HELP! How do I get control squash bugs w/o killing bees? (cucumbers, north)
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Hi, I need help to save my veggie garden. My zucchini started beautifully and now all 4 plants are dead or dying. I have figured out that squash bugs are my biggest problem ( saw 1 squash borer flying around but all the eggs seen, and nymphs are definitely squash bugs). Even though the zucchini are ruined there are still TONS of eggs on the dead and struggling leaves, I see gangs of nymphs also, I have seen them lately on my egg plants, and I am concerned about my cucumbers and cantaloupe that are planted in between the eggplants and the zucchini.
I have sevin dust, and used that the first day I saw all the nymphs but after reading about the drift and its effects on bees I hosed it off the next day. Im not sure what to expect either, I originally put the sevin dust on the eggs I saw on the egg plants and am wondering will the dust contacting the outside of the egg stop the eggs from hatching, or in some cases I used Bayer Advanced pest spray on the egg clusters, will anything kill the eggs before they hatch?
Is there something or some method that you have used that is bee friendly
sure .. old time trick .. you shoulda been out there picking the squash bugs off by hand and killing them as you were doing it..
picking them off will work if you don't have too many, but often by the time you realize you have squash bugs they have taken over. I have found Sevin is the only thing that really works. Even then, some years I have lost all my squash. Luckily by that time we are usually sick of squash so it isn't a big deal.
Hand picking is the way to go. I like to wear surgical gloves so I have good feel but don't have direct contact with bug juice! You'll have to look under ever leaf and each limb, including the main stem of the plant. Squash squash squash until you've squashed all the bugs. Look at the underside of the leaves and pull off the part of the leaf that has the eggs on it and squash. (I think this is where the squash plant got it's name from! *LOL*) Watch the ground as you do this because the bugs will fall off and you'll want to squash them all.
Our zucchini seems to last til about mid summer...then the whole plant dies. I just took it at face value thinking that was just the plants cycle. I guess it depends on how far north/south you are though.
Our zucchini seems to last til about mid summer...then the whole plant dies. I just took it at face value thinking that was just the plants cycle. I guess it depends on how far north/south you are though.
It sounds like that might be squash bugs, especially if it happens pretty fast. We had a lot of trouble in NM with them, but usually by the time they hit we were so tired of squash is wasn't a big deal. I have heard if you wait until about mid June to the first of July to plant you won't have any problems. Every year I say I will give it a try but then I plant in late April just the same.
Nita
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