eliminating harlequin bugs on brassicas?

[habitat_gardener]

At one of the community gardens, harlequin bugs (HBs) are a big problem. The bugs themselves are beautiful: orange and black. They're in the stink bug family.

http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/GARDE...lequinbug.html

Aside from picking the bugs off the plants and getting rid of egg clusters, has anyone found other ways to deal with these bugs? Any deterrents? (I'm inspired by Claud's use of lima-bean-hull tea and rows of lima beans to keep flea beetles away in another thread, and hoping someone has come across something like this for HBs.)

Actually, the source of the infestation is one plot where the gardener refuses to deal with the infestation and does not visit the garden much. The garden coordinator has suggested mediation!

[Redbaron]

Originally Posted by habitat_gardener

At one of the community gardens, harlequin bugs (HBs) are a big problem. The bugs themselves are beautiful: orange and black. They're in the stink bug family.

http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/GARDE...lequinbug.html

Aside from picking the bugs off the plants and getting rid of egg clusters, has anyone found other ways to deal with these bugs? Any deterrents? (I'm inspired by Claud's use of lima-bean-hull tea and rows of lima beans to keep flea beetles away in another thread, and hoping someone has come across something like this for HBs.)

Actually, the source of the infestation is one plot where the gardener refuses to deal with the infestation and does not visit the garden much. The garden coordinator has suggested mediation!

I got a few this year for the first time. My control methods include spraying with cayenne hot pepper extract. I don't think it actually killed them, but they are repelled by it.

[saltmarsh]

Garlic oil is recommended as a deterrent.

From the link under tips: Plant resistant varieties of Brassicas, such as "Copenhagen Market 86," "Early Jersey Wakefield," "Headstart" or "Stein's Flat Dutch" cabbages; "Green Glaze" collards; "Early Snowball X" or "Snowball Y" cauliflowers; or "Cherry Belle," "Red Devil," "Red Prince" or "White Icicle" radishes for best results where harlequin bugs are epidemic.

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/control...ugs-65062.html

[peebee]

When my now-grown daughter was in 2nd grade, her teacher ordered eggs of these bugs and had each child take them home after watching them hatch. She actually gave us instructions to release them in our gardens afterwards, and being the clueless newbie gardener, I did. It took me years of trapping and crushing them to get rid of the buggers. I still curse that teacher every time I remember her, and wonder to this day who would ever sell eggs of these stinkbugs?

[AlittleSalt]

First, wow peebee! I hope that teacher doesn't move to Texas.

Habitat_Gardener, I use soapy water, and the hunt-and-squash-them technique. As for looks, yes, they are a good looking bug, but they can take over in a hurry. We had them in our garden bad, and they ate/killed our turnips so I pulled the dying turnips and put them in one of those tall trash bins that a lot of cities use for trash pickup. The one we have is called, "Toter". Anyway, I took the plants and harlequin bugs straight to a burning barrel and burnt them.

The remaining Harlequin bugs then took over our spinach, collard greens, and leftover radish plants. Again, I pulled them and burned them. Since then, I have not seen anymore Harlequin bugs, but I know they are there somewhere.

We still have onions, tomatoes, black eyed and purple hull peas, top crop and bluelake 274 beans, cantaloupe, tomatillos, marigolds, mint, strawberries, nasturtiums, morning glories, Swiss chard, yellow and zucchini squash, okra, beets, peppers, and cucumbers growing without any signs of Harlequin bugs.

[saltmarsh]

This has worked on every kind of stink bug I've tried it on. Try it on your Harlequin bugs and let us know the results. Claud


A Simple Effective Organic Spray For Stink Bugs
Finally, something safe, fairly inexpensive, and organic that kills the bloody things.
Rosemary Tea
To make 2 liters of tea you will need:
2 liters of water
1/8 cup of Rosemary leaves (a typical coffee measuring spoon)
1 teaspoon molasses
1/2 teaspoon Palmolive Orange dishwashing liquid
Put the water and Rosemary leaves in a non-reactive pot and bring to a boil covered. Reduce heat to a slow boil and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. When the tea has cooled, strain and pour half of the tea into a 2 liter drink bottle. Add the molasses to the drink bottle. Shake well to dissolve the molasses (it will foam. allow foam to dissipate). Finish straining tea into bottle. Add dishwashing liquid.
To use, pour into a sprayer, hand or tank, spray full strength onto bugs. This is best done early in the morning or late in the afternoon when they are less active. I'm testing this on their eggs also, but don't know the results yet. I'll update with those results later.
I originally made this tea for use on Spider Mites. The problem is I don't have any Spider Mites to test this on. So help me out on this one. If you have Spider Mites make some of the tea, spray the foliage where the Spider Mites are and repeat every 3 days and let me know the results.
The recipe is scalable for larger amounts. To make 3 gallons at a time, use 3 gallons of water, 3/4 cup of Rosemary leaves (fresh or dried are equivalent), 2 tablespoons of molasses, and 1 tablespoon of dishwashing liquid. Give it time to cool, don't try to work with hot liquids.