Stink bugs attacking peaches -> kaolin clay?

Upstate South Carolina - Zone 8a. Having a tough time this year with stink bugs and other pests going after my stone fruit - Elberta, Belle of Georgia, and mystery white in their second year fruiting, Nectaplum in its first. I’ve tried protecting with organza bags but these jerks just stick their proboscises right through them, suck away, then my fruit emit that clear gel resiny stuff. They actually seem to ripen okay and still be edible if only slightly sucked, but too many of my fruit are getting too decimated to continue losing the battle this way. Additionally, I spray close to the recommended schedule with a broad spectrum of fungicides and insecticides (copper, permethrin, PureCrop), so it’s not like I’m expecting that organza bags alone are enough.

Fellow stone fruit growing brethren with sucking insect problems - does kaolin clay work for protection? I’m moving away from organza bags since they seem minimally effective in this situation; plus when I remove them I’m occasionally losing fruit by my own hand just by messing with the bag. I don’t mind the challenges of stone fruit in a humid climate - the only disease they get so far is bacterial spot which seems mostly inconsequential since the fruit is ripe by the time the tree gets it bad. And I actually like the pruning aspect due to their crazy growth rate. Thanks for any advice especially regarding kaolin clay’s effectiveness.


Sucking bugs are insane in the deep south. They love plums, peaches and other thin skinned stone fruits. I have one lousy Marianna Plum and I laugh that it is not drilled yet.

Luckily Mantids and Jumping Spiders are legion here.

You have to put a cold cup lid to hold the organza bag off of the fruit. If they touch the fruit, so can the bugs.

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That’s a good idea but looks so damn tedious. I guess it’s worth it to get the fruit. Thanks for the tip and I might do that.

Surround works very well. I get few stink bugs now that I use it. You might get a little damage but it’s usually less than you need to thin out anyway. Use Surround, not regular kaolin as Surround is much finer and can be sprayed with a sprayer.

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Excellent, thanks. I didnt really understand the application method so that’s great to know Surround makes it easier.

Yes, it’s easier to apply and the regular kaolin doesn’t really work as it’s not a fine enough powder so does not irritate the bugs. Surround is not available super widely but Seven Springs is not too far from you so the shipping from them is probably not so bad. It’s somewhat expensive but a 25lb bag will last a long time if you don’t have many trees. For me I use a bag a year.

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