blue colored bug on my pumpkin plant

[Jennifer]

A good tip for killing these things au natural:

squish the eggs, and any bugs you see. they are nocturnal, so put out a log (if you look this up you may be able to find out what type of wood works best) nearby the plants and in the morning around dawn go out and if there are any on the plant squish those then flip over the log. They like to hide under it and you can kill a lot at once!! Depending on how many plants you have or how they are spaced out you may need a few logs to squish them all.

 

[SuperChemicalGirl]

Thanks for all the answers. I haven't planted anything in that area before... so it's weird to have them. I've had all kinds of bugs this year though that I never had before and lots of repeated bug disasters, too.

This plant was not able to be saved. Mostly because I was fearing for my life (or at least too squeamish) to squish the bugs so I just squished the plant.

 

[Kassaundra]

Public Enemy #1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been in heated battle w/ their Okie cousins for almost 2 months now. I have gone out almost daily and started out squeemish would only drown the adults and squish the nymphs w/ gloves, after almost 2 months I'm squishing everything bare handed!!!!! They stink when you squish them, but my chickens love them. The don't have access to the garden while it is growing though, I have taken the plants I lost in battle to the girls and the attack and eat everything that moves on it. They will eat your other plants too. I spray the base of the plant w/ a tobacco tea mixed w/ Dawn, that makes them all crawl out and up the stems then I squish maddly everything that moves. Also like was stated check tops and bottoms of all leaves squish every egg and nymph. Be careful if you spray w/ the soapy water it can / will burn the leaves especially in the sun, that is why I only spray the stems and base. I have been researching natural preditors so far not many, there are some flies that lay eggs in or on them, but don't kill them until they have already decimated your garden, the wolf spider and assassin bugs (which are in the same family and look very similar) are avid preditors to them. Also I don't know if this works, but I am trying it next year, it is no big loss if it doesn't, but I have read the petunia has a natural insecticide in the leaves and squash bugs either hate them or it kills them either way I am interplanting petunias in the squash next year.

 

[hoodat]

Thanks for all the answers. I haven't planted anything in that area before... so it's weird to have them. I've had all kinds of bugs this year though that I never had before and lots of repeated bug disasters, too.

This plant was not able to be saved. Mostly because I was fearing for my life (or at least too squeamish) to squish the bugs so I just squished the plant.

Squash bugs will come from a long distance to reach squash vines. Once they stake out an area they are very hard to get rid of. Sapadilla dust used to be the perfect answer. It killed them dead fast. Unfortunately sapadilla was made from the seeds of a Mexican lily that is on the endangered list so it is no longer available.

 

[hoodat]

Kassaundra, I sympathize with you. I had to conceded the victory to the squash bugs when I lived in Oklahoma. I just gave up planting squash.
I found the perfect answer though. I moved to San Diego where I've never seen a squash bug.

 

[Kassaundra]

Kassaundra, I sympathize with you. I had to conceded the victory to the squash bugs when I lived in Oklahoma. I just gave up planting squash.
I found the perfect answer though. I moved to San Diego where I've never seen a squash bug.

In addition to the petunia solution I have been researching extremely early varieties that may get done before the infestation hits, and other types of squash from other parts of the world that have either more resistance or that squash bugs don't seem to like, I'm a redhead and don't concede defeat often!!!

 

[SuperChemicalGirl]

So I guess Sevin does nothing?

 

[Kassaundra]

So I guess Sevin does nothing?

Seven does nothing for the adults, it is supose to kill the nymph, but it is broad spectrum and will get your good bugs too. If you use seven do it late in the evening after the flowers have closed and the pollinators are gone to minimize it's effects on them. You won't be able to eat your squash for several days and squash bugs are known to build tolerance quickly to icides, so likely you will knock the numbers down temporarily and build bigger better, more resistant sqaush bugs for your future. And even if you use seven you will still need to squish / drown adults and eggs to break the cycle and limit numbers in the future.

Welcome to the front lines!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Sevin will kill them, but once they get established, it takes a lot of spraying to keep them under control. The nymphs are more susceptible than the full grown bugs. They are very good at hiding under leaves or anything on the ground, they will run away to hide if they see you coming, and those eggs just seem to keep on hatching. I strongly suspect they also live and reproduce on other plants that grow wild, so there is always a steady supply of new bugs to lay eggs.

I've had limited success with Sevin. Instead of stopping them dead, it is more a way to extend the life of the squash plants for a while. I'm growing ornamental gourds this year and they have squash bugs. I spray about once a week with Sevin and have still lost a few. But most of the gourds are still alive and growing. Those losses may be more to the heat and lack of rain than the squash bugs, but they seem to attack the weakened plants.

Another problem is that the squash bugs can spread a wilting disease that seems to be fairly new in this country. The disease has to be present for them to spread it, but it seems to be getting spread a lot more lately.