Organic-First Pest Control for Texas Gardens

Signs: Dirt mounds in open sunny areas; dark brown workers 1/16 to 3/16 inch that boil out and run up anything when the mound is disturbed; painful stings that form white pustules in a day or two.

Hits: Feed on seeds, seedlings and developing fruit; okra, corn, potatoes and sunflowers named by AgriLife.

Organic first: Pour 1 to 2 gallons of very hot to boiling water on fresh mounds (kills them about 60% of the time); keep it off your plants; Shovel out mounds in the garden; Pyrethrin-based mound drenches labeled for vegetable gardens

If that fails: Two-Step Method: broadcast bait over the yard, then treat problem mounds; Bait around the garden perimeter, not inside it, unless the label lists vegetable gardens; s-methoprene (Extinguish) bait is approved for cropland including vegetable gardens but takes 6 to 8 weeks to work; Always confirm the label lists vegetable gardens and follow pre-harvest intervals

Signs: Solid green shield-shaped bugs 1/2 to 3/4 inch; barrel-shaped eggs laid in neat clusters; black young nymphs and green older nymphs with whitish spots. Green fruit grows dimpled and deformed; ripe fruit gets hard, off-color spots.

Hits: Tomatoes, peaches, beans/peas and many other plants.

Organic first: Hand-pick or knock into soapy water; Crush egg clusters; Conserve assassin bugs and other predators; Pyrethrins

If that fails: Bifenthrin, esfenvalerate, permethrin, cyfluthrin, lambda-cyhalothrin or carbaryl where the crop is on the label

Signs: Dark brown bugs about 3/4 inch with a pale stripe across the back and flattened, leaf-like flares on the hind legs; young gather in groups on fruit; strong odor when handled. Damage looks like stink bug damage.

Hits: Tomatoes, peaches, beans, black-eyed peas, potatoes.

Organic first: Hand-pick or knock groups of nymphs into a bucket of soapy water; Scout weekly and keep weeds and debris down

If that fails: AgriLife's E-194 lists no products labeled for leaffooted bugs on tomatoes and potatoes; rely on physical control

Signs: Small soft-bodied insects clustered on leaf undersides and new growth; leaves become pocked or mottled.

Hits: Nearly everything: greens, cole crops, squash, melons, peppers.

Organic first: Strong water spray; Reflective mulch; Insecticidal soap (contact only); Neem as a repellent before heavy infestations; Lady beetles and green lacewing larvae; Avoid overfeeding nitrogen

If that fails: Malathion, permethrin, esfenvalerate, bifenthrin, lambda-cyhalothrin per label; avoid carbaryl

Signs: Dark brown flat bugs 1/2 to 2/3 inch; shiny bronze oval eggs in clusters on leaf undersides; gray nymphs with black legs. Leaves turn gray, wilt and die; heavy infestations can kill vines.

Hits: Squash, pumpkin and other cucurbits.

Organic first: Check for and crush egg clusters at least weekly; Tap nymphs into a jar of soapy water; Board or newspaper traps overnight, destroy bugs at dawn; Remove debris at the plant base and at season's end; Diatomaceous earth plus pyrethrins at the plant base; Neem (azadirachtin)

If that fails: Esfenvalerate, permethrin, bifenthrin or carbaryl per label, aimed at young nymphs right after hatch, sprayed in the evening after blooms close

Signs: Day-flying orange-and-black moth that looks like a wasp; holes near the stem base with wet sawdust-like frass; vines suddenly wilt and collapse. Larva is white with a brown head, about 1 inch.

Hits: Squash mainly; occasionally melons and cucumbers.

Organic first: Slit the stem lengthwise and remove the larva (small plantings); Spray neem, spinosad or pyrethrin on the stems near the base, not the leaves, every 3 to 5 days during egg-laying; Destroy infested plants and vines at season's end; Rotate squash to a new spot because the pest overwinters in the soil

If that fails: Bifenthrin, esfenvalerate or permethrin per label on stems before eggs hatch; useless once larvae are inside

Signs: Green caterpillar up to 3 to 4 inches with diagonal white side stripes and a horn on the rear (red horn = tobacco hornworm); big chunks eaten from leaves.

Hits: Tomato, pepper, eggplant, potato.

Organic first: Hand-pick; Bt on small caterpillars; Spinosad; Leave caterpillars carrying parasite cocoons to hatch more parasites

If that fails: Bifenthrin, carbaryl, cyfluthrin, esfenvalerate, lambda-cyhalothrin or permethrin per label

Signs: Green caterpillars that chew holes in leaves.

Hits: Cabbage, broccoli, collards, kale and other cole crops.

Organic first: Hand-pick small numbers; Bt (best on young larvae; safe for beneficials); check plants once or twice a week; Spinosad; Trichogramma wasps attack the eggs

If that fails: Bifenthrin, carbaryl, esfenvalerate, lambda-cyhalothrin or permethrin per label

Signs: Tiny eight-legged mites on leaf undersides; yellow-to-bronze speckling (stippling) and fine webbing; worst in hot, dry, dusty weather.

Hits: Tomatoes, beans, cucurbits and many others.

Organic first: Hard water spray to leaf undersides; Water properly so plants are not drought-stressed; Cut back high-nitrogen feeding; Insecticidal soap (repeat, but not more than three times in two weeks); Conserve predatory mites, lady beetles and lacewings

If that fails: Petroleum oil (not in high heat), malathion or lambda-cyhalothrin per label; avoid carbaryl

Signs: Stunted, pale plants that wilt easily in heat and decline; roots swollen with knots (galls) up to about an inch across.

Hits: Tomatoes, okra and many vegetables.

Organic first: Plant resistant varieties (look for N on the tag); Rotate to non-susceptible crops; do not follow okra with tomatoes; Solarize under clear plastic in summer; Solid stands of French marigolds or a cowpea cover crop, then turn under

If that fails: AgriLife offers a lab test for nematodes; no easy chemical fix for home gardens