Capsidadburn 2014

ribbedturtleneck · Aug 6, 2014

Love the color!

capsidadburn · Aug 7, 2014

Thanks RBT! Welcome to THP

I've had to toss a lot of pods this year for Stink bug damage. They've been around for years but seem to be getting worse. No shortage of distribution maps on Google.

Heres a link to a Penn State article. followed by a more recent bit of research news.
http://ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheets/brown-marmorated-stink-bug

http://news.psu.edu/story/305724/2014/02/26/research/characterization-stink-bug-saliva-proteins-opens-door-controlling
Another recent harvest;

In the last pic at the lower right were the first BOC pods from this year. Very tasty and hotter than I remember.
7 Pot Barrackpore pods turning yellow

♀ Argia Immunda (Kiowa Dancer) She kept leaveing this bamboo, fly about 8 inches away to snag some small gnat and come right back.

Found this Great Blue Skimmer yesterday. ♂ Libellula vibrans

Time for work!

Later Mike

GA Growhead · Aug 7, 2014

Yellow barrackpore is a new one.

capsidadburn · Aug 8, 2014

GA Growhead said:
Yellow barrackpore is a new one.

Hey Jason, How are you doing? Hope all is well.

I've had what I believe to be yellow Barrackpore last season. I overwintered that plant but it hasn't done much. I transferred it rather late into a raised bed. These pods pictured came off of a new plant and have little or no heat and no detectable aroma. They had no sun block so I shaded them (pods) with a container plant next to it. I did enjoy the heat and flavor from the plant last year so I will keep watch. It should rev up in mid September.

Mike

PIC 1 · Aug 8, 2014

capsidadburn said:
Nice harvest variety...........and I dig the rusty looking snips......Although, the grips indicate plenty of wear and tear........

Have a great weekend !

Devv · Aug 8, 2014

I have a some stink bugs here too, damage has been less than last year. They seem to do more damage in the later stages of the season, but that's not a concern this season as Sept. 1st. is "off with their heads" day. The soil needs major rehab and I need a break

Although I will deploy the empty 20 gal grow bags for a few

Glad to see you're getting nice pulls!

This heat the last week has been brutal on the plants. Full time Tejas summer is here!

Love the DF pics!

Keep it green buddy!

Sawyer · Aug 8, 2014

That's too bad about the stink bugs. I killed a couple here today, but I'm pretty sure they were the common brown s.b. (Euschistus servus), not the brown marmorated s.b. Wikipedia has this to say, "They also are commonly eaten in Laos, and are regarded as delicious due to their extremely strong odor. The insects are sometimes pounded together with spices and a seasoning to prepare cheo, a paste mixed with chilies and herbs." How adventurous are you feeling?

The cat on the bench looks like its eaten something recently, hopefully a garden pest.

Pr0digal_son · Aug 9, 2014

Hey Mike,everything looks great. I know all to well about the stink bugs. I only see mild damage to my plants,but just having them around and getting into everything is a PITA!

We are introducing parasitic wasps to keep the numbers down in PA. They have are so infamous,they are now a nickname for people ,like "Tiny" or "Beef" would be.

If you see very small,white honeycomb shaped eggs,that is them. They will be on the underside of the leaves. Late in the season up here,you will see thousands of them on west facing building walls trying to warm up. It looks like a cheesy 50's horror film.

annie57 · Aug 9, 2014

Pr0digal_son said:
Late in the season up here,you will see thousands of them on west facing building walls trying to warm up. It looks like a cheesy 50's horror film.

John!
But seriously am sorry for their damage: usually very late season for us. Saw some trying to pierce through winter squash last year. Big cluster blob (as John, described, "B '50's horror flick") on Neck Pumpkin squash that was ready. Snipped, and slid squash to cardboard box opened, flipped squash, knocked off, rapid stomped. Boots smelled funny couple days. Am really sorry. But nice hauls; however, there are times for big guns like Sevin too. Depending on how much pepper crop they think they want. Just my opinion, since stomping a plant would be counter-productive.

Devv · Aug 9, 2014

Wow!

We don't have them that bad here, maybe because it's so dry?

capsidadburn · Aug 9, 2014

Devv said:
I have a some stink bugs here too, damage has been less than last year. They seem to do more damage in the later stages of the season, but that's not a concern this season as Sept. 1st. is "off with their heads" day. The soil needs major rehab and I need a break Although I will deploy the empty 20 gal grow bags for a few

Glad to see you're getting nice pulls!

This heat the last week has been brutal on the plants. Full time Tejas summer is here!

Love the DF pics!

Keep it green buddy!

Good to hear your breaking out those "Bag lady's" again. Been hot this week but I suppose it is the time for it!

Sawyer said:
That's too bad about the stink bugs. I killed a couple here today, but I'm pretty sure they were the common brown s.b. (Euschistus servus), not the brown marmorated s.b. Wikipedia has this to say, "They also are commonly eaten in Laos, and are regarded as delicious due to their extremely strong odor. The insects are sometimes pounded together with spices and a seasoning to prepare cheo, a paste mixed with chilies and herbs." How adventurous are you feeling?

The cat on the bench looks like its eaten something recently, hopefully a garden pest.

Thanks John! I haven't actually tried to look these up that are here. Just seems like there's not a whole lot to do against them. Been curious about the other growers. I saw the article about them being eaten and nearly lost it! I always just knock them to the ground and stomp, but may have to find some seven as Annie suggested.

Pr0digal_son said:
Hey Mike,everything looks great. I know all to well about the stink bugs. I only see mild damage to my plants,but just having them around and getting into everything is a PITA!

We are introducing parasitic wasps to keep the numbers down in PA. They have are so infamous,they are now a nickname for people ,like "Tiny" or "Beef" would be.

If you see very small,white honeycomb shaped eggs,that is them. They will be on the underside of the leaves. Late in the season up here,you will see thousands of them on west facing building walls trying to warm up. It looks like a cheesy 50's horror film.

Haven't seen any horror flick sized masses here just constantly on the pods. I have seen the parassitc wasps making a home on the back of the horn worms before. I'll keep a watch out for the eggs on the leaves. Thanks for the tip.

annie57 said:
John!

But seriously am sorry for their damage: usually very late season for us. Saw some trying to pierce through winter squash last year. Big cluster blob (as John, described, "B '50's horror flick") on Neck Pumpkin squash that was ready. Snipped, and slid squash to cardboard box opened, flipped squash, knocked off, rapid stomped. Boots smelled funny couple days. Am really sorry. But nice hauls; however, there are times for big guns like Sevin too. Depending on how much pepper crop they think they want. Just my opinion, since stomping a plant would be counter-productive.

Thanks Annie! I usually grab them or knock em down and stomp em. Get tired of stink hands though! Will give a look at the Sevin dust, Thanks.

Devv said:
Wow!

We don't have them that bad here, maybe because it's so dry?

I suppose I would take the dry over the wall of Stink bug horror!

Thanks everybody for the concern and help!

Mike

Pr0digal_son · Aug 9, 2014

Devv said:
Wow!

We don't have them that bad here, maybe because it's so dry?

I have a place 65 miles north of where I live and have never seen a single bug. Even stranger,I transfered facilities at work,11 miles away. Not a single bug,the other facility you would literally have to watch where you sat down outside.

In PA,they really aren't apparent until late in the year when they are looking for wintering spots. Maybe with your climate they never move indoors??You really have to look closely to see the youngsters throughout the season.

Hopefully they stay away from your parts. The bad part(besides crop destruction) is that they are not a skiddish bug,they just crawl all over you or anything else and don't shew away. Then you end up squishing them by accident and that musk they give off is terrible. Gives me dry heaves!

Devv · Aug 9, 2014

No, we don't ever ever them in the house. One thing I did when I peeled all the '70's paneling and sheet-rocked the entire house (it's 40 years old) was to seal every nook and cranny with caulk, even the baseboard moldings. And replace the exterior doors with ones that have nice seals. That keeps the spiders, scorpions, rodents, and all the rest out. 4 scorpion strikes made this any easy thing to do!

But I'm thinking after reading what you're saying that they like your climate better than mine. They don't get the nice wet weather (for long) to get going. I'm wondering why Mike has the worse than we do. Perhaps because we're all alone out here, and the only watering we do is in the garden. Lawn? not here

I just mow what Ma Nature sends up, and that's not a whole lot

Spicegeist · Aug 9, 2014

Great lizard shot. I've seen some stink bug traps at a local community garden that seem to catch a lot of them...

OCD Chilehead · Aug 10, 2014

Sorry to hear about the pests. Nice pics. Dragon Fly pics never get old. I've seen some little purple ones running around in my backyard for the first time. They move so quick and I never seen them stand still long enough for a pic. Congrats on another pull.

Sawyer · Aug 10, 2014

Great shot of the anole. Used to see them a lot, down south, but not so much anymore.

From what I've read, the stinkbug damage doesn't affect taste or safety of produce, only the appearance. At the very least, you could dry those pods and use the powder for repellents. Unless you're looking for reasons to reduce the amount needing processing...

I'm with Scott regarding lawns. This story expresses my attitude well.

Devv · Aug 10, 2014

I like that story John!

capsidadburn · Aug 10, 2014

Devv said:
I like that story John!

Me too! Just yesterday, speaking with my neighbors, a retired couple, she asked about how my peppers were doing. They have a really nice yard and perfect grass. I found myself tripping over an apology for the shape of my yard and trees which she didn't seem to think I needed to. Very pleasant, I thought!

Devv · Aug 10, 2014

capsidadburn said:
Me too! Just yesterday, speaking with my neighbors, a retired couple, she asked about how my peppers were doing. They have a really nice yard and perfect grass. I found myself tripping over an apology for the shape of my yard and trees which she didn't seem to think I needed to. Very pleasant, I thought!

And that's another reason why I don't take care except to mow, the time. As you know gardening can be very time consuming, and it's not just the gardening, it's putting up the produce. By this time of year LB and I are ready for the fall break, what fall break? Garlic goes in 9-15, and the cool weather plants need to be planted....LOL

You know a nice lawn is highly over rated

And I'm sure when they see your grow they will be in awe!

capsidadburn · Aug 13, 2014

Just a few pics today. Need to be working on my kitchen floor. My new "Ikea" kitchen is in the living room.

EOB plants in my new raised bed. Congo Black toward the back. I wish the whole bed looked like this but it doesn't and I know why. More about that another time. Lots of pods in there just hard to see. There are dead Crepe Myrtle trimmings poking up thru, that is for dragonfly perch. I have them everywhere.

Container plants are ahead of these. These will get a little more size to them. This plant is the right color too! Two more plants in this bed yet to show ripe coloring.

EOB bloom

Plumeria blooms

♂ Widow Skimmer Libellula luctuosa 2 pics

♂ Immature Eastern Pondhawk still transforming from green to blue. Erythemis Simpliciollis

Back to the kitchen floor! Beer in hand.

Mike