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.