I'm a "leave it be and let nature work it out" kind of gal mostly (not necessarily because it's a better way, but just because I'm the ultimate lazy bum) so really haven't a clue but wouldn't putting the row cover on at this point just trap the bugs that are already in there? You may think you have them all picked off first but bugs are sneaky little so-n-so's. Then there's the hatching of whatever babies they've produced, hidden away in there.

No worries about monopolizing the board! I think i can safely speak for the board and say we all love talking/reading about gardening and I bet most of us learn some new little (or big) thing from each new thread. :-)

Diane

Kristin,

I dont know if i can help you on you bug problem, but I will tell you two things I have enjoyed. First was putting up Blue Bird boxes, those little Blue Birds are real bug killers.
Second, in my old garden I had a stump about a foot tall. I often would see a lizzard get on top of that stump and wait, then sail off that stump like a bat out of -----, grab a bug, then back up the stump and wair for another bug.

Larry

Kristin,

If you want to put a row cover on your plants, you can but I am not sure it will help since they (or their eggs) are likely to be all over the plants, and even underneath the plants. Check the backs of leaves for eggs and remove them and destroy them and that will go a long way to cut down on the population, especially with regards to squash bugs.

I don't worry about cucumber beetles although, technically, they can carry and spread disease, although in my garden they generally don't. It could be that I have a healthy population of beneficial insects that keep their numbers low for me.

I'd be more concerned about squash bugs, and especially about stink bugs if they show up too. One way to get the squash bugs is to go outside with a small hand-held vaccum and vacuum them up off the plants. It works like a charm, especially when they are young and small and don't have the sense to run away when they see you coming. Another way is to lay a board or shingle down on the ground right beside the squash plants. The squash bugs will seek shelter under that board during the heat of the day and then all you have to do is lift the board and step on them and squish them. Simple as pie

If you put a small container of water in your garden (something like the saucer to a flower pot or an aluminum pie tin), it will help attract toads, frogs, lizards and other beneficial creatures that like to eat bugs. I have a bird feeder and bird bath in my garden too, and the birds that come to visit them often sit on the garden fence or on the scarecrow (who apparently does not scare them) or on the tomato cages and eat bugs throughout the day.

Some people sprinkle garlic (chopped and minced by their own hand, or purchased garlic powder) on the ground around their squash and cucumber plants, and feel it helps repel the squash vine borers, squash bugs and cucumber beetles. You might give that a try.

Don't worry about monoplizing the board. You are using it exactly as it is meant to be used and it gives us more to talk about on hot days when we may choose to spend less time out in the garden and more time inside in the air conditioning!

Dawn

I have half a mind to make my kids stand guard all day in the garden chasing away bugs! I wonder how much I'd have to pay them?

If they're pretty young, they might work cheap. The older they are, though, the more $ they'll expect. LOL

I do that! We pay the kids one penny for each bad bug they pick from the garden and feed to the chickens. They all love doing it and my oldest is 15. They have to weed for free, though. LOL

Diane

A hand held vacuum? I was hoping there were some pictures, but I know how to find them. Mine are hiding in the mulch. My husband decided to grow squash, and he has many tubs of them. Squash attracts the squash bugs DUH!!!

THanks for the information.

Sammy

Sammy, You know, a little hand-held portable vaccum like a DustBuster or a Shark or a Dirt Devil Gator. Somebody told me that you can buy vaccum cleaners made just for sucking insects off plants, but I've never seen one.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Example of A Portable Handheld Rechargeable Vac

I think we have a couple around the house. They do nothing for the house work, but would possibly get those beetles.

Sammy

lol

Now the beetles fly when they see me coming. You can sneak up on them the first couple of times you use a portable handheld vaccum cleaner, but after that, they hear you coming and they flee.

Kristen,
This year I planted icicle radishes, nasturtiums, and marigolds tucked in and around my yellow squash (all thru the garden) and I havent seen as many of them this year.... cross my fingers! I know you can also plant mint, catnip and bee balm to control them but I was afraid they would become too evasive for me. However I think I might try them next year and just put them in containers and sink the pots in the ground. WOW I gotta try that vacuum idea I HATE smashing bugs!

I have a ton of extra icicle radish seeds if you want some send me an email and I will mail some to you. Not sure if its too late to plant them....... but I wouldnt think it would hurt since they would be under the huge leaves for protection.

Good Luck!

~Danni Girl

So it's my first year gardening. I have 4 volunteer pumpkin plants next to my compost bins and they are HUGE! I also have 12 4x4 sq ft gardening beds, one of which is comprised of summer squash and two different kind of cukes.

I was out this morning to check things out (I had a cabbage loper problem earlier, but BT has gotten that under control ... I'm trying to be organic) and I saw a honey bee in one of my huge pumpkin blossoms. "Awwww" in my heart ... then, "hey, what are those yellow and black striped bugs?" in the same flower. I could tell they were up to no good.

So, after searching online I determined they weren't the dreaded squash bugs I've read so much about on gardenweb, and it took me awhile to find them, but they are cucumber beetles. Apparently ... this isn't good.

I went over and checked out my cukes ... about 30 ft away ... they look fine. So I shoo'd the bees from the pumpkin blossoms, and squirted the cucumber bugs with insecticidal soap drowning them in the flowers and sprinkled diatomaceous earth around the plants and on some of the leaves that look a "little" eaten (huge leaves ... quarter sized hole on one of every 8?)

Can you gardening pest experts offer any additional advice? Do you think this was a good first step? Or should I escalate? I do have some of the "bad" insecticide in the garage ... before I discovered the joys of organic gardening (we'll see if they remain joys by the end of the season.)

Thanks for your time and thoughts :)

-Veronica