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Organic Gardening

squash bugs- it's weird

18 years ago

Posted on the veggie forum also

It's weird. I've been gardening for about 25 years now, vegetable garden almost every year. I've been organic for about ten years. Every year, the squash bugs arrive, usually in great numbers, and it's a constant battle to keep them at bay. I haven't used any pesticides except for occasional Bt for the past couple of years. There are beneficial and predatory bugs in the garden, but not in unusually high numbers. This year, I have not had the squash bug problems that I normally do. I keep doing my garden patrolling with hand vac in hand to catch and kill them, but there just aren't than many. It's weird. Same with the stink bugs. I've had a few, but not nearly as many as last year. Anyone else experiencing this?

Mrs H

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Comments (4)

Kimmsr
18 years ago
As you are seeing once you get your soil into a good healthy condition so the plants that grow in that soil are strong and healthy the insect "pests" will be few and far between. For those of us that have seen and experienced this and tell others about it are often scoffed at because the mindset is that insects eating plants is normal, not abnormal and is caused because the soil is in poor health.
vgkg Z-7 Va
18 years ago
Hi Mrs H, good to "see" you. Here there are fewer SBs but still enough for me to notice them and pick off eggs and kill nymphs. Last evening it rained a bit so I went out to catch the adult SBs which always rise to the top to dry off, but to my surprise not a single one was found (not on squashes nor pumpkins). But the Sq vine borers are more than making up for the absence of the SBs. Most all the summer Squash are infected now with SVBs but by planting the pumpkins & winter squashes later I've been able to keep a closer eye on their root/stems and target "dust" with rotenone. Once the pumpkins & WS start to spread out and bloom though it'll be more vine for the borers to attack. A few stink bugs so far but not like last year when the tomatoes fell victim to them. Still a bit early to declare victory on these. vgkg
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I got tired of growing pumpkins and squash that were always killed by the dreaded SVB. I found an article in Mother Earth News that explained all about the moth that lays the egg that grows into the SVB..anyway if you grow Cucurbita moshata..a type of squash that has dense solid stems they are totally immune to SVB damage. I grew a Rumbo pumpkin that was wonderful. It is actually a cross between a winter squash and pumpkin. If you read the seed catalogs that give the real botanical names you can find other types as well. The Rumbo's were delicious and beautiful too. The only thing is that you can't carve them like a jack o lantern because they are dense. I got my original seeds from Jungs but Parks used to carry them too. There are also several varieties in the Baker Creek catalog as well. I attached a link to the Rumbo so you can see it. Here is a link that might be useful: Rumbo pumpkin
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I empathize with the difficulty in positive identification. Bug colorizations, and markings too, seem to vary with stage of development and locality but the form/structure seems to be consistent. Spined soldier bug pic Photo by W. Sterling. Also (Copyrighted): http://www.ent.iastate.edu/imagegal/hemiptera/stinkbug/spined_soldier_bug.html The diff is in the thorax. Stink bugs and soldiers are short and flatter -rounded in(concave). Squash bugs are longer and rounded out(convex): Squash bug pic Photo by J. V. Robinson. The stink bug and soldier are the hardest for me to distinguish. Almost identical except for the Spined soldier's 'spine' at the tail end. I'm sure I have whacked some soldiers while growing spaghetti squash... Texas A&M has a very good field guide at http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/ : TAMU Field Guide (opens new window/tab)
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I only have this year to base my observations on and they didn't quite line up with what I had read. I have a long row of C. moschata with a couple of C. pepo at the end. The pepos are nominally to be a trap crop for the squash bugs since I had read that they were preferred over the moschatas. The moschatas are an experiment to see how well they stand up to svb. So far both sets of plants have been visited by both types of insect. There were pretty much the same number of adult squash bug found on both varieties on a daily basis, so it didn't seem like they preferred the pepos. The pepos have now collapsed from svb, and I haven't bothered to try to save them having had my annual dose of summer squash. They were always destined to be trashed anyway. The moschata have evidence of svb damage on the stems but are not (yet anyway) collapsing. So moschatas being svb resistant? Check. C. pepo being preferred by squash bugs? Doesn't seem like it this year. Bu tlike I said, it's only one year.
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ksflowergirl
18 years ago
I haven't seen nearly as many Squash bugs this year either. I've seen a few adults, and squished 'em. Last night, I did find and eliminate lots of eggs on my zuchinni. I only found 2 adults and few nymphs. I also got one cuc beetle. I've also lost one plant to borers. I did resort to rotenone after the first SVB attack, and haven't seen evidence of more. I keep wondering why I haven't seen more SB's. Usually have already lost half my zuchinni plants by now. We had a rather mild winter, so I know that's not it. I tilled under my spring crops a little early due to drainage problems. Perhaps I tilled the eggs under before they hatched. Anyhow, I'm glad they haven't come-out in full force yet. They could disappear permanently and I'd be very happy.
hunter_tx
Original Author
18 years ago
Darn, I thought it was my excellent gardening techniques. Guess it's a natural phenomenon. Glad to hear that you all are having less bug problems too. Maybe the weather is not as conducive (sp?) as usual to bug survival??? I did consider that maybe aliens in UFO's had taken squash and stink bugs for scientific experimentation. Gee that would be nice :)
Mrs H

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