Any ideas? I am really concerned if this year is 1/2 as bad as last year it would be a disaster and I spent a lot of time - especially early on. Tons of hand picking and leaf checking.

Row covers and hand picking/squashing are about the only options other than using pesticides. If you are diligent from the beginning it is possible to keep them somewhat in check. Succession planting new plants every month or so works pretty well for summer squash.

You are confusing squash bugs with squash vine borers. SVB only have one generation in northern states whereas squash bugs are around from around May or June until frost kills them IME.

Agree with Jack that you must be lumping SVB and squash bugs together. Or you have drawn some wrong conclusions. You need to do some research into the 2 different species and their life cycles.

Row covers work great for SVB as the moths can't get to the plants to lay eggs on them. They are the ones that "kill" plants". They have one life cycle per season except in the very warm zones so row covers from day 1 eliminate them. Of course you have to hand pollinate but that is no big deal.

Row covers can also be very beneficial for squash bugs by limiting (not preventing) access to the plants to lay eggs but you still have to do egg patrols and hand picking of adults. While squash bugs can damage plants - the young hatchlings do most of the damage - they don't often kill established plants. They have multiple life cycles per season but if you get the first cycle under control then there is a big reduction in later activity.

Dave

PS: Surround spray is quite effective for squash bugs but does little for SVB

They look a lot like stink bugs. I just checked again and they are definitely squash bugs. No larva no mots and never seen anything that looks like the SVB.

100% sure they are Squash bugs.

For sure I found eggs for weeks, if not months. I did successive planting but they found them very quickly.

My thought is they are there now dormant and row covers will make things worse? I will use pesticides - I have no choice. I literally hand pick at least twice a day at least 6 days a week except for an occasionally vacation. Things are getting worse and worse each year. Later in the year when everything is thick I still find young and eggs and it is impossible to keep effective monitoring for them.

Don, the reason for the statements about the confusion over the 2 pests is what you said in the OP...

"Also I had new eggs/babies for months - which disagrees with what I read that there is 1 cycle per summer."

The SVB has one reproductive 'cycle' in areas with shorter warm seasons. There are areas where SVB has no presence at all, but in regions with longer summers, there can be 2 'cycles'.

In contrast... squash bugs are wide spread, and they reproduce for the duration of the growing season.

"My thought is they are there now dormant and row covers will make things worse? "

That isn't a valid assumption. Assuming you practice good garden hygiene and don't leave a lot of garden debris lying around on the garden all winter and that you apply the row cover properly to each plant so that it completely enclosed then there is no way any survivors can get onto the plant.

You don't just lay it on top of the plant or a row of plants, you "bag" each plant snugging it in to the base of the stem and lightly tying it closed on the top so it is easy to open for pollinating..

But as i said above applying Surround (kaolin clay) works well too and no pesticide side-effects.

Dave

I would suggest a few things.

1. Don't grow the squash that attract them for a few years. They'll come back again eventually after you grow them again, but then you can stop until they're gone, and do it again. Maybe get some chickens when you're not growing them, to eat up all the bugs. Chickens do eat squash, though (so, that's why I say when you're *not* growing them).

2. Plant something else that serves the same purpose and doesn't attract squash bugs. You might enjoy edible gourds, which are said to taste a lot like zucchini without major pest issues. (I haven't tried them yet, but I plan to this year; so, I should be able to let you know how they do if you don't want to try it, this year.) If you're not particular about the taste, but just want something the same shape/size with similar days to maturity and productivity as zucchini, try Armenian cucumbers! I love those (I've tried Metki Dark Green Serpent melon with great success); they taste like cucumbers, though, of course (but they're C. melo, the same as cantaloupes). They vine like melons, though (they're not bush types like zucchini tend to be, and they're not tiny vines like cucumbers tend to be).

3. Plant squash varieties that can live through squash bug attacks better. Squash bugs didn't bother my Tatume squash much, or my White Scallop squash, for instance. My C. ficifolia doesn't seem bothered by them (although I saw a few bugs on the young plants, at least). In your area, they might eat them alive, but I don't know. Zucchini are usually the biggest squash bug magnets in my garden.

Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB) , a new and especially damaging squash bug hit the US scene about 8 years ago and everyone from fruit growers to vegetable growers to home owners were complaining about them. The later because they like to overwinter in houses by the millions. There are a few effective restricted use products to control them but almost none that are non- regulated. Most of those are contact sprays since squash bugs have piercing mouth parts and surface ingested sprays are ineffective. A product like Surround might be 10% effective on many crops but worthless on a fast maturing crop like zucchini.

I read about a biological control being investigated to disrupt mating patterns but I’m not sure where it’s at in developmental stage. Check with your extension service to see what they might suggest. My guess is that they will suggest a pyrethrum material.

Barrie, I agree that Surround can be limited in deterring pests, but for the past few years I have sprayed Surround VERY vigilantly (after rain is essential) and was surprised at how effective it was in keeping both squash bugs and squash/bean beetles at bay. Again, I think the secret is heavy, consistent coating (to discourage pest with chewing/piercing mouthparts) and coating undersides of leaves (to discourage egg laying). Very interested in hearing others' observations.

I plan to try starting my squash early, this year, instead of direct-seeding them, to see if the headstart helps considering the squash bugs.

I've started bush squash indoors under lights before, with poor post-transplant results (it worked fine for a vining squash, Chilacayote), but I'm starting them in my unheated greenhouse instead, this time, and I have some other experimental tricks to try to increase the odds of the plants doing well after the transplant.

Near the end of the season, make a concerted effort to stomp all the squash bugs, They will be concentrated on the remaining greenery and fruits.

Stupid question but do squash bus stink (like stink bugs) when squashed? The ones I have definitely do - maybe I have the BMSB? I can Guarantee surround will not stop them - to big an area and they are everywhere - fast and spread like crazy.

I plant a lot of squash and I definitely to do not want to stop for years - it is a favorite

Yeah, squash bugs stink. They don't smell exactly like stink bugs, but they are similar.

Adult squash bugs are a bit more narrow than stink bugs.

Have you tried water and soap as a control on the squash bugs. I never have but here are a few videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7v9VvNzmhE&t=14s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuXFwBhK3gs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aje4g4S_sY

"I can Guarantee surround will not stop them - to big an area and they are everywhere - fast and spread like crazy."

I still keep thinking you must be talking about some other bug because all the things you describe just aren't typical of squash bugs. An infestation such as you describe would mean hundreds of eggs had been allowed to mature and hatch and all those 100s of nymphs were left alone to mature into a second cycle.

I usually plant 25-30 different squash plants and find Surround to be quite effective but you can't know if it will work or not without even trying it.

Dave

You might have Brown Marmorated stink bugs then. They are supposed to be pretty bad on much of the east coast and they are supposed to eat just about anything that doesn't eat them first. They will also lay eggs on pretty much any leaf.

I have the Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs (BMSB) here, and while they are all over the place, they seem to prefer the tomatoes and sunflowers. Before I was planting sunflowers, tomatoes were their host plant of choice. Once the sunflowers went in, they seem to mostly lay their eggs on the sunflowers. The adults will spend time on the sunflowers, but tomatoes appear to be their favored fruit in my garden. However, I do find them on beans and other plants. The nymphs now mainly crawl the sunflowers - although they too will be found on tomatoes (among other crops.) I like that they seem to prefer the sunflowers - they are certainly easier to find and 'dispatch'. While they may slow the growth of the sunflowers, it's not really noticeable, and there is no damaged fruit.

The other bug that greatly resemble squash bugs are leaf-footed bugs. There are a couple of different types, and although there are differences between the squash and leaf-footed bugs, there are also similarities. I find the leaf-footed bugs mostly on peppers, beans, cucumbers (where they can easily be confused with squash bugs,) and on top of squash leaves - among other places.

FWIW, I've had a lot of success against leaf footed bugs on tomatoes by dusting with DE. Application of that over a large area is cheap, fast, and easy, but reapplication is necessary after rain. Squash bugs are very similar, and ought to respond to DE in the same way.

I do not think DE works against squash bugs. The ones I have never bothered my tomatoes. I did not plant sunflowers.

I'm saying that DE works a treat against leaf footed bugs, and leaf footed bugs are entymologically similar to squash bugs.

I myself have no experience using DE against squash bugs, but if you look it up, people strongly recommend it as an effective insecticide against them. I wasn't aware of that. But if you've tried it, and it doesn't work, then I accept your test.

In order for it to work, you have to dust the plants effectively. Sprinkling it on the ground won't do anything.

(What should I make of the fact that you cross posted this in the "bathrooms" forum?)

I've used DE to deter squash bugs (before they could fly). It helps, but sometimes they make it through. when I tried it, I just put a circle of it around the plants (it was more than a sprinkle). However, wind and water can easily destroy the barrier.

For some reason, the overwintered squash bugs wouldn't fly until either the midseason or until I tried to catch them enough to trigger their urge to fly. So, they would have to walk through the DE until they decided it was time to fly. the ones that walk through might look fine, but the DE is supposed to dehydrate them eventually.

Spraying the plants with DE would probably be more effective, but it might hurt pollinators if you spray the flowers.

Mixing the DE with water can make it easier to get it to stick to the plants. It'll dry and turn white. I've done that for another type of plant and pest with good results (except ladybugs crawled on it, unfortunately). Ladybugs seem to be less drawn to squash than Solanaceae plants, though.

That's a good point about DE and bees. But for squash, with a few big flowers, the way to go is probably just wash off the flowers after coating the foliage. Of course, hand pollination is another strategy. I believe bees are more immune to DE than other bugs. First of all, they avoid it, and secondly, they have lots of hairs on their bodies that collect the dust, and they just shake it off. I once heard that DE was used in beehives to control hive beetles. Gee, I don't think DE on the ground is going to stop anyone.

Be careful to use food-grade DE. Other kinds of DE can have chemical insecticides mixed in.

It's really easy to coat a plant with DE. I learned this a few years ago. You get out your shop vac and set the hose up to blow. Then you wet down your plants with a hose. While the plants are wet, take a big handful of DE, and use the shop vac to blow it into a big white cloud around the plants. It will stick to the wet foliage everywhere. It will stay on the foliage until it rains. You can do a few cubic yards of foliage in just a few minutes.

Good points. :) And that's a great idea with the application!

Thanks, I am not positive I tried DE have to check my notes. Good ideas keep them coming.

Squash bugs are a pain. I've always hand pick them. What a job! My new thing is a little wand bug vac that I ordered from Amazon. It was about $15.00. They have a lot to choose from. It sucks up tiny babies to full size adults. I just empty it into a jar of soapy water. If you have kids they will have a blast doing this. It has really helped!

As I posted above...Near the end of the season the bugs will keep moving to any remaining squash leaves and fruits. This is an opportunity to stomp the population down in numbers.