From the soon to be bugged out studios of Lehigh Valley Public Media in Bethlehem, PA, it is time for another orchestral episode of chemical-free horticultural hijinks You Bet Your Garden.

Yes, the cicadas are coming, I'm your host, Mike McGrath.

And on today's show, we'll discuss what the upcoming arrival of the billions of bugs in Brood X means to you.

Otherwise, it's a fabulous phone call show, cats and kittens.

That's right.

Potential guests are busy purchasing push brooms.

So we will take that heap of your telecommunicated questions, comments, tips, tricks, suggestions, and ecologically ebullient eccentricities.

So keep your eyes and ears right here, true believers, because it's all coming up faster than you forever associating ear plugs with the month of August.

Right after this.

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Carol, welcome to You Bet Your Garden.

- Thank you.

- Well, thank you, Carol.

How you doing?

- I'm just doing fine.

- And where is Carol doing fine?

- Outside of Raleigh, North Carolina.

- Oh, of course you're doing fine.

It's a beautiful area there.

What can we do you for?

- Well, I have two questions.

The first one is about tomatoes that I can grow in big pots here that can stand the heat and the humidity and that are disease resistant.

- OK. - I'm looking for a one determinate and one indeterminate.

And I would be really happy if any of those could be heirlooms.

- You will have no trouble finding heat-tolerant tomatoes in catalogs like Totally Tomatoes, Burpee, Seed Savers Exchange, places like that.

- There are varieties that have the word sun in their name.

They tend to be yellow tomatoes.

I don't know how you feel about that, but these are tomatoes that have been proven to be heat resistant.

And heat resistance in your region is a smart way to go, because once the temperature reaches close to 95 degrees, the pollen on the tomato plants will fry and you won't get any tomatoes from those flowers, although when it does cool down new flowers will produce well.

super early.

So that's... - I'll plant in April.

- Yeah, so that you get the maximum amount of time outside of your hot season.

Now, heirlooms are another story in that heirloom means a tomato that was once carried in the commercial seed trade and dropped from catalogs, but was preserved by home gardeners saving seed because they relished, so to speak, the tomatoes so much.

If I remember correctly, and those people who I went to college with who are still around are laughing insanely now, I believe Cherokee Purple is not only an heirloom, I believe it's indeterminate, but I believe it is also very heat resistant.

So any tomato can be grown in a container as long as the container is big enough and that's a 17 inch pot, which means 17 inches high, 17 inches across the top and filled with compost and good potting mix, and only one tomato per container, which may seem wasteful, but you'll get more tomatoes that way.

- That's what I did last year.

- Yeah, and you found out you get more tomatoes from one plant in a big pot than you do from four tomatoes crushed together in the same pot.

- Sure.

- They don't like having the roots wrap around each other.

- OK. - I would suggest that the Seed Savers Exchange, which deals entirely in heirloom varieties, would be a good resource for information as to the most heat resistant variety, Amy Goldman also wrote a book on heirloom tomatoes several years ago.

She's affiliated with SSE but she went to Cornell's library and all these other places and she went through the catalogs from the late 1800s and early 1900s so that she could actually be sure of the exact names of these tomatoes and what they were good for.

You know, most people are asking about cold tolerant tomatoes, but you're absolutely right to be looking for heat tolerant ones.

But I will also tell you that despite the ambient temperature outside, so you're having a 96 degree day, giving the plants some shade and some extra water in the middle of the day may temper the effects of the heat, and that pollen may not fry.

But at the very least, put them out early.

If they stop producing in the middle of summer, don't panic, because the greenery will still grow.

And then when temps cool off, you'll be picking through, what, late November?

Easy.

- Oh, that sounds excellent.

That sounds very good.

- And you had a follow up.

- I have an additional question, which is quite different, I have a very large deck at the back of my house, 35 feet by 10 feet wide, I guess, and I have dining, grilling, seating areas.

And I have lots of pots with herbs and flowers.

The problem is that if I take any food out there, the food and I are immediately covered by flies.

And that means I can't grill and eat outside.

I can't take a sandwich out for lunch and sit outside.

- Well, yes, you can.

Yes, you can.

- Well, what... - The answer ties is exactly into your climate.

You remember those old church fans before air conditioning was reliable and you'd have to go to church even if it was 90 degrees out at 11am, and they had these big fans blowing around.

That's what you want.

Flies, and mosquitoes are also in the fly family, are actually pretty poor fliers, and all you need is to establish a breeze pushing away from you... ..to get them out of your hair, so to speak.

It's better if the fans can oscillate and it's better the bigger they are.

But one fan will do a good job.

Two fans will do great job.

Three fans and people will be making reservations at your new outdoor restaurant.

There's also a plant that I haven't spoken about in ages, and I'm probably not going to come up with a scientific name because it's been too long.

But it is called the shoo fly plant.

And I believe it's kind of in the larger tomato family.

But what happens when flies land on it and eat the pollen?

They become sterile.

And it's a fairly attractive plant.

I've grown it many times.

I know JL Hudson is one supplier.

They made the plant really famous.

But if you just search shoo fly plant on the internet, you'll find it and it could be an extra resource.

But big fans that blow lots of breezes or make you more comfortable and keep all those insects at bay.

- Well, that's a lot better and safer than what I was told at a small garden center, and that was spray.

- Yeah, exactly.

And you spray and you knock down like the first 20 seconds' worth of flies and they keep coming.

And what's happening - it's all dripping down your thumb and your hands and your finger and you're not feeling so good.

But the flies keep coming.

No, no.

- Right.

- There is no problem in gardening that there isn't a great organic solution for.

- Well, that's why I called you, because you would know it if anybody did, so I am very pleased to hear your answers to both of my questions.

- Excellent.

Well, thank you very much.

- You take care.

- Thank you.

- 888 492 9444.

Karyl, welcome to You Bet Your Garden.

- Hi, how are you doing?

- I am just ducky, Karyl.

Thank you for asking.

Ducky always likes to get into the show.

How is Karyl doing?

- Oh, I'm doing great.

Yeah.

- And where is Karyl great?

- I'm actually in western North Carolina on the mountains right next to Smokey Park.

- Oh, very nice.

Beautiful country up there.

All right.

What can we do you for?

- Well, I have this hibiscus tree that we keep taking in and out.

It's potted in a ceramic... huge ceramic pot.

It's like 24 inches across.

22 high.

But the tree itself is like six foot eight inches.

It just barely fits in our living room.

- Right.

- But we put it out in summertime and then we take it in the wintertime time.

And I've got these white dots all over my tops of my leaves.

And I don't know where they're coming from because the only place I see anything else is right on the new growth, and especially around the flower buds.

There's these little round kind of oblong bugs that are kind of grayish.

- OK. - They're really tiny.

- So this is a tropical hibiscus, as opposed to a quite hardy hibiscus.

- Right.

- And you've got it in a ceramic pot.

Is the drainage good?

- Yeah, it's got a big hole in the bottom, and I have a tray underneath.

- OK, don't let water fill in the tray.

Make sure that tray stays dry.

So use a turkey baster or something if you water it and there's excess water.

Are you feeding it?

- OK, sure.

Well, I'm feeding it... Garden Tone?

- OK, from Espoma.

- From Espoma.

Yeah.

- Yeah, yeah, that's a nice fertilizer.

Nothing wrong with that.

How often are you using it?

- Oh, maybe once a month or so.

- All right.

That's perfectly all right as well.

It sounds like you possibly have scale, which can be a problem.

Yes, scale.

Scale are insects that start out just like other insects, but as they mature, they secrete a kind of cement-like substance to stick to the plant and then they grow kind of a suit of armor over themselves.

So have you tried to simply remove these insects with a damp cloth?

- Well, what I've done is I take the leaf between my fingers and I squeeze it and get all this sticky stuff off them.

- OK, what else are you using?

- Oh, OK, I'm using...

It's a soap...safer soap spray that has neem oil in it.

- OK, that's an excellent choice.

What's been your experience?

- Well, it just seems like I keep fighting it and fighting it, fighting it.

I don't know.

I've only been at this, you know, this latest thing about month.

- One thing about insecticidal soaps is that you realize you have to spray the insect and smother it for the soap to be effective.

- Right.

But what's not often spoken of is that you also need another sprayer to spray off the soap after a couple of hours, because if... - No?

- If the soap and the neem oil stay on the leaves, they can interfere with photosynthesis and make things tricky.

And don't forget... And does this happen outside or only inside?

- No, indeed, I can't remember what it was like outside.

Didn't seem like it had this many, but I did get these same insects on some Brussel sprouts I grew last year.

- Thank God they didn't have to eat the Brussel sprouts.

Yeah.

- I love them.

- It's a sign from God.

- So here's the deal.

Obviously, tropical hibiscus is a very delicate plant that really doesn't like to be indoors, although it would die outside.

So I would continue treating it with the insecticidal soap, plus neem, And then a couple of hours later I would rinse the leaves off really well, which this plant is going to love, no matter what.

Then when it goes out...

When it goes out in the summertime, make sure you take a garden hose or a pressurized sprayer and really blast everything off of the tree before you bring it inside.

Give it a good blasting.

Just sharp, heavy water pressure.

Not light, not a little rainstorm.

We're talking a laser beam.

Let it sit for a day.

Move it to a new location.

Do it again.

Move it to a new location.

Do it again for the third day, and hopefully you won't bring anything indoors with it.

And the same thing, if you actually like your Brussel sprouts, which means you must have 16 pounds of butter in the fridge, you can spray these insects off with sharp streams of water.

- Oh, OK, OK. - I'm sorry, to me, Brussel sprouts are punishment, you know!

- Oh, I know.

I think they're great.

So what are those white spots?

And I can... - Well, they could be... - There's nothing... - You know, if you're saying they're not insects... - They're not stuck to it.

- They're not what?

- They're not insects.

- OK, well, it could be kind of just a weird leaf spot, depending on the kind of sun exposure the plant is getting indoors.

If it's just discoloration... - No, it's just particles.

It's not anything in the leaf or on the leaf, it's just something that looks like it dropped on it like a piece of... like dust would And can you wipe it off?

- Yeah, I can wipe it off.

- Yeah, just wipe it off.

Who cares what it is?

- OK, I just wondered.

Well, I was wondering where it came from.

There's a ton of it, and it it's not proportional to the amount of... - There are some plant diseases that manifest like this, the different mildews, powdery mildew.

Again, this is a very sensitive plant, especially when it comes inside.

If you can find something that is more neem oil alone, that would be good for the mildew.

But don't overwater it.

Make sure it gets good airflow, make sure it's not near a hot air vent or anything like that.

And it shouldn't be a problem.

- OK, OK, so I just keep doing what I'm doing.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

OK. - All right.

You take care and good luck.

It continues to be inevitable.

It is time for the Question of the Week, which we're calling Attack Of The 17 Year Cicadas.

Brit writes... Well, you win a prize for that last line, as cicadas are in the family of true bugs, as opposed to other families like flies, beetles, ants, Lepidoptera, etc.

They are loud, but some people find it a soothing background noise, like crickets on a warm summer evening.

Many other people do not.

Anyway, there are two types, annual and periodical.

Annual cicadas show up in small numbers every summer, but the periodicals are the real stars of the cicada stage.

And you are correct that 2021 is almost certainly going to be a banner year for bug heads, as we will be hosting Brood X, the most famous of these heavily researched groups.

Back in 2004, this brood emerged in huge numbers from the soil, climbed up onto trees, shrubs and walls and shed their exoskeletons, bursting out with big red beady eyes, candy-apple green and dark black bodies and translucent wings.

Then they made their mating call, which is different from that of the annual cicada.

So nobody gets mixed up.

Anyway, they mated.

The females climbed up on trees and shrubs, made little slits in the branches, laid their eggs therein and then promptly died.

Once the eggs hatched, the larvae dropped to the ground and hastily burrowed down deep to slowly suck on plant roots.

That was 17 years ago.

And instead of getting ready for college, these offspring are just now getting ready to be adults.

At least for a couple of days.

They are not considered to be a danger to plants.

The insertion of the eggs generally does no harm and the babies deep underground feed very slowly.

After all, they got a lot of time to kill.

Brood X, or 10, no-one knows for sure, is known as the Great Eastern Brood and is scheduled to appear in 15 states, including Michigan and Washington, DC.

Brood X was first described in 1715 by the pastor of what we call the Old Swedes Church in Philadelphia.

Later, the famed botanist John Bartram, also a Philly legend, figured out the emergence times of the brood and their method of egg laying.

His son, Moses Bartram, followed with details of the larvae hatching and, quote, burrowing into the first opening they can find.

This year's emergence is expected to be in the billions of bugs, and that is exactly how they survive as a species.

There are just more of them around at any one time then any bird or other insect eater can handle.

There's got to be a lot of fat and happy birds at the end of this summer.

One of the things I find most interesting about these creatures is the fact that they leave behind two bodies, the exoskeleton, which is glued to a wall or a tree, and the adult body, which when they number in the thousands, can make for a really crunchy driveway when they're all done.

Kids are always spooked when a big adult buzzes into them.

They are plant hoppers, and not especially good flyers.

But I always found the alien-like exoskeletons to be especially creepy.

Their bodies are nitrogen rich and do a good job of feeding the soil after they expire, so one method of clean-up would be to just sweep or leaf blow the carcasses around the base of trees and shrubs or spread them out over an asparagus patch if you got one.

They would make an excellent addition to a compost pile as long as it contains lots of shredded leaves to balance out the nitrogen.

Oh, and if you're adventurous, it is said that they taste like asparagus.

I would be remiss if I did not now mention the famous cicada killing wasp.

Although fairly large for a wasp, the female must attack and sting an adult cicada many times her size and then get it over to the nest hole she has prepared in your lawn.

If it lands on the ground, she drags it over.

If it gets caught up in a tree, she has to try and fly it back down.

Notice that she does not so much fly as plummet.

Then she drags it to the hole, drops her eggs on top and fills in the hole, allowing her developing larvae to consume the large bug over time.

What a charming bedtime tale for the kiddies.

Well, that sure was some interesting information about the upcoming invasion of Brood X, or Brood number 10 or whatever.

Wasn't it?

Luckily for you, the Question of the Week appears in print at the Gardens Alive website.

To read it over at your leisure just click the link for the Question of the Week at our website, which is still and will forever be youbetyourgarden.org.

Gardens Alive supports the You Bet Your Garden Question of the Week, and you will always find the latest Question of the Week at the Gardens Alive website.

You Bet Your Garden is a half hour public television show, an hour long public radio show and podcast, all produced and delivered to you weekly by Lehigh Valley Public Media in Bethlehem, PA. Our radio show is distributed by PRX, the Public Radio Exchange.

You Bet Your Garden was created by Mike McGrath.

Mike McGrath was created when Henry Pym, the original ant man, tried to steal his brainwaves so he could use them to program the ultimate evil artificial intelligence machine.

But it turns out that there weren't any actual waves to steal.

Yikes.

My producer is threatening to send me his cicadas if I don't get out of the studio.

We must be out of time.

But you can contact us any time.

888 492 9444.

Send us your e-mail, your tired, your poor, your wretched refuse steaming towards our garden shore at...

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You'll find all of this contact information at our website... ..where you will also find the answers to all of your garden questions, audio of this show, this video of this show, audio and video of old shows, plus our internationally renowned podcast.

I'm your host Mike McGrath, busily planting several types of spring peas, raising tomatoes and just plain keeping busy until I can see you again.