There back!!!

[lesa]

I had hoped I might get a few minutes without pests in my garden-but no such luck! Only days after putting out my squash, melons and cukes, they are crawling with squash bugs!!! Ugh! So every few hours I am crawling around killing bugs with my fingers. Has anybody used neem oil for these critters- or any other ideas that might work??

 

[Ridgerunner]

I assume you are talking about those stink bug looking things. I have not had them bother my cucumbers, so I want to make sure we are talking about the same thing. I've tried a few different things without having much luck controlling them. Sounds like yours have another host plant to warm up on so they can wait for you to plant yours.

Nasturtiums are supposed to repel the squash bugs. I've planted nasturtiums with mine this year to see if it helps.

Search the leaves for those rows of yellow eggs and destroy the eggs. They are usually, but not always, on the underside of the leaves. This may or may not slow the infestation and I doubt it will totally stop it, but it will make you feel better and may do some good.

Clean up any trash on the ground, including dead squash leaves. They like to hide under them. If you spray, you may get more of them if they cannot hide. I don't mulch mine because that gives them a good place to hide.

I have not had much luck with it, but a recommendation is to put a board on the ground, go out first thing in the morning and kill any bugs under that board. Supposedly they hide under there at night.

I have not tried Neem, but I have sprayed with Sevin. It works fairly well on the nymphs but not very well on the adult bugs. They are tough.

Guineas are supposed to really do a good job on cleaning the squash bugs out.

Other than the guineas, this is pretty much a list of things I have tried but did not work well for me. I think I slow down the infestation and get a few weeks harvest, but winter squash, summer squash and zucchini are relatively short-lived for me.

Good luck!!!

 

[lesa]

I do have a few of those stink bug, looking things. But, these are small black and have bright yellow stripes on their wings. I have been thinking of seeing if someone will rent me their guinea hens for bug cleanup... Thanks!

 

[boggybranch]

Here's a picture of a squash bug. I've, already, killed about 8 and have hand destroyed lots of eggs and larvea, too.

http://wihort.uwex.edu/Phenology/images/Squash Bug Adult.jpg

 

[lesa]

Thanks, boggy. I do have a few of them, but they are pretty easy to catch. These that are the real problem, fly and are quite hard to grab...

 

[lesa]

Okay- I stand corrected! They are cucumber beetles. (and I hate them!)

 

[boggybranch]

Thanks, boggy. I do have a few of them, but they are pretty easy to catch. These that are the real problem, fly and are quite hard to grab...

Yea....I wish ALL "bad" garden pests were as lethargic and easy to catch as these are. The bane of my garden, right now, is the darn white cabbage butterfly. Not quite as easy to do away with.....but with a little patience and a flyswatter, it's possible. Only problem.....kill one and 3 more, magically, appear.

 

[hoodat]

My grandpaw used to say, "Kill one and a hundred come to the funeral".

 

[boggybranch]

My grandpaw used to say, "Kill one and a hundred come to the funeral".

Hahahahaha...Your grandpaw was a wise, and obviously, experience gardener.

 

[vfem]

This is what I was suggested for squash bugs...

Put out a bucket of water with soap in it, add yellow dye! They are attracted to YELLOW things that remind them of the flowers on the plants. So they land there and drown. Just move it a good 10-20 feet away from your cukes and squash, and the more you have the more buckets you can have.

I haven't tried it yet... but I'm going to!