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Bug Attack!

G

Guest

This has been the worst season for bugs ive had in a long long time. For the whole season, ive been overtaken by bugs of every kind! First it was ticks. I would come back form my plants and have ticks all over me and my clothes. Ive had to pull so many out of my head that I have a head full of bumps.
Next was chiggers, I have chigger bites around my socks and underwear bands, Im eat the hell up.
Then it was leaf hoppers by the hords, then aphids. Now, we're having an explosion of whiteflies to the point that there was a story on the front page of the local paper.

It's a friggin biblical plague here. I'm just waiting for it to start raining toad frogs. Have I offended the gods or have others seen an explosion of bugs?
 
L

LemonCake

Member
just keep it cool man..and look out for limes man. that is no joke.. ticks can be nasty little buggers.. i would say to shake your ladys up a bit before you leave the patch to get the bugs flying around .. there is not much you can do for white fly;s unless you spray..... good luck and happy growing ..i have only sprayed once in my life for bugs and it was for mites.. .. the rest i let mother nature take care of them.. i did put done tick killer once.. that might be smart for you..

good luck!!
 
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wisco61

wisco61

Member
|Not just you man. For me it was the mosquitoes first. They were just horrendous. My uncle who is 65 and has been coming to the same land for 30 years said they were some of the worst he has ever seen. They thinned out some but then the ticks came out in full force. For a single watering walk (about 1 mile both ways) my record was 17 ticks. It seemed to always be 5+ but the last 2 times I have been back there I got 0. So those seemed to have abated somewhat. All of July the horseflies were horrendous, worst I've seen and so god damn annoying. Currently, the mosquitoes seem to be making a comeback, with the ticks and horseflies both reasonable. Those are the bugs that have been fucking with me.

Leafhoppers have been the bugs fucking with my plants. They started off slow but have been building all summer. I was thinking the damage they were doing was negligible, but now I am getting somewhat worried. Gonna check on the plants once more this week, and if the damage is escalated I will be forced to declare Jihad upon the little bastards.

Anyways, long story short, you are not crazy. They do seem really bad this year.
 
S

sow the seeds

Mosquitoes, horseflies, and ticks here as well much more than I can remember any other year. And leafhoppers on only one of my plants but mr spider took care of him heh. Should I let mr. spider live on the plant until it starts to bud?
 
G

Guest

wisco, I hate horse and deer flies. They land on you without you knowing it until they bite a plug out of you. Its been too dry here for skeeters but i suspect they're waiting in the wings. Ive had to spray my plants every other week. They were damaging the plants. Just this past week, ive had to spray 4 himalayan gold plants that are big. Usually, bugs cant hurt a big plant much, but when you shake a plant and there's a white clould flying away, you have to do something. Ive use 3 bottles of Sevin. Any way, misery loves company. Welcome aboard.

Lemoncake, Im sprayin man. Ive been spraying. I didn't put in all of this work to hand my yield over to a bunch of bugs. I don't think we have lime disease here. Ive never heard of anyone catching it. In fact there's a joke around here that you only get lime disease if you have good health insurance.
 
H

hamstring

Well-known member
Veteran
SB
I already had to spray around 3weeks ago because of the leaf hopper damage and Mosquitoes forget about it. With all the water we have had in the midwest I have been in flooded areas where if you stoped and listened, honset to God it sounded like an airplane off in the distance it was so loud. Many have died off but they are bad this year.

Every year in the fall I notice more spider webs in the bush well to be more specific in the forest. Right around late August you end up eatting tons of spider webs. Anyone else notice a difference in the fall with spider webs?
 
G

Guest

I hear you on the spiders hamstring. Every year, starting about 2 weeks ago, they show up and they build their web at head level and just as you walk through one web and get through wiping it off , you go through another. I get home and my wife has to pick the spiders off of me. They're red and hairy and some are big! Thank god they don't seem to bite. I really think that only guys like me and you that are out just before daylight that encounter them.

DD, do you have english hornets where you grow? They look and act a lot like a hummingbird and will hover and stare at you. I don't see them very often but i steer clear when I do. They're the hornets that will send you to the hospital. Its like being hit with an icepick.

Leave the spider sow the seeds. He's on your side.

Im not sure why and its the first time its ever happened, but powdery mildew has shown up on a lot of plants. Its been dry and theyre in full sun. I hit it with greencure and took care of it, but ive never had pm.
 
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H

Huey69

Beginning of the season I had White flies...which now aren't bad(maybe a few on each plant...) but I'll never be able to get rid of them(too much other vegetative plants in the back they like to hang out on). Only once do I recall having any damage from them.
Now my big problem is CATERPILLARS!
100_1496.jpg
They've attacked 4 of my plants. 2 Lavenders and 2 Sage n Sours. They're a pain in the ass and doing a number on the SnS. I think i got all of them off my lavenders, but for a couple weeks I was picking 2-8 caterpillars off each plant every day (it's fun to throw them down as hard as you can...or using something to literally squeeze out there body from there skin, normally I'm a much kinder soul, but these fuckers are eating my plants!). I sprayed with Neem and Insecticidial soap(both which didn't seem to do much as i kept finding them after the sprays). I think i finally have them under control though...i'll have to double check today.

Oh..and yesterday i found a shitton of aphid eggs on about 10 leaves from my SSH and Anunnaki plants, which I just plucked the leaves off as they were leaves from when the plants were cloned, so they were dieing off anyways.
 
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M

MrFista

Active member
Veteran
Caterpillars - spinosad! (also the ONLY thrip eradicator)
Whitefly - nuclear bombardment - or being very thorough with neem.
Chemical sprays - please don't, why do you think you have so many problems in the first place!
 
B

badmf

Active member
Yo Bro, get some 100% DEET and spray your "clothes" the day before you go in. Rubber band cuffs, sleaves etc. Net over your hat. You may look weird but unbitten! :muahaha:
 
Fast_Pine

Fast_Pine

Member
I feel for ya SB...Its seems to be pretty bad here too...Lost hundereds of small seedlings to various insects,,,so,

When in the field I spray deet, and wear long sleaves.....the mosquitos still eat me alive......I found that chain smoking ciggaretts keeps em away from yer face at least..:biglaugh:

The worst is the late night sessions..Every bug in the forrest is dive bombing my head because of my head lamp...Had a moth the size of a small bird flutter in and smack me right in the face..Startled me to death!..

Any of yall have problems with the noseeums?....I cant stand bugs that go for the ears.
 
NickMode

NickMode

Member
Fast_Pine said:
I feel for ya SB...Its seems to be pretty bad here too...Lost hundereds of small seedlings to various insects,,,so,

When in the field I spray deet, and wear long sleaves.....the mosquitos still eat me alive......I found that chain smoking ciggaretts keeps em away from yer face at least..:biglaugh:

The worst is the late night sessions..Every bug in the forrest is dive bombing my head because of my head lamp...Had a moth the size of a small bird flutter in and smack me right in the face..Startled me to death!..

Any of yall have problems with the noseeums?....I cant stand bugs that go for the ears.
Click to expand...
hahahah i laughed my ass off about the bird sized moth. :rofl:
:
 
G

Guest

Hey,

Mr. Fista, if I wasn't sprayin I wouldn't be smokin this fall. Take a look at Huey 69's caterpillar up there. Multiply by 50 and add 50 whiteflies per plant. Even with liquid sevin, Ive had to spray 3X. I can usually go all season and not spray.

I quit smoking FP. You and badmf had better be careful with that Deet. Im honestly more comfortable with bug bites than I am rubbing that poison crap all over me. My wife wants to spray me all over and says Im carrying stuff hack to the house, but it don't sound right to me. Ive tried wearing long sleeves but damn its hot. Just curious FP. you have diving bats on those night sessions? Here, just before daylight they dive right towards you. Ive taken to wearing a hat.

Hey NM.
 
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Saibai

Saibai

栽培して収穫しましょう!
Veteran
Ridiculous mosquitos for a while here too. I usually get an infestation of slugs and snails, but this year its been whitefly city. They have taken over the surrounding vegetation and I have to be pretty diligent with the neem to keep them off my plants.
Now that they seem to be under control, out come the spider mites. I'm going to give them another shot of neem then maybe some pyrethrin?
I have spiders guarding my plants, I usually have mantises too, but not this year it seems.

Also, I have a crapload of little butterfly-looking things on my plants. They hold on when I give the plants a shake, and the ones that fly off come back pretty quick. They don't seem to be doing any visible damage...neem seems completely ineffective...damn they seem to love my plants. Anyone know what the hell these are? I couldn't find any info on them. I'll probably try and get a photo.

edit: oh, and I nearly forgot these, the Asian Giant Hornet. This one must be dead, I wouldn't put it on my hand. :bashhead: You can hear these coming at least, they sound like a low-flying biplane.

hand.jpg
 
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LazLo

LazLo

Member
For personal protection from all flying insects I use Panama Jack Suntan Lotion #4 Classic Blend. It is PABA free but they don't list their ingreidents. When everyone else at the beach is being eaten alive by deer flies, I lie on the sand, fire one up and soak up the rays. Apply before getting dressed so that some of the lotion will rub off on clothing as you move. It is waterproof and lasts 3 to 5 hours. No unpleasant odor. Invested $1.49 for skeeter net head covering from sporting goods section of Wally World.

Make your own cheap bug spray using a bar of Ivory soap. Put 1 bar in 2 cups water to sit overnight. The next day, strain out what didn't dissolve and put mixture in a spray bottle with 1/4 cup cooking oil. Shake, shake, shake well. Spray on both the tops and imdersides of affected leaves. When it dries, the oil holds the soap on the leaves. Apply after rain.

Citrus peels hung in net sacks around the site perimeter will act as a barrier to help keep the bug numbers lower. Lemon basil is one of the best natural insect repellents. Plant it earlier than your girls or at the same time. I get many of my veggie and flower seeds for the price of a stamp (SASE) using seed swapping forums. If you reuse the same sites, let the basil go to seed and don't remove the plants since it takes basil seeds overwintering to germinate the next year. If you plan on collecting seeds, you must wait until the pods are hit by a hard frost. They are a PITA to harvest, but well worth the effort.

To avoid those spider webs in the middle of my path, I use a leafed twig at arm's length waving before me. Pennsylvania grass spiders are doing the most damage in my parts now. They suck the plant juices. Try to remove all vegetation around base of plants in at least 1 foot circle and 6 or more inches above stem. Chiggers and ticks have never been a problem for me except that one time in Costa Rica. Put used Bounce fabric softener sheets into top of socks, pockets and under hat and that repelled them.

The reason the bats are aiming at you is that you are stirring up their food caring for your girls. Bats are our friends. They eat skeeters, spiders, gnats, whiteflies and other pesky insects. There are even "fishing" bats that eat minnows. UPSIDE DOWN WITH NO HANDS! If possible, erect bat houses near your grow areas. Or anywhere within 1/2 mile. Bats travel scores of miles every night in search of food. Some do carry rabies but do not fear them. The evening exit of millions of bats from Carlsbad Caverns is breathtaking. And no one is ever hit by even 1 bat.

Good luck to everyone this season.

If sex doesn't scare the cat, you aren't doing it right.
 
Fast_Pine

Fast_Pine

Member
silverback said:
I quit smoking FP. You and badmf had better be careful with that Deet. Im honestly more comfortable with bug bites than I am rubbing that poison crap all over me. My wife wants to spray me all over and says Im carrying stuff hack to the house, but it don't sound right to me. Ive tried wearing long sleeves but damn its hot. Just curious FP. you have diving bats on those night sessions? Here, just before daylight they dive right towards you. Ive taken to wearing a hat.

Hey NM.
Click to expand...

Good one brotha...Ive tried to quit a fiew times to no avail,,,<deep sigh>,,,,Well, least it keeps the buggs away...

I feel ya on the deet thing..My buddy told me that deet can ruin some fabric:confused:...Could you immagine ruining a hundred dollar carharht or somethin..

Dang dude,,,,Dive bombing bats!,,,,Now that would scare me. For the most part they stay away from me,,,but I can hear them cherping above my head all night long.


Honestly,,,The main thing on my mind is bumping into that bear thats been fucking with my irrigation setups...
 
Fast_Pine

Fast_Pine

Member
LazLo said:
The evening exit of millions of bats from Carlsbad Caverns is breathtaking. And no one is ever hit by even 1 bat.
Click to expand...

To anyone who can make the trip....What lazlo is describing is truly breathtaking....And wonderful desert scenery to boot!...Carlsbad caverns is a dope sight to see......I think its one of the most extensive caves in North America,,,,:confused:....

(sorry to get off topic)



Back to the bugs.
 
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G

gdawg

those bastard chiggers are the worst! the ol man duct tapes his pants to his shoes they've done focked him up so bad before, i laugh like hell at him.
 
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