I Want to Try Something Else

[flowerbug]

Yes, I think that's what it is.
I remember someone making a remark about not wanting to introduce even more fungus into their garden. It appears to be something organic farmers might be interested in. Big crops. More than my teeny garden ventures.

sounds like yet another crime against this poor world.

 

[catjac1975]

Mine are too but they didn't seem to be able to do anything about the squash bugs....I think they hide a little deeper than the chickens could scratch. Or the mulch was too deep and heavy for the chickens to move...not sure.

The ducks, however, were able to move deeper into the mulch with the use of their bills, making deeper holes into the interior of the mulch. It was only after adding ducks to the mix was I able to detect any squash beetle and horn worm control.

Now, if I could effect any change on squash borers....that would be ideal!

Try growing vining squash for a while. The squash bugs don't seem to like them. With both SB and vine borers. timing of planting seems to be the best solution. I plant seedlings and direct sow at the same time. And a late sowing seems to avoid the bugs all together.

 

[Beekissed]

Try growing vining squash for a while. The squash bugs don't seem to like them. With both SB and vine borers. timing of planting seems to be the best solution. I plant seedlings and direct sow at the same time. And a late sowing seems to avoid the bugs all together.

I usually grow vining squash each year and the squash bugs here aren't a bit picky....they like ALL the squash and cukes.

A late sowing may be the answer, so I'll try that this coming year, as well as planting in other areas of the property....that seemed to work well last year.

 

[valley ranch]

Squash Bugs

Oh. yeh ~ Squash Bugs seem to appear all of a sudden from nowhere ~ big as cats ```

 

[flowerbug]

Oh. yeh ~ Squash Bugs seem to appear all of a sudden from nowhere ~ big as cats ```

they are good at hiding in/under any nearby debris. i found some spots where they are hiding around the crawlspace door that i have to caulk shut. i've done a good job of finding the gaps in the house they like to crawl in through to get inside all the ways, but there are plenty of other places they can hide around here too.

 

[digitS']

When my squash plants have had the most dramatic problem with squash bugs is when the plants have been stressed from lack of water. It was easy to see the problem a few years ago. A sprinkler failed so that some plants in a row received an adequate amount and were doing fine. Where the failed sprinkler wasn't doing its job, the bug situation was dire.

Perhaps, the tendency of mulch to not only protect soil moisture from evaporating (a good thing) but to soak up water before it reaches the soil surface (not so good) is sometimes part of the problem. Then, the pests also scramble around and hide.

Without mulch, they just hide under the leaves and stems in my squash patch. Pyrethrum inhaled knocks out insects - it's a nerve toxin. Not persistent and I have read that if the dose isn't fatal, the bug may be actively back to feeding on plants in a few hours. Pyrethrum may find them where they hide but I don't know if that includes heavy mulch.

Interested in how Tromboncino summer squash and related Cucurbita moschata winter varieties do in other gardeners' experience.

Steve

 

[catjac1975]

When my squash plants have had the most dramatic problem with squash bugs is when the plants have been stressed from lack of water. It was easy to see the problem a few years ago. A sprinkler failed so that some plants in a row received an adequate amount and were doing fine. Where the failed sprinkler wasn't doing its job, the bug situation was dire.

Perhaps, the tendency of mulch to not only protect soil moisture from evaporating (a good thing) but to soak up water before it reaches the soil surface (not so good) is sometimes part of the problem. Then, the pests also scramble around and hide.

Without mulch, they just hide under the leaves and stems in my squash patch. Pyrethrum inhaled knocks out insects - it's a nerve toxin. Not persistent and I have read that if the dose isn't fatal, the bug may be actively back to feeding on plants in a few hours. Pyrethrum may find them where they hide but I don't know if that includes heavy mulch.

Interested in how Tromboncino summer squash and related Cucurbita moschata winter varieties do in other gardeners' experience.

Steve

The 2 squash you mentioned do great for me.

 

[Ridgerunner]

In Arkansas Tromboncini was pretty squash bug resistant for me. You'd occasionally see a few on it but they never got that bad. It's the only summer squash variety I tried that would live long enough to produce.. I did not have squash vine borer problem there so can't really comment on how Tromboncini does with them.

 

[flowerbug]

the thing with squash bugs here is that i don't see a huge amount of damage from those. sure there might be a bite in something here or there but they don't seem to ruin enough of anything for me to do much about them. if i find obvious gathering and hiding spots i'll probably squish 'em and caulk or rearrange things, but we have so many rocks and pieces of wood around that it's not practical to try to get rid of them all.

the vine borers are the ones that do the most damage and for those i try to grow resistant enough squash that we get a harvest even if i do no other controls other than rotational planting. so far this does work. enough of the kabocha squash survive and the same with the buttercups. i'd grow trombonica if i can get some seeds this spring even if we're not a big eater of zucchini type squash i'd still give them a try as perhaps they are different enough i'd use them.

 

[baymule]

I have a tromboncino squash thread somewhere....