Could tiny wasps solve the stink bug problem?
Did you catch the good news, announced earlier this week on WTOP, that stink bug numbers are predicted to decline in our region thanks to our native “natural enemies” finally catching up with them?
Some of the “enemies” making the biggest impact in this battle are also the smallest in stature. Beneficial mini-wasps are generally around the size of the period at the end of this sentence. These teeny-tiny wasps seek out stink bug egg clusters and lay their eggs inside the eggs of the stink bugs.
Then, much like the experience of actor John Hurt in the original “Alien,” more little wasps emerge from those eggs instead of more stink bugs. It’s an epic microscopic superhero battle soon to begin in gardens across the region — at least in organic ones. Pesticides are more likely to kill the predator than the pest.
Many unseen allies lurk in your lobelia
Famed University of Maryland entomologist Mike “The Bug Guy” Raupp is predicting that fewer stink bugs will terrorize your tomatoes this season thanks to an Avengers-like array of beneficial insects that are finally coming up to speed against this enemy — ranging in size from the giant praying mantis, all the way down to those teeny-tiny wasps that parasitize the stink bug’s eggs.
There are a lot of other good guys in the middle, with almost-impossible shapes such as the Wheel Bug and/or great names such as the big-eyed bug, the insidious flower beetle, and Johnny Depp’s favorite — the minute pirate bug … argh!
In fact, there are many more beneficial insects in our environment than pests. But these “good bugs” are much more vulnerable to toxins than their foes, and don’t get a chance to do their good work in gardens that see heavy pesticide use.
Invite extraordinary insects to avenge stink bug insult
Those tiny wasps are only one of many native species of “so-small-they’re-almost-microscopic wasps” that finally seem to be getting used to going after the newly-imported stink bugs invading our homes and gardens.
To get these itty-bitty wasps — and much larger stinker-slaying beneficials — working for you:
- Don’t use pesticides. Poisons are much more likely to harm good insects than bad.
- Fill small dishes with pebbles and water so that beneficials will have a safe place to perch when they need a drink (many are too small to safely access bigger sources, like a birdbath).
- Grow plants such as goldenrod, coreopsis, asters, coneflower, dill, fennel, cosmos and marigolds, whose small, nectar-and-pollen-rich flowers give beneficials the extra energy they need to beat up your bad bugs.
Lawn care after the flood
That stretch of seemingly endless rain has left us with a lot of long-haired lawns in our region — so let’s talk turf triage:
- If you haven’t done it already, get a new blade for your mower or get the old one sharpened. A dull blade = weeds and bare spots.
- If your grass is taller than five inches in some areas, raise the cutting height to the absolute maximum and “just take a little off the top.”
- Wait a few days, measure the height of what’s left and bring it down to three inches. Don’t (ever) cut it shorter than that or it will quickly grow ratty shoots in response.
- Always leave the clippings on the lawn. If your blade is sharp, the clippings will break down fast, and because they’re 10 percent Nitrogen by weight, they’ll give your lawn a gentle, natural feeding every time you cut.
- It’s better to cut in the evening (when the grass is generally dry) than in the morning, when it’s almost always wet with dew.
Pruning and spring bulb reminder time:
- Don’t remove the leaves on your spring bulbs until they lose all of their green color, otherwise they might not flower next season.
- No “bulbs in bondage.” Tied-up leaves don’t photosynthesize.
- Planting annuals on top of a spring bulb bed often rots the bulbs underneath. Instead, lift the bulbs out of the ground after the leaves turn brown, store them indoors in a cool dry spot and replant them back outside after Halloween.
- Only prune lilacs, azaleas, rhododendrons and other spring bloomers right after the flowers fade, to ensure good bloom next year.
- Fast-growing forsythia can be pruned back several times in May and June, but not after the 4th of July if you want to see them display their spectacular fireworks next spring.
