How to repel stink bugs from citrus
Auntie Fran, an elder from the Dharawal people (aka Frances Bodkin, author of Encyclopaedia Botanica, etc), walked with me around the gardens here yesterday then emailed me today about the stink bugs on the fingerlime tree:
“The Stink beetles on the citrus, one sure way of getting rid of them is to hang an empty plastic bottle in their viciinity. When the sun shines on the plastic it gives off a vapour that repels the beetles. (If it does that to StinkBeetles, what does it do to us – and people drink that water?)”
Good advice, good question.
Yes, I discovered the best method is by hand pick them into a jar with a wide opening. The solution inside the jar consists of 50ml of water, three drops of washing detergent and 5ml of mineral turpentine. (If you do not have the turpentine the bugs will take a much longer time to ascend to heaven).
Actually I saved the goggles and the gloves. Instead of a rapid snatch to encourage them to spray German gas I press the infected leaf towards the jar opening with my hand covered the bug and slowly release the shoot. As the leaf withdraws the bug will be swept into the jar by the pressing hand.
I don’t waste the dead bugs – I use them to feed the colorful and friendly St. Andrew’s Cross spider by placing them on the web. I hope the bug got the Saint’s empowerment on the Journey to see Jesus.
Stink bugs have been on my mind a lot this summer in Sydney (as you’ll see from my blog post below). I have found that drowning them is the quickest, least messy way. I tried the plastic bottle thing, hoping desperately that it would work, but it didn’t for me. Maybe too many bugs?
http://edibleurbangarden.blogspot.com/2011/02/hey-im-trying-to-kill-you-kindly.html
Vaccuum them off!!!
Another use for plastic bottles is for “Lacewing Hotels”. Lacewing larvae (or ‘antlions’) eat ants, whilst the adults eat aphids. The adults are beautiful, gossamer creatures. Here’s a link: http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/growyourown/Activities/A31.pdf