Tagged: integrated pest management

How to save your plants during a heat wave

Spraying tomato plants with water early in the morning helps fight spider mites and aphids while refreshing the leaves and raising the humidity around the plants. The runoff helps the plants, too. (Photos: Kathy...

Attack of the tomato hornworms!

The tomato hornworm’s coloring makes it hard to see among tomato leaves. Look for its poop on leaves below or, at night, search using a UV flashlight. (Photo: Debbie Arrington) They look like something...

Rats! Hungry rodents attacking summer gardens

The damage on this tomato likely was the work of a rodent — probably a Norway rat. (Photo: Debbie Arrington) What’s eating my tomatoes? Often, it may be something you’d rather not think about...

Bad bugs can fool you; they keep changing

This is not a good bug to find in your vegetable garden: It’s a Leptoglossus zonatus , a leaffooted bug. (Photo: Debbie Arrington) Just when you think you can tell a good bug from...

What’s this bug? It loves triple-digit heat

These are leaf-footed bug nymphs. They tend to stay in a pack when young. (Photo courtesy Alan Moritz) “Good guys or bad guys?” That’s the question that accompanied this photo of mystery insects that...