PLEASE help me--haven't had ANY squash survive in years

[digitS']

. . . The squash bug is hard to kill. It does not eat the plant, it sucks the juice. That means it is not going to eat any pesticide you spray on. You have to hit the body with a contact pesticide, not one that has to be ingested. They are pretty fast and real good at hiding. I find it hard to kill the adults with a pesticide, though I have not yet tried Steve’s Spinosad. From what I read, it seems to be a decent one but I haven’t found anything that says whether it is a contact poison or if it has to be ingested. I don’t know why but that very basic information is hard to find on any pesticide. . .

Spinosad has to be ingested, as best as I can understand. It certainly hasn't done much of a job against aphids for me. That suggests that if the bug is just sucking the juices out of the plant, it may be able to dodge the Spinosad.

So, that sounds this insecticide wouldn't take out Squash Bugs very well. I don't think there are any guarantees that it is going to be 100% effective but you should take a look at what the folks at Ohio State found: (LINK).

What it really looks like the researchers were doing was comparing some less-toxic insecticides against Sevin. I am sorry to say that the testing for the Vine Borer was "inconclusive" but Spinosad did well against the Squash Bug nymphs and the Pyrethroids did well against the adult Squash Bug. Sevin didn't come out very well in these comparisons.

Steve

 

[catjac1975]

I have pored BT into the hole of the squash borer with good results. That is if you find it before the plant is too far gone. Another thing you can do is put soil over the vines at intervals so it the vine borer kills the base the rest may stay alive with the new roots that form.

 

[Kassaundra]

I wouldn't trust the chickens w/ leafies like lettuce, spinach or red tomatoes, but they have shown zero interest in squash and not a lot of interest in cukes on the vine, now if I cut the cuke in half and put it on the ground for them, they will shell it in 3.5 seconds.

If you are going to let your chickens eat the bugs I wouldn't use chemicals on them.

I have tried the burying the plant further up w/ vine bores but have never saved one that way.

The chickens are only in the squash area when I am they come out w/ me. I choose the more people friendly ones to go in w/ me to increase the chance they will come out in a timely manner.

 

[Smart Red]

So, your hens did not eat the plants? I have collected squash bugs in the past, put them in with the chickens, and relished them running after the bugs and gobbling them up.

Given free rein to the garden, they certainly would eat my plants, but once I spotted the insects only a couple of hens were allowed in for part of one day. They focused on the insects and wiped the budding infestation out. The next day two different hens were in the garden. After two days there were no CPB larva to be seen then or anytime later in the summer.

All the chickens together would have damaged the potato plants in their eagerness and then drifted off to other inviting delicacies. And my garden is fenced specifically to keep the flock out of my veggies.

 

[Smart Red]

I have pored BT into the hole of the squash borer with good results. That is if you find it before the plant is too far gone. . . . . .

In the past, I have used a syringe and needle to get a liquid BT into the vine. Otherwise I have slit the vine to find and remove the borer.

 

[Carol Dee]

The beetle and the vine borer have us seeing red most summers. We get a few squash if we are lucky. We do not really want to use an pesticides as our bees are near the garden. I am thinking it might be time to invest in a few chickens!

 

[897tgigvib]

I'd go with MULTIPLE attacks on the bugs.

DIATOMACEOUS EARTH is cheap. Get about 100 pounds of it. That'd be about 55 dollars.

This year I'm mixing the diatomaceous earth with fresh silicon type cat litter. Brand called "amazing" is cheapest.

The MOSCHATA species of squash supposedly have the most resistance to bugs. A variety called Tromboncino is good as summer squash. Cat's favorite Rumbo sounds like a good winter squash type. Waltham Butternut seems to be a favorite for seed companies to sell, probably because it is so productive.

If in doubt, get a few handfuls of diatomaceous earth and make everything grey with it! Except the tops of the leaves. They'll need light.

 

[Smart Red]

Not mentioned here is spraying your squash plants with a Kaolin clay product called "Surround". It is harmless, but disguises the plants and discourages insects from nibbling because of the earthy taste. I haven't used it on squash. I use it on cherries and other tree fruit, but check it out. It just might work.

Marshallsmyth's "make everything grey with it." reminded me of the product.

 

[buckabucka]

I don't use pesticides in my garden. We even stopped using rotenone after it was removed from the organics list.

Some years cucumber beetles and squash bugs are bad, but I control them by catching and crushing them. I inspect the underside of leaves daily and crush any egg masses. It is time consuming, but if you are vigilant at the outset, you can relax late on. I've found Surround (liquid clay spray) to be somewhat effective, especially before plants get big as it is easier to coat them at that point. Since my squash is in a hoop house, the Surround doesn't get washed off. The cucumber beetles collect on the walls when I disturb them, giving me another chance to crush them. I turn into a mad crushing machine at the sight of cucumber beetles.

We only tend to get aphids on the peppers. Putting reflective silver stuff under the plants is supposed to help, but some years that has not been enough. I bring the hose into the hoop house with a light spray running. I hold the hose in one hand, while rubbing each pepper leaf with the other, rinsing the aphids off. I cannot get every aphid, of course, but this helps keep their numbers down so the damage is minimal.

Pests seem to come in cycles here. I don't know if it is the weather or what. Last year, we had almost no potato beetles, very few slugs or snails, plenty of cucumber beetles, and a handle of squash bugs. I'm hoping this cold winter sends the Japanese beetles south!

 

[baymule]

Ducks4you, I have a hard time with the squash vine borers, squash bugs and cucumber beetles too. I start my squash indoors early and set out plants. The heat gets so bad that a 2nd planting gets cooked even before the bugs kill the plants. Last year I got 36 pounds of squash before the bugs murdered them. I tried a new variety last year, Tromboncino, that turned out to be real interesting. I planted them on a trellis, but observed that at the leaf joints, little rootlets were growing. Squash borers ravaged the vines, but I still got a good harvest. I think if I had planted and let the vines run on the ground, that they would have re-rooted themselves and I would have had live plants a lot longer.

http://www.theeasygarden.com/threads/tromboncino-squash-vine-borers-pg-4.13616/

The Tromboncino squash were fun to grow, tasted good, were prolific, and survived the borers a good long while, before finally giving up the ghost. Catjac ordered seeds and planted Tromboncinos too. She started a new post with a picture of her two precious grandsons hugging a Tromboncino that was taller than they were! Catjac, post a link to that!