The aphid mummies do look very similar, enough that I would say that's what I think they are. Thanks for the help ID'ing those. I'm finding that most of my squash/melons/beans to have a lot is silvery flake smutsch on the underside of the leaves. And if I look very close I see a lot of little dark dots. From what I've seen online those are the "bite" marks of sucking insects. While I see a lot of lady bugs in the garden I'm not sure they're keeping up and my problem may soon get out of hand. Can anyone recommend a brand of "safer" pesticide I can get from somewhere like Lowe's or Home Depot? A pyrethrin pesticide right? I have some of the synthetic pyrethrin pesticides around. Cypermethrin as well as some Bifenthrin that I use around the outside of the house and cinder block walls to keep those total &*#&$*! bark scorpions at bay. I honestly hope nobody EVER encounters one of those buggers. Just imagine sticking your foot into a fire and holding it there for 8 hours while your whole body twitches and someone electrocutes you... sorry a little off topic.

I know that this is a tad late for this season, but check out this link - it may be of help for next year! Here is a link that might be useful: Leaffooted Bugs Leptoglossus phyllopus

I have an 8x4 raised garden. ... I lost my cucumbers and squash and my tomatoes quickly followed ==>> you are severely overplanted ... i have seen squash .. one plant.. cover 10 sq feet ... a tomato.. 3 sq ft if not caged and tended perhaps a pic would change my mind ... in overplanting.. you are affecting many variables .. such as sunlight on plant... sun on soil causing water management issues ... and reducing air movement complicating disease issues ... with so many issue perhaps out of kilter... i am loathe .. to think you have a clinic/bug/disease problem ... we often find with newbs.. that they want to attack the EFFECT ... while not considering the CAUSE ... and i think the CAUSE of your problems is the over planting ... rather than the EFFECT .. which is the resultant problems you are finding .. solving the EFFECT .. does not address the CAUSES a term for you to research.. would be SQUARE FOOT GARDENING ... wherein there is all kind of theory as to how to maximize a given space ... while addressing the issues i mention ... and go figure.. i just checked.. there is a forum named such ... who knows how active it is ... soooo... whether you cant live w/o a squash ... the issue would be.. if you really need to grow it .... though you might be better off.. using the space for more manageable plants.. always consider.. what a harvest costs in season .. and i was just talking to ma.. and she said they are nearly giving away such at the market ... so one would ask themselves.. do i really need to strangle my space.. for a veg that costs near nothing in prime season ... i recall a readers digest joke.. that said.. the only time they lock their cars in newport RI ... was in zucchini seasons.. for fear that strangers will leave bags of such in your car.. if you dont.. lol ... and for me.. that kinda sums up ... the gourd/zuki season ... when in season.. they are giving them away .... why should i bother growing them .... good luck ken

Ok, the plant above is in a 4' x 16' garden bed, (not the container garden from my other post, and that one had the plastic taken off every day, and put back on at night, and has a thermometer in it for monitoring temps), that I filled 6 weeks ago with compost, composted steer manure, garden soil, some potting mix, vermiculite, 10-10-10 fertilizer, and a little native soil all mixed together. I have a total of 3 beds like this made. I planted out the seedlings that I grew first in peat pellets in the house in front of the window, then transplanted to Cowpots(tm). After they got big enough about 4 inches they lived outside in the shade in the day, then were taken in to the shed at night to harden off, after they were all hardened off, I planted 18 of them in my garden space. (again this is not the container garden that I had protected by plastic only at night). I then had two plants die a Aunt Ruby's German Green, and a Prudens Purple, first they looked a little wilted, and I thought maybe because of the little tiny white flying insects, so I sprayed them with Gardensafe(tm) organic insecticide which is and oil based product. I still had a lot of (I think) white fly's. So then I sprayed them with neem, and that seemed to help. Then I dug out the first two plants and looked them over, they looked like something ate the inside of the main stem. When I planted them they looked really healthy. Now one more plant started to wilt the same way. I am not sure what is going on. I am watering when the top of the soil is drying out, then I am doing the best pest control, with out spraying harsh chemicals, I am thinking of getting some Seven powder to put on them, or diatomaceous earth, but I don't know what to do at this point. I don't know if it is spreading plant to plant from the soil, I don't think so because each plant that died was in a different spot in the garden. I don't know if it is from little flying critters or not. There does seem to be a lot of regular fly's and lots of gnat type bugs in the garden but I don't know if that is a problem or not. I am just concerned that this will spread to all of my other newly planted tomatoes. Thanks all for your help. It really means a lot to me that you take the time to help us "newbies" out. Sammie K.