Squash Bugs SUCK

[RebelRidin]

They do... literally

Overnight my plants went from great to desperate! I hated to do it but the sevin dust had to come out. These are some late plants for a late crop to freeze for winter ZBread and they are not big enough to let them snack on.

Anyone else have problems with later plantings even though earlier ones were fine?

[kath]

Yes- as the season goes on the cuke beetles, squash bugs, flea beetles, aphids and grasshoppers make it hard to grow late crops of cukes, zukes, butternut, lettuce, beets, carrots and spinach. I'm grateful for bt or I'd have to add the brassicas to the list because of the relentless cabbage butterflies.

[RebelRidin]

Hi Kath,

I almost never have any problems with aphids or flea beetles (he says with fingers and toes crossed). I have to spray early with sevin to keep the cucmber beetles in check or I would barely even get any cukes before wilt would set it.

I usually don't have a squash bug problem to speak of. By the time they show up my squash are out ahead of them. This year the haet and humidity took my early squash down too soon so I am trying a later planting. Just not used to such a ferocious attack on young plants....

I have the BT waiting for my fall sprouts and brocolli... I will start with that this weekend for the sprouts.

[kath]

I set the brassicas out today before the rain and will spray bt as soon as the rain stops. Eggs were already laid and hatched on the seedlings while they were hardening off on the front porch so they already have holes in the leaves and I was squishing tiny worms!

I hate spraying with toxic stuff and avoid it as much as possible because I know that once I do, I don't want to eat the produce anyway- that's just me. Some things usually manage to do well enough without it and we're never without something fresh, stored or preserved from the garden year round. We don't mind eating seasonally, so if the pole beans do well, then eating pole beans every day for weeks on end doesn't bother us.

It's funny how different bugs are worse some years than others. Cutworms were crazy this year showing up high on the plants which I never saw before. Just last week I found another one at chest height on a tomato. Last year hornworms were a nightmare and this year I squished fewer than a half dozen tiny ones so far. And I don't want to say it out loud but the stink bugs are missing.

[Mark0820]

I try to use as few chemicals as possible also, but my area is like yours. Sevin is the only product that keeps cuke beetles in check in this area. I wouldn't have any cucumbers either if I didn't use Sevin. Sometimes you just have to do whatever you need to get a crop.

Sevin works well on squash bugs too. Squash vine borers are a bigger problem than the bugs in my area. They are difficult to control.

[RebelRidin]

Originally Posted by kath

... And I don't want to say it out loud but the stink bugs are missing.

That's because I have them all

[RobinB]

My strategy for squash bugs has always been to plant too many plants hoping that they can't possibly kill them all before I get what I need... So far, I've stayed ahead of them, but it's a close thing. I check for eggs and mature bugs multiple times per day and sometimes I can get my 7 year old son to check for me. The other day the underside of one leaf was covered in nymphs! I cut off the leaf and drowned the whole lot. I have not gotten too many squash yet, and I'm hoping that I can get enough to eat now AND freeze for the Winter. I have had fewer aphids this year for some reason and the hornworms haven't shown up yet.

[tjg911]

Originally Posted by Mark0820

I wouldn't have any cucumbers either if I didn't use Sevin.

you would if you grow county fair.

as afr as squash bugs, i can't control what goes on in the winter squash and they exist so i rely on birds, toads and other bugs to control them. they don't do much damage to the ws and they don't bother the zucchini.

tom

[Wi-sunflower]

Usually I don't have much of a problem with the Squash bugs. Until about 5 years ago or so, we hadn't even seen them. Now they are around more and more, but usually rather late so aren't really causing problems with much but the fruit that wouldn't mature any way.

But Cucumber beetles are another issue for us. We have had thousands of ft of row eaten to death when we don't check early enough on newly germinates crops. This year we lost the ends of the zucchini rows.

In the past it seemed like a lost cause spraying them too. While we did use Sevin, the spray didn't seem all that effective. Last fall tho, Ray found an antique duster at a rummage sale. Using the sevin DUST has made quite a big difference. One dusting shortly after germination kept the cuc beetles off the plants till they could out grow any damage.

And since it's done when the plants are only a couple of leaves, I feel it's as safe an option as possible. It's at least a month til the zucchini and 6 weeks or more to the winter squash.

Carol

[flying toaster]

Pyganic.

Safe, organic and will smoke those little varmints.

[tjg911]

Apply 4.5-18 oz/acre, 1-.5 to 3 tsp/gallon water. at $170 for a quart is it available in small quantities? at 3 tsp for a gallon a quart may last me 15 years!

using organic methods i'd love to grow cukes other than county fair but due to cuke beetles i can't.

tom

[biscgolf]

pyrethrin is about as effective on squash bugs as BB guns are on sherman tanks...

[lakelady]

I squashed and drowned about 20 cucumber beetles today and I'm seeing more and more all the time! They are on everything, tomatoes, ground cherries, cukes, squash. I lost some cuke plants earlier, and now I'm just hoping my Charentais melons make it okay as does the ONE Marina di Chiogga I have growing. ugh. They are all over the zucchini too, but I'm only growing these for the flowers to eat.

Isn't there a way to trap these suckers somehow? Is there anything they are attracted to other than these plants?

[tjg911]

just a guess but many insects are attracted to the color yellow. sticky traps are yellow for this reason. i have a lot of old plastic grocery bags from price chopper that are yellow (maybe 250 or 400 they switched to tan some time ago) and the flea beetles loved to land on them. if you have anything yellow coat it with vaseline and bugs will stick to it... poor man's yellow sticky traps or you can buy them. i don't know if the striped or spotted cuke beetle will be attracted to them but i'd say it is worth a try. if you wanted some bags pm me and i'll send you some if you send me something to put them in. i'd cut them into 8" squares, attach to cardboard, put on a stick and place in the group, naturally put on vaseline.

tom

[lakelady]

Thanks Tom, but I did have a few sticky yellow traps leftover from my flea beetle disaster in the house last winter with my tomato project. This morning I noticed the cucumber beetles at least, seem to like to hang out inside the yellow squash flowers and the cucumber flowers. I was able to grab those and drown the suckers in soapy water. However, I noticed all day long each time I'd go by those plants, several beetles would take flight. Very unnerving to see that many when I killed about 30 this morning. So, I hung a few sticky traps to the lattice where the cukes are and another one in the tomato garden as they are also on those plants too. I'm really keeping fingers crossed that tomorrow before work I'll check the garden and see some of those buggers stuck for good.

What about a trap crop that one could blast with chemicals that isn't a plant you'll be consuming? I've read about that tactic with stink bugs.