OK , today I found a small black bug on my decimated eggplants . About
maybe 3mm long , and several on most leaves - except the one where the
spider has set up shop . Also found a Colorado potato beetle on an eggplant
yesterday .
Something is eating the leaves on my peach tree , not sure what but
they're havin' a time of it .
Found a small green caterpillar on one of the apple trees , a few leaves
have been munched .
Found a small bug , cylindrical and about 5-6mm long with orange spots on
either side of it's "neck" and long antennae , not sure if it's a predator
or pest .

My plan for right now is to dust the affected plants with some DE , should
stop most pests . I surely don't want to get into using insecticides now ,
as I have a bee hive coming later this month . In fact , I'm not so sure I
should continue the DE after the bees arrive . I just know I need to get a
handle on this before it gets out of control .
--
Snag

On 5/6/2014 8:33 AM, Terry Coombs wrote:
OK , today I found a small black bug on my decimated eggplants . About
maybe 3mm long , and several on most leaves - except the one where the
spider has set up shop . Also found a Colorado potato beetle on an eggplant
yesterday .
Something is eating the leaves on my peach tree , not sure what but
they're havin' a time of it .
Found a small green caterpillar on one of the apple trees , a few leaves
have been munched .
Found a small bug , cylindrical and about 5-6mm long with orange spots on
either side of it's "neck" and long antennae , not sure if it's a predator
or pest .

My plan for right now is to dust the affected plants with some DE , should
stop most pests . I surely don't want to get into using insecticides now ,
as I have a bee hive coming later this month . In fact , I'm not so sure I
should continue the DE after the bees arrive . I just know I need to get a
handle on this before it gets out of control .

Depends on where you live Terry as to what sort of bugs you've got. I
think maybe the small, cylindrical one with the orange spots may be a
lady bug, they predate on all the smaller bad bugs so leave that one
alone. Lots of good pictures on the web with descriptions of the bug and
what they predate on. I lost two peach trees to peach borers so now I
have garlic and onion chives growing in a ring around all my fruit
trees, just in case. Haven't had a borer yet since they were installed.
Potato beetles of any kind can ruin your day, I pick them off by hand
and drop them in an old jar with a half inch of kerosene or motor oil in
it, motor oil generally as kerosene is hard to get around here.

George

On Tuesday, May 6, 2014 9:33:44 AM UTC-4, Terry Coombs wrote:
OK , today I found a small black bug on my decimated eggplants . About

maybe 3mm long , and several on most leaves - except the one where the

spider has set up shop . Also found a Colorado potato beetle on an eggplant

yesterday .

Something is eating the leaves on my peach tree , not sure what but

they're havin' a time of it .

Found a small green caterpillar on one of the apple trees , a few leaves

have been munched .

Found a small bug , cylindrical and about 5-6mm long with orange spots on

either side of it's "neck" and long antennae , not sure if it's a predator

or pest .



My plan for right now is to dust the affected plants with some DE , should

stop most pests . I surely don't want to get into using insecticides now ,

as I have a bee hive coming later this month . In fact , I'm not so sure I

should continue the DE after the bees arrive . I just know I need to get a

handle on this before it gets out of control .

--

Snag

The small black bugs on the eggplant are most likely flea beetles. They will attack eggplant seedlings as soon as they are planted. I usually follow planting with a spray of pyrethrum and every 10 days or so after that until blooming.

Steve

George Shirley wrote:
On 5/6/2014 8:33 AM, Terry Coombs wrote:
OK , today I found a small black bug on my decimated eggplants .
About maybe 3mm long , and several on most leaves - except the one
where the spider has set up shop . Also found a Colorado potato
beetle on an eggplant yesterday .
Something is eating the leaves on my peach tree , not sure what
but they're havin' a time of it .
Found a small green caterpillar on one of the apple trees , a few
leaves have been munched .
Found a small bug , cylindrical and about 5-6mm long with orange
spots on either side of it's "neck" and long antennae , not sure if
it's a predator or pest .

My plan for right now is to dust the affected plants with some DE
, should stop most pests . I surely don't want to get into using
insecticides now , as I have a bee hive coming later this month . In
fact , I'm not so sure I should continue the DE after the bees
arrive . I just know I need to get a handle on this before it gets
out of control .
Depends on where you live Terry as to what sort of bugs you've got. I
think maybe the small, cylindrical one with the orange spots may be a
lady bug, they predate on all the smaller bad bugs so leave that one
alone. Lots of good pictures on the web with descriptions of the bug
and what they predate on. I lost two peach trees to peach borers so
now I have garlic and onion chives growing in a ring around all my
fruit trees, just in case. Haven't had a borer yet since they were
installed. Potato beetles of any kind can ruin your day, I pick them
off by hand and drop them in an old jar with a half inch of kerosene
or motor oil in it, motor oil generally as kerosene is hard to get
around here.
George

We're in the Ozarks in north central Arkansas . I did ID the potato bug on
the web , haven't had time to research the others . I do know that DE is
non-toxic and will go away with the next rain ... I really do want to avoid
pesticides and herbicides completely , but may have to bend a little if it
means losing the whole crop of insert veggie/fruit here . I am not ,
however , above scattering a little triple 13 around ... but not much and
not often .
--
Snag

George Shirley wrote:
....
Potato beetles of any kind can ruin your day, I pick them off by hand
and drop them in an old jar with a half inch of kerosene or motor oil in
it, motor oil generally as kerosene is hard to get around here.

soapy water (just enough soap to break the
surface tension of the water) works very well.


songbird

George Shirley wrote:

Depends on where you live Terry as to what sort of bugs you've got. I
think maybe the small, cylindrical one with the orange spots may be a
lady bug, they predate on all the smaller bad bugs so leave that one
alone. Potato beetles of any kind can ruin your day, I pick them
off by hand and drop them in an old jar with a half inch of kerosene
or motor oil in it, motor oil generally as kerosene is hard to get
around here.
George

Turns out the one that's been eating my eggplants is Colorado potato
beetles . Found and smeared several egg clusters this morning on the
undersides of the leaves . Might be the same one eating my bok choy ,
similar damage patterns - but it might be flea beetles , I'll know when I
catch something munching . New crops this year , and new pests to learn how
to control . Ya-freakin'-hooo .
--
Snag