Peter Jason wrote:
On Tue, 30 Oct 2012 00:36:51 +0000 (UTC), Frank
Miles wrote:

On Mon, 29 Oct 2012 14:07:53 +1100, Peter Jason wrote:

Some yellow lights are supposed to repel mosquitoes etc.

Is there a color that will repel or dissuade insect pests? I'm
thinking of painting stakes or trellises any suitable color.

Peter

With hummingbird feeders - word is you should avoid yellow because
yellow jackets are attracted to it (and find the yummy syrup). So
red is preferred there.

Of course, maybe a yellow fence would be good, they're not going to
find much syrup there!

Insect visual systems vary a lot, depending on what it eats, when it
breeds,... If you have a _specific_ insect that is problematic for
you, find out more about that. I don't think you'll find a
one-size-repels- all.

Thanks. I live in town and I want to grow a
tomato plant in a pot with a special wooden stake
I've invented... (in the corner)
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/163/p3256051.jpg/

The bugs are quite voracious and have damaged a
cumquat tree and my Tahitian lime tree. Only
pelagoniums and cycads seem to survive. I
thought to paint the stake some suitable colour.

I suspect it is not the same bugs damaging your tomato and citrus. You need
to find out what specifically is doing it so you can beat it. There are
many methods (spraying, trapping, exclusion, providing predators etc) but to
work out the best in your case you need to know the culprit. Colour coding
won't work.

D