracting stinkbugs and also are easier to harvest because they are larger and fill a cook pot quicker, but they have a stronger flavor - I like Crowders better on taste.

I also grew sugar peas and bush beans this summer, and got almost nothing from either of them, while my Crowder peas produced all summer. Field peas do not need cool nights to produce pods, the way the other legumes do.

You are right that stinkbugs are also attracted to okra, but not as much as to field peas. I grow okra for the crop and use the mint spray on it as well.

So choose the type of pea you want based on the crop. They all work as a bait for stinkbugs.

Hope this is helpful - Rick

To Bigdaddy: I may have misunderstood you. A half-acre garden is a lot to maintain organically if you don't have some cheap labor (undocumented workers) on staff. No wonder you would like a magic bullet for the stinkbugs! I guess you are one of us after all...

Maybe someone will invent a pheremone trap for them the way they did for Japanese Beetles. That would be a lot easier to convince your neighbors to do, as compared to having them plant Crowder peas.

I still say, every stinkbug I kill is one less nest of eggs next year. I wish they would all come into my house this Fall, cuz I can guarantee they won't leave next Spring.

Happy Organic Gardening - Rick

Rick, I have killed maybe 200 just today alone! They cling to one side of the house and a car we have in the driveway. I swat them with a magazine, they fall down on the ground and if still alive they are stepped on. There were at least 30 INSIDE my wife's car with all her windows closed. Must get in under the hood and behind the grill. I agree that the more I can kill now that they are swarming and easy to get at because they are seeking a warm winter home the fewer will be around next season. I read where the young who can't fly yet are the ones that do the most damage to fruit. They even look like smaller adults at this stage but their wings aren't developed yet. I would just ignore them as everything I have read lately indicates they are harmless to humans but I LOVE my tomatoes! Ergo a state of war now exists...LOL. And yes I am looking and hoping that some great minds come up with an organic solution like a predator bug, anti feedent or trap of some kind. We used to have Japanese beetles for years and years but I haven't seen a single one the past two years because I think most of my neighbors all treat their lawns with that Merit or Grub Ex or Milky Spore nowadays. So there is hope for Stinkbug eradication someday! Farmers in nearby Maryland and PA along with those here in Delaware are getting significant fruit losses. You just can't market fruit that looks that bad and I just can't eat or give away many of my tomatoes anymore. It is such a waste of otherwise wonderful heirloom tomatoes....:(

BTW, I did print out your pea trap crop info. If I find nothing else I think might be better I will try that next year. You never know? How far away do you suggest the trap crop be from my tomatoes? And also BTW, they don't bother my onions, garlic, basil, peppers etc at all...

My experience has been that the stinkbugs don't attack aromatic crops like onions and herbs. They used to infest my tomatoes, and peppers also to some extent (esp. the sweet varieties) until I started growing okra, then they preferred that. Then when I grew field peas they hardly bothered the okra. They are surprisingly selective, seeking out their favorite plants (maybe a keen sense of smell like gypsy moths?). This characteristic is why I am an advocate of trap crops.

My garden is a little over 20 X 20. I plant the vine type field peas all along the deer fence on the North side so they don't shade the garden. This means some of my tomatoes are within 5 feet of the peas. The closest ones get a few bugs, not many. So for a plot my size, the farther away the tomatoes are, the less bugs they get. I think if you plant the peas along the perimeter, the bugs will find them at a considerable distance.

One more thing about field peas: They have a sweet scented sap which also attracts ants and wasps, especially after you have picked the first mess of peas. So in order to maximize the lure of the vines I pick the first mess while the pods are still thin and green, and snap them like green beans. You can cook blackeye or any type of field pea this way and avoid having to shell them if you prefer.

I don't worry too much about attracting bugs from beyond my garden with peas because if I didn't plant them, the bugs would just find the tomatoes and okra anyway. By the way, the peas didn't protect my cucumbers as effectively, but they were planted adjacent to the peas along the fence.

Hope this is helpful - Rick

I am going to try your method next year Rick and maybe eat them like you said like green beans. When I read they were used for soil improvement that was an added incentive for me to try them.

I killed/squished a slew of newly hatched ones, this year. The assassin beetles are taking care of the rest, I do believe. I've got more assassin beetles this year, than I ever have.
Granted, they also nail the GOOD bugs, but...I'm not about to kill an assassin, until I know the stinks are history.

Thank you for the added info Rick. I appreciate it!

Braconid Wasp kill the sting bugs in my garden and with picking and droping them in cup of soapy water I've kept the population in check. Just need some hornworms as host so the population of wasps can increase if next more stink bugs return.

George

As far as I know (and my husband owns a pest control business) stinkbugs have no natural predators in the US. That's the problem when a bug from somewhere else hitches a ride on a boat. They are a plague this year for sure. I had 28 on one of my screens a week ago and probably four or five in the house at any given time. I have noticed them on my tomatoes, but not too many. They seem more intent on getting into the house :)

The native stinkbugs are preyed on by wheel bugs but those guys are slow and wouldn't make a dent in the stink bug population. They are not a solution for inside a house either.

I am familiar with the adult, but I might kill the nymphs if I don't make an effort to remember what they look like.

Here is a link that might be useful: wheel bug

I have always grown a few tomato plants near the house and never had a problem. This yr, I planted about 20 plants, and had a horrible time with horn worms and stick bugs. I was barely able to get a few decent looking tomatoes to eat fresh.Didnt make the good tomatoes look too palatable after messing with all the bugs. I too need to find something for next yr.
Tammy

I'm pretty new here, but heard of a remedy I have not tried. I also hate cucumber beetles on my roses.

The suggestion is to get a dust buster with an attachment, and battery operated. Put some Borax in the bag, and get them.

I don't know that the practical application is as good as the theory, but to me it will be worth trying next year.

It is not easy to grab a bug from a tomato unless you take off your gloves.

I am looking for cattle panels to be used with containers for my tomatoes. Any pictures?

Sammy

I tried that. My Dust Buster was not powerful enough to pull them off the plant. I have heard of a shop vac being used. I would have to get a long extension cord to try that.

They were also really bad here, earlier in the season. I really fought hard, and almost gave up until they suddenly went away. I cut back my six and seven foot tall asparagus trees, and learned that it was a lizard nursery as I watched hundreds of them flee. Then, the stink bugs came back. I have since let the asparagus turn into a tall, soft, hedge, and as a result the lizards came back, and the stink bugs went away. It could be coincidence, but I'm convinced that having lots of lizards (and toads) in my garden is great pest control.