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Old September 8, 2019   #1
habitat_gardener
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Default stink bug resistance

I had a great harvest this year, but just as my big tomatoes started coming in, the stink bugs (leaf-footed bugs) arrived in force. This is the first year I've had them!! Some varieties were hit hard, some only a little, some not at all. Thick skin is one feature that confers resistance (Green Bee F1). It also might have to do with the exact location in the garden -- edges, what's nearby, etc.

Anyway, here are my observations so far, of some varieties.

Lots of stink bug damage (large patches of green/black, or significant numbers of fruit affected):
Rosa di Benevento
Ananas Noire
Black Krim
Grandma Oliver's Chocolate (everyone is attacking this one!)

Some damage (a single patch of damage on a few fruits, or some tiny spots of damage):
Sweet Ozark Orange
MatSu Express
Moravsky Div
Rose de Berne
Orange Caprese

No damage so far (fruits are pretty much perfect):
Green Bee
Brad's Atomic Grape
Kodiak Brown
German Johnson Benson
Big Cheef
Rebel Yell
Indian Stripe Potato Leaf
Cherokee Purple
Marzano Fire
Polaris
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Old September 8, 2019   #2
habitat_gardener
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I just picked a bunch of tomatoes, and these are showing a little stink bug damage, alas:
Polaris
Rebel Yell
German Johnson Benson
Tobolsk

There were a half dozen adult leaf-footed bugs on one Sunsugar fruit, but so far the fruits look ok. I saw a cluster of juveniles on GJB.
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Old September 9, 2019   #3
Nan_PA_6b
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The hardest hit in my garden:
Maglia Rosa- the #1 choice of Stinkbugs
Velvet Red

Those two are in the same area of garden, but other nearby varieties were less affected. Of the others in the area, some minor damage:
Post Office Spoonful
Bajaja

Zero damage:
Sungold.
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Old September 12, 2019   #4
Fritz77
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It's been a terrible season with the stinkbugs over here. They were late in my garden but they did arrive. They seem to like three varieties that I grow this summer:

1) Japanese Black Trifele
2) Marzano Fire
3) Cuore di bue

Luckily, JBT and MF were also the two most productive varieties for me this summer, so I could afford losing some tomatoes.
I also read that we have a new stinkbug from Asia (brown/grey). It does the same damages as the European one (green) , but it's spreading faster.
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Old September 12, 2019   #5
seaeagle
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I guess I have the brown stinkbug. I called them green because they are green underneath but they have brown wings. I have seen one or two green ones though. I guess it is something you have to live with unless you want to go chemical and declare all out war, something I am not willing to do. Seem to be worse this year than ever and they are spreading from state to state every year.



Stink bugs generally reach high population levels in late August through September and early October in the mid-Atlantic. While only one generation per year is thought to occur in the mid-Atlantic region, with the warming climate we may start to see two generations in the southern parts of Maryland and in Virginia.


https://extension.umd.edu/learn/comm...a-pentatomidae
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Old October 29, 2019   #6
Fred Hempel
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This is great!!

I can now add "preferred by stinkbugs everywhere!" to the Marzano Fire packet labels.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Fritz77 View Post
It's been a terrible season with the stinkbugs over here. They were late in my garden but they did arrive. They seem to like three varieties that I grow this summer:

1) Japanese Black Trifele
2) Marzano Fire
3) Cuore di bue

Luckily, JBT and MF were also the two most productive varieties for me this summer, so I could afford losing some tomatoes.
I also read that we have a new stinkbug from Asia (brown/grey). It does the same damages as the European one (green) , but it's spreading faster.
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Old October 29, 2019   #7
GoDawgs
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Quote:
Originally Posted by seaeagle View Post
Stink bugs generally reach high population levels in late August through September and early October in the mid-Atlantic. While only one generation per year is thought to occur in the mid-Atlantic region, with the warming climate we may start to see two generations in the southern parts of Maryland and in Virginia.
I know we have two generations here in Georgia... heavy sigh. They got to be thick as thieves on the Knucklehull cow peas by end of August and were starting to move onto the Red Ripper peas so I put the pyrethrin to both of those late one evening. Hardly saw another one until one lonely bug just the other day.
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Old October 29, 2019   #8
shule1
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I wonder if the tomatoes with anthocyanin skin (blue tomatoes) are resistant.

If you need a trap crop, try wonderberries. The light green stink bugs really loved mine in 2017 (but I haven't had major issues with them since; I saw just a few brown ones on them, this year, 2019, but I didn't see any on the tomatoes as far as I recall). In 2017, lots of green ones were on my wonderberries (but didn't seem to hurt my wonderberry harvest much), and later on in the season, they graduated to a few of my tomato plants (just a few of the plants, though). Stinkbugs weren't a pest at all in 2018. Same for before 2017.

Last edited by shule1; October 29, 2019 at 06:05 PM.
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Old October 29, 2019   #9
shule1
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fred Hempel View Post
This is great!!

I can now add "preferred by stinkbugs everywhere!" to the Marzano Fire packet labels.
habitat_gardener mentioned Marzano Fire being one that wasn't affected yet.

Last edited by shule1; October 30, 2019 at 12:58 AM.
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Old October 29, 2019   #10
Fred Hempel
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I read her post to mean that they "liked" Marzano Fire.

Little foodie buggers...

At least that's my spin!
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Old October 30, 2019   #11
shule1
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Fred,

It's kind of surprising that two people would mention it independently in this particular thread; I think that's what's causing the confusion.

Just to be sure we're on the same page, habitat_gardener said, "No damage so far (fruits are pretty much perfect):" and included Marzano Fire in the list.

Fritz77 said, "They seem to like three varieties that I grow this summer:" and listed Marzano Fire as one.

It looks to me like the stink bugs attacked Fritz77's a lot, but habitat_gardener's was unaffected (in September, anyway).

Last edited by shule1; October 30, 2019 at 01:47 AM.
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Old October 30, 2019   #12
greenthumbomaha
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I have the brown stinkbugs and they attack everything, everywhere, every year. I also tell myself that it isn't worth it to keep the tomato plants up beyond August, but I do anyway. Risk/reward is about 80 percent damaged beyond salvage and tiny black bugs invade in large munbers and make a rotten mess after the stinkbugs have their way.

Next year there will be a thick skin tomato in my line up to save my sanity.

- Lisa
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Old October 30, 2019   #13
slugworth
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I never see them outdoors,only indoors.
I call them sloth bugs,they walk in slow motion but fly about 100mph.
Saw one yesterday in the house.
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Old October 30, 2019   #14
Fred Hempel
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Thanks! I didn't notice HabitatGardner's classification!

Now my spin is "Stink Bugs love Marzano Fire, but it is Stinkbug resistant!!"

I know.. not helpful...

Quote:
Originally Posted by shule1 View Post
I wonder if the tomatoes with anthocyanin skin (blue tomatoes) are resistant.

If you need a trap crop, try wonderberries. The light green stink bugs really loved mine in 2017 (but I haven't had major issues with them since; I saw just a few brown ones on them, this year, 2019, but I didn't see any on the tomatoes as far as I recall). In 2017, lots of green ones were on my wonderberries (but didn't seem to hurt my wonderberry harvest much), and later on in the season, they graduated to a few of my tomato plants (just a few of the plants, though). Stinkbugs weren't a pest at all in 2018. Same for before 2017.
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Old October 30, 2019   #15
shule1
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fred Hempel View Post
Thanks! I didn't notice HabitatGardner's classification!

Now my spin is "Stink Bugs love Marzano Fire, but it is Stinkbug resistant!!"

I know.. not helpful...
Awesome!

I hope to try Marzano Fire soon.
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