Unbaited glossy, rectangular, non-reflective, white, sticky boards, hung low in the tree, are effective monitoring traps for plant bugs. Place the traps per block, or about one trap for every 3 to 5 acres. If you find more than three plant bugs per trap by the fruits tight cluster stage, or four bugs per trap by the fruit's pink stage, apply a prebloom pesticide. For oak and hickory bugs, hang traps in the tops of trees near the edge of the orchard when the orchard is bordered by woods. Control Crop cover management is important in preventing the tarnished plant bugs from moving into fruit trees.
Plant bugs are difficult to control.
Spraying weedy hedgegrows and weeds areas adjacent to orchards can reduce the migration of plant bugs into the orchards. On apples, this pest should be controlled at the pink stage.