"Bagging" tomatoes for stink bug control?

**sfg4uKim** 7/1/2011, 3:30 pm

OK, I just heard someone say that they are going to "bag" their tomatoes to prevent stink bug damage. Anyone have ideas on this?

Has anyone here tried something like that? If so, what did you use & was it successful?

I just saw some juvenile stink bugs on my beets (I sucked them up with my garden hand vac) and now I'm worried because my tomatoes are starting to turn red.

I ordered samples of muslin bags with drawstrings and even empty pitcher-sized tea bags (like you would use for loose tea). Any other ideas? I was thinking about cheap coffee filters which I could staple?

When asked why he wasn't going to use a row cover, the guy above feels that plants might not get enough sun to produce good fruit if you cover all the leaves.

I think I'm going to try a combination of row covers & these individual barriers. So am I completely crazy or what?

**walshevak** 7/1/2011, 3:46 pm

I'll bet the tulle that some of us are using as bug control would work. cut squares or rectangles of a size (after folding in half) needed to fit over the tomato cluster and sew (or staple) the sides to make the bag. Then staple the top together after you put it over the cluster. Any nylon net from a fabric store should work. You don't need the 108" wide if you are cutting it up. Or put up hoops and cover with the wide stuff. It is thin enough for sunlight and water to get through, and a small enough mesh to stop most insects.

Kay, Broadcasting from Vienna

shannon1 7/2/2011, 3:43 am

Yep I bag my toms with super light insect barrier row cover bags I sew, if the little suckers are present. I use the row cover as a row cover on other smaller plants to keep all the pests off but I find bagging easier for tomatoes just because they are so large. I love that stuff I get it from gardens alive. It lets in the sun and rain but does not retain heat like the floating row covers used for frost protection.

AnnieMcC 4/12/2012, 10:05 am

If you google 'bagging apples' you will see a lot of discussion on using zip lock bags. Everyone swears by it. Slip the bag over the fruit when it is little, zip shut to stem. Presto you have a little green house:)

GWN 4/12/2012, 10:29 am

This months Mother earth news has an article on beneficial insects and they list certain forms of stink bugs as being beneficial, because they prey on aphids, caterpillars, scale insects, spider mites and insect eggs.

The good the bad and the smelly....
Not sure which stink bugs these are, did not know that there were different kinds

kbb964 4/12/2012, 10:52 am

You have a garden handvac? WOW

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