Squash bug ?

[mohawk]

Do any of you have any advice on defeating squash bugs? I have had my squash plants get to the point of just putting on squash and then these dang things come in and take out the whole plant in a matter of days. I have had some luck killing (or maybe just repelling) them with sevin, but then it rains and washes it off and they are right back. It's too late this year but any advice would be well appreciated if I try again this fall or next spring. Thanks!

[white316]

I have no idea what a squash bug is or looks like
sorry can't help.

[mohawk]

You certainly ain't missing anything.

[catmando1]

HMMMMM..... how many plants are you talking,, just a few mounds? Manual methods will work wonderful for a few plants, esp. if used in conjunction with chemical controls.

1. get to know the life cycle of the squash bugs. Typically they have only one generation around here. Adults are hard to control with chemicals, and targeting the young is much more effective. The smaller the nymphs are, the easier they are to kill. Eggs hatch in spring to early summer, then go through 5 instars before reaching adulthood, which takes 6-8 weeks. Timing your treatments is critical. Look for signs of eggs or young instar stage bugs on the under side of the leaves. Begin the treatments then instead of waiting to see near adult bugs. Since we have to deal with only one generation, controlling the young early means control for the season. Further south they may have several generations.

2. if you have a partially shaded spot to provide cover from the heat, and can provide water, wait until the squash bugs cycle is over, then plant, such as a fall or late summer crop.

3. use squash bug resistent strains. Summer yellow or crook neck squash are more vulnerable then zuchinni. There are some strains of yellow summer squash that too are more resistant than the others, so plant those strains.

4. Tilling, destruction of old plants, keeping the area around the plant free of weeds, using good mulching all help. Keeping plants healthy and strong will allow some attacks and the plants will still pull through. Once they contact a yellowing desease caused by numbers of bugs, there is no saving the plant.

5. Other chemical controls you can use according to mixing labels include pyretherins, bifintherin, permethrine, etc. Try to spray plants, even on the under side of the leaves by using a wide band spray nozzle, shooting from a low angle.. Spray in the late evening to avoid killing pollenators on flowering plants.

6. try laying boards or tiles closely around the plants that have adults. They will gather at night under the board, and early the next morning, lift the board and smash the crap out of them! you actually can save alot of plants like this!

7. Use biological methods like planting catnip, mint, and merigolds all around your valued squash plants, then away from them, plant a "bait" plant or two which are "unprotected" and do war with the bugs on them, using strong chemical, boards, etc. there.
use lighter preventive measures on your food plants being sure to watch early for detection of eggs or young.

hope this helps some.

[mohawk]

I HAD a couple mounds here at the house and they got killed off before I knew it. Then there are a couple mounds at work that I caught in time. I ended up getting some sevin concentrate and spraying them with it and seemed to have taken care of them. There were some adults on those plants but quite a number of young'ns. They were working on some little squash that were coming on but no more. I never had any idea about catnip or mint. That seems like a good idea too, especially the catnip that can be plucked and put into bait. I especially like the decoy plant idea. The neighbors garden is about 50 feet away!

[catmando1]

cool! glad you got it figured out mo!