More egg patrol is the first order of business IMO. Don't need to remove the whole leaf - just squish the eggs with your fingers or cut out that section of the leaf. Then you can dust the plant with DE.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Squash bug control discussions

Thank you Dave, after posting (I know I should have done it first), I found many, many discussions, my bad! I was in a panic.

I have also read that placing a board around the base of the plant will draw the adult to the underside of the board at night and then you can kill them off that way, is it worth doing in your opinion?

Thanks again, I always appreciate the kind help and assistance, not to mention the wealth of knowledge that comes from folks like yourself on these board.

Mary

Scrape the eggs off the leaves with your fingernails every day. Handpick the adults when you see them.

If you miss some eggs and get hatchlings you can try to handpick them but its hard so breaking out the Safer spray (or in the worst case of a severe infestation that has proven resistant to milder controls, the Sevin dust).

Make sure that you've got a birdbath and other means of attracting birds near your garden. I never actually catch them using it, but I've a definite reduction in garden pests since the birdbath went ups.

Iam3killerbs,
You're right--birds are a great help! We put a feeder near our asparagus patch, and a watering station right smack dab in the middle of the large vegetable garden. We have had much less damage from insects than before. It is a true win/win situation!

Can't say I've ever tried the board trick Mary. But then my gardens are so heavily mulched with layers of hay that the board likely wouldn't work.

And honestly, since the adults are really only interested in one thing (the thrill of reproduction) I find they don't do much damage. So I don't worry about them much unless I discover really large numbers of them - which I haven't seen for years. It is the hundreds of nymphs that hatch from all those eggs from one or two females that do the real damage to the plant so I focus on egg patrol and squishing them - an extra bit of long-term population control. ;) I do know that after a good rain the adults move up to the top of the plants and they are easier to pick off then.

If I miss some and find some nymphs the DE dust takes care of them for me.

Dave

Is DE safe for the nightcrawlers and other worms in the garden ? I thought I read something some time about the DE also cutting up the worms.

I thought eggs that looked like that were SVB eggs. I have been finding these and stink bugs on my tomatoes now, I had been handpicking them off my squash. But sadly almost all of my squash were eaten by SVB grubs. Despite my daily leaf inspection and egg removal.

I now glove up and carry a cup of soapy water with me, and knock them into the cup. Sometimems they jump in on their own...bonus, since then I dont have to touch them!!!

SVB (Squash vine borer) eggs are a very different thing just as squash bugs and squash vine borers have nothing in common with each other - except the squash.

Lots of pics of SVB eggs on the web - they are individual eggs laid usually near the base of the plant but may be on a leaf, and are larger and a much darker brown.

It pays to know which pest you are dealing with as the controls for them are also very different.

Is DE safe for the nightcrawlers and other worms in the garden ?

Nightcrawlers and red wigglers spend very little time on top of the soil where the DE is sprinkled. Their life takes place underground for the most part. But yes, if they come in contact with it it can also kill them.

Pesticides are always a trade off. Some sort of beneficials will be harmed by even the least toxic pesticide which is why I only advocate the least lethal and only if all other options are exhausted first.

And in this case DE to control large numbers of squash bug nymphs vs. the occasional nightcrawler that may encounter it is a fair trade off IMO. Sevin dust would NOT be a fair trade off IMO. But liquid Sevin kills far less beneficial insects than does Sevin dust so if one chooses to use it I personally hope they opt for the liquid form.

Dave

Mary

No need to panic if you've seen only five. Here's when to panic! Click on the third picture down to get a good look.

The underside of that leaf is literally covered with adult and nymph squash bugs! Gives me the creeps... That's when you bring out the big guns!

If you use a floating row cover over squash seedlings to prevent SVB infestation, it will also prevent early damage from squash bugs & cucumber beetles. The cover needs to be removed when flowering begins, and I occasionally get a small outbreak of squash bugs soon after... but most of the adults are gone by then, and there are very few eggs.

(I find that all major insect problems for squash, cukes, and gourds are either reduced or eliminated by protection with floating row cover. C. pepo and C. maxima squash are nearly impossible here without it, and virtually certain when protected from early attack.)

Both squash bug adults & nymphs are easily killed with a soap spray, as long as they are completely covered. The nymphs usually cluster together in numbers... bad for the damage they can cause, but convenient when spraying them. For large-scale infestations, I would agree with the recommendation for Safers insecticidal soap, since it will cause less leaf burn. But for small outbreaks, or if Safers is not available, the following formula is effective. It was originally posted by Jimster, and I quote it often:

"INSECTICIDE: A U.S.D.A. formula combining oil and soap is effective in killing soft-bodied insects. Mix 1 cup peanut, safflower, corn, soybean, or sunflower oil with 1 tablespoon liquid dishwashing detergent. To make the spray, use 11/2 teaspoons of the oil-detergent mixture for each cup of water."

I mix it a little stronger, and with the addition of a little sugar to the formula, it will even kill cucumber beetles. The spray can cause minor leaf burn, but I only use it for spot applications - usually on or near the ground, where the bugs like to hide.

Most of the adults I find are either near the base of the stem, or under a dead leaf... so the board (or pieces of cardboard) might work to kill them. That's why I never mulch under squash vines, only under the growing squash.

Thank you to everyone for your help and suggestions. I will continue to patrol the garden hunting for these buggers.

Anney, thank you for the photos -- fortunately I am not anywhere close to what is shown there -- YIKES!

I guess if they start to outnumber me to the point that I can't hand pick I will go with Dave's suggestion of DE (not sure what that is but will find it).

Thanks again, happy gardening.

Mary

Diatomaceous Earth

http://www.gardenharvestsupply.com/product/diatomaceous-earth-food-grade

Well, I'm so sad right now. I'm going to scour back over posts that I had made numerous times on this topic because, call me crazy, but I distinctly recall that the responses I got described, if not showed the orange eggs as SVB...so needless to say, I've been doing DAILY searches on the wrong eggs. not that these wouldn't have hurt the squash, but for the life of me I could not figure out how the SVB was still killing my plants. UGH, UGH, UGH...whoever says gardening is not a learning process?

Just dont sign up for the school I've been attending...the school of hard knocks!!!

{{gwi:43254}}

So again, all this time all I've EVER seen are clusters of eggs, mainly redish one, sometimes I've seen white ones that are more unique looking, NEVER single eggs like the picture above and go figure, most of my plants have succumb to being destroyed by the SVB. I never saw this egg, but I"ve got proof they were indeed there, DEAD PLANTS.

Please learn from this lesson, I really really really believed to be searching out the correct eggs for removal.

If you have squash vines that die from SVB, be sure to destroy the larvae within the stems before they enter the ground & pupate. It might reduce the chances of infestation next year.

but I"ve got proof they were indeed there, DEAD PLANTS.

Dead plants isn't necessarily proof that you had squash vine borers. The plants could just as easily have killed by the squash bugs if in sufficient numbers.

The signs and symptoms of SVB (borers) are very distinct and the death of the plants is also very different. A great deal of info is available on both pests on the web including photos, symptoms, control and prevention techniques and it pays to be well informed on both - if one wants to grow squash.

As zeedman said above, and as is always mentioned in discussions on both borers and bugs, correct use of row covers is one of the most effective controls. Timed planting to avoid the hatch times in your particular area is also quite effective.

Dave