Posts: 5,797
6/2/09 9:04 A

This is do-able! Thank you Sunny for sharing this information you found. I am going to copy it and add it to my garden notes for future use in my home garden.

THANK YOU.... Hopefully we will all be bug free soon!

* I am using the BYE hand to smoosh the bug!

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6/1/09 8:31 P

Thanks, Bren.

Hi SuzieQ - Here is an article about the dreaded Chinch Bug. Hope it helps

Chinch Bugs
Chinch bugs very small bugs (usually 1/3 inch or less in length) that are red in appearance when young, and black with white wings along their backs when grown. These bugs are common to St. Augustine Grasses, and a lesser degree to Kentucky Bluegrass, Zoysia, and Bent grass. Chinch Bugs feed on grass blades by sucking-out the juices and drying out the grass. The most common signs of Chinch Bug infestation is the appearance of yellow colored patches that eventually turn brown and die. The easy way to check for Chinch bugs in your lawn is to place a bottomless container or coffee can a few inches into the ground over the edge of one of the infected spots and fill it with water. Eventually, if present, the Chinch bugs will float to the top.
Getting Rid of Them: The common insecticides used on Chinch Bugs are Diazinon and Dursban. Pyrethrin, insecticidal soaps, and Flortine (Chinch resistant) type St. Augustine grasses are also used. However, for most people, proper lawn maintenance is the best control for Chinch Bugs. This includes watering, aeration, dethatching, and mowing higher. Since Chinch bugs like to lay their eggs in layers of thatch, it is important that thatch levels are kept under control! Click here for a list of companies in your area who can help you control Chinch Bugs!

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6/1/09 1:16 P

Sunny - Great article you posted. I am really bad about the bugs and wish I had a more natural / environmental safe way to treat them but I use 7 - SEVEN big time.

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5/31/09 3:19 P

OK, well since we're on the topic of bugs...how do I get rid of cinch bugs in my raised bed garden?

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5/31/09 1:29 P

Thanks for the answers. I am located just west of Philadelphia. Not sure what zone that makes me.
C

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5/31/09 12:01 P

If you are in Zones 5 or 6, I would say maybe it is because of all the moisture we have had this year. We have had some problems with bugs too but not "stink bugs". I would hate that too.

Here is an article I found on the WWW that may give some answers to your questions.

www.philly.com/philly/blogs/greenliving/Th
e_great_stink_bug_massacre.html

Sunny

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5/31/09 11:55 A

I don't know where you live, but here we seem to have an overabundance of ticks and mosquitoes. I guess its because of the wet spring. Something is munching my sunflowers as well. I may have to break down and spray the yard, much as I hate to.

Posts: 54
5/31/09 10:54 A

Sorry I haven't been more active in the group but have been knee deep in end of month accounting, normal craziness and redoing my garden (when it is not raining). However, I am being overrun by stink bugs both in the garden and in my house. I hate bugs in my house. I become more of a raving lunatic and go on a seek and destroy mission. What is causing this plague of stink bugs and what can I do about it?

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