Sorry but the first rule of pest control is to - first, ID the pest. Not only are pest controls toxic, they are specific to the type of pest in many cases. Any sort of blanket pesticide, if one existed, is going to kill far more beneficial insects than it will detrimental ones. Killing all the beneficial insects in your garden can only guarantee yourself lots more pests and no garden. Each crop/food a a few pests specific to it and it is a simple thing to learn what those are. A Google search using "common pests of _______" (insert name of the vegetable) will give you all you need to know about them plus what is available to control them without harming the good guys. For example, the most common pest of cabbage is cabbage loopers and they are easy to control with Bt dust. Aphids can just be hosed off with a stream of water assuming you aren't inviting them in with excessive Nitrogen fertilizers. As to "brown beetles" - there are hundreds of them some good and some bad, so first you have to learn to know your bugs. Dave

Thanks Jim, I saw that link from one of your older responses and tried it. That's sort of where I got the idea that maybe they were short on nitrogen. I'm still not quite sure why they are unhappy, but now I think maybe the soil got too acidic. I tested before adding sulfer and it was right around the 6.9 - 7.1 area on my cheap little probe tester, and nutrient level was considered "low ideal." So I added the amount of sulfur suggested on the bag to bring the pH to btw 4.5 and 5.0. I tested again about a month later right before I planted, and it still seemed a little high - around 6.0 - 6.2, so I planted with the acidic plant fertilizer, and mulched with pine, and figured it would drop over time, I wasn't expecting berries the first year or two anyway. My original plan was to ammend once at planting, and maintain with pine mulch and proper fertilizer. I didn't expect it to drop that quickly, I thought it would take time for the pine to break down and acidify. I just tested with my cheap electric probe tester today, and it seems to think the pH is now between 2.7 - 2.9, which is definitely much lower than I was aiming. It also now has the needle pinned to "too much" for nutrients - but I don't know the specific break down of nutrients. I suppose it could still be heat or water, but probably has something to do with over nutrient and too acidic. I'm not sure if I should try lime now, or if I'll rebound too far to alkaline. I can't find any information on what happens to blueberries if they are in soil that is too acidic. It may be time for me to get a more specific soil test done or send the leaves out for analysis. I just hadn't planned on starting a semi-professional orchard with perfect soil and maximum plant production. I just figured we'd plop in a few blueberry bushes and that would be it. Maybe I should just wait a couple years and see if they are still alive and start producing berries.

Hard to tell from the pics but the bark looks like a SYP (southern yellowpine) most likely a loblolly or shortleaf. The pitch tubes are a dead ringer for southern pine beetles, of which there are five different species. That tree is a dead man walking, your next symptom will be red top. You will see this no later the the middle of next summer. It will not be immediately noticable from the ground but obvious from the air when the upper needles on the tree start dying due to lack of nutrients being brought up because the beetle larvae have eaten away the cambium layer. Remove that tree NOW and keep a very close eye on any SYP within 300' of that tree. I would also consider burning off or removal of all leaf litter within that 300' radius as well. I have over 200 acres of planted loblolly and the standard treatment for SPB is removal of all dead and dying trees and everything within 300' of affected trees and if possible a controlled burn to destroy any beetles in the leaf litter. The life cycle of the SPB is for the adult beetle to lay it's eggs just under the bark of the tree at it's base. The hatched out larvae then proceed to eat their way to the top of the tree through the cambium layer, girdling it in the process. Once the larvae reach the top they emerge as adults and fly down to the base of adjacent trees to repeat the cycle.(hence the 300' radius and removal of leaf litter) Treatment is not an option in large plantings like mine. It can be done on single trees but it would need to be a systemic insecticide on a large scale for mature trees and even then the damage is usually already done. Prevention is the only hope and that can be problematic. Stressed trees are the most suseptible. I have the worst outbreaks during droughts or following severe winters (ice storms). Regular controlled burns are also recommended as is opening the forest floor with wider spacing between trees. Many of us are also giving a long hard look at long leaf pine which is almost immune to the SPB. I do have about 60 acres of it planted on my homeplace.

Found one more in another pumpkin. They just bored right in the side not near the stem. I am a bit perplexed as to what to do next year. I may take a year off. I am so full of squash bugs, SVB, and thousands of cucumber beetles. If I did not have bee hives right next to my patch I may have resorted to desperate measures.