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Exploring God's Creation in Nature and Science
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Subject Topic: Squash bugs! Help!!! Post ReplyPost New Topic
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Patty
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Posted: June 25 2007 at 8:31pm | IP Logged Quote Patty
Our volunteer pumpkin plant is now getting squash bugs. I have never been successful fighting these pests...they can kill a plant SO quickly. It's the reason I never plant squash of any kind anymore...and why the only squash type plant we have is a volunteer.

Does anyone know how to successfully get rid of these??? I'd prefer an organic solution, but all recommendations are welcome. I'd LOVE to grow zucchini, but every time I've tried these ugly gray beasties devoured the plants.

Patty
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Karen T
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Posted: June 25 2007 at 9:58pm | IP Logged Quote Karen T
Do you mean the squash vine borer? I have dealt with those a LOT of times and hate them. The best way is to prevent them by using floating row covers over your plants to prevent the moth from laying eggs to begin with and also to plant early and late to trick them. But if your plants haven't totally wilted yet you can slit the stem, scoop them out (yuck) - obviously squish them or feed them to a bird. Bury the stem in the ground and mound up the soil over it, keeping it well watered and it will put down new roots there.
you can also buy Bacillus thurengensis (AKA "BT") and inject that into the stems and/or dust it around them. Gardens Alive usually has it.

For next year, clean up all plants this fall and get rid of them to prevent overwintering. Rotate crops to other areas so you don't give the pests what they want!

As for zucchini, if you plant more than one plant, even with pests you will usually have WAY more than you could ever use.    Pick 'em while they're small and flavorful and they'll make more. People in the country lock their car doors in town so their "friends" won't leave a box of zucchini on the backseat

Karen T

Oh, I just re-read your last sentence and realized you are talking about a different bug! Sorry, but I'll leave in the info in case it helps someone else.
Is this the one you have?
squash bug

I've only had those once, when I lived in VA I think. The borer, though, I've had in NY, VA, and GA - they're everywhere.
maybe some ducks to pick off bugs?
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Patty
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Posted: June 26 2007 at 6:07am | IP Logged Quote Patty
No, it's not the squash vine borer. I looked that up and it's a completely different bug. If you go to Google images and type in "squash bug" you'll see lots of pictures of the awful little things. They're gray, with tiny orange eggs on the underside of the leaves.

With my zucchini, I think I got only one small zucchini harvested before the squash bugs killed the plant. They multiply rapidly, and one day you go out to the garden and see your poor plants completely wilted and lifeless, crawling with these things. After they've destroyed every squash they can find, they sometimes move on to cucumbers and melons.

I've tried killing every squash bug I could see, and getting rid of all the eggs I could find, and different kinds of remedies people have told me about, but nothing has worked so far.

Patty

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Patty
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Posted: June 26 2007 at 6:08am | IP Logged Quote Patty
Oops...I didn't read the last sentence, after your signature. Yes, that's the squash bug I'm talking about.

Patty
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