First squash bugs of the year

GoDawgs · June 18, 2018

On my daily patrol of the winter squash plants this morning I came upon a freshly hatched batch of squash bugs. They were so new they were still in their green instar and hadn't grayed up yet. Since I carry duct tape for just this purpose, I made a circle of it and captured them along with eggs. Last year they showed up in May so that's been a fortunate thing being without them this long.

There was just one other egg mass on the same leaf and one other on only one other leaf. Got 'em. Soooo much easier keeping them in check that trying to get rid of them after the fact.

One thing about using the duct tape to remove eggs. It gets some but not others. Some kinds of bugs have a tougher "glue" I guess. Or maybe the eggs that come off easy are fresher and not dried on good yet. But it's real good for capturing wads of young 'uns.

Al@NC · June 18, 2018

Wow, the struggle is REAL!

I'm not used to fighting Squash bugs, by chance have you tried yellow sticky paper? Similar to this:

http://www.woodstreambrands.ca/safer...hoCosUQAvD_BwE

I love this stuff, it catches everything...

Al

Al@NC · June 18, 2018

It does sound like they're more attracted to yellow than green zucchini..

https://thefreerangelife.com/control-squash-bugs/

AlittleSalt · June 18, 2018

This is my first year of not having squash bugs. Duct tape does look like it works well.

(I have written this in past posts, but not lately) There were times in the 7 years past that I resorted to spaying them with soapy Malathion water - and it didn't work. One year, they got so bad that I pulled the plants - put them in trash bags - and took them directly to my burning barrel and burned them.

GoDawgs · June 19, 2018

Quote:

Originally Posted by Al@NC

Wow, the struggle is REAL!

I'm not used to fighting Squash bugs, by chance have you tried yellow sticky paper? Similar to this:

http://www.woodstreambrands.ca/safer...hoCosUQAvD_BwE

I love this stuff, it catches everything...

Al

I've never tried yellow sticky strips of any kind for fear of attracting even more to the area.

June 18, 2018	#1
GoDawgs Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2018 Location: Augusta area, Georgia, 8a/7b Posts: 1,685	First squash bugs of the year On my daily patrol of the winter squash plants this morning I came upon a freshly hatched batch of squash bugs. They were so new they were still in their green instar and hadn't grayed up yet. Since I carry duct tape for just this purpose, I made a circle of it and captured them along with eggs. Last year they showed up in May so that's been a fortunate thing being without them this long. There was just one other egg mass on the same leaf and one other on only one other leaf. Got 'em. Soooo much easier keeping them in check that trying to get rid of them after the fact. One thing about using the duct tape to remove eggs. It gets some but not others. Some kinds of bugs have a tougher "glue" I guess. Or maybe the eggs that come off easy are fresher and not dried on good yet. But it's real good for capturing wads of young 'uns.

June 18, 2018	#2
Al@NC Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Vernon, BC Posts: 720	Wow, the struggle is REAL! I'm not used to fighting Squash bugs, by chance have you tried yellow sticky paper? Similar to this: http://www.woodstreambrands.ca/safer...hoCosUQAvD_BwE I love this stuff, it catches everything... Al Last edited by Al@NC; June 18, 2018 at 11:18 PM.

June 18, 2018	#4
AlittleSalt BANNED FOR LIFE Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 13,333	This is my first year of not having squash bugs. Duct tape does look like it works well. (I have written this in past posts, but not lately) There were times in the 7 years past that I resorted to spaying them with soapy Malathion water - and it didn't work. One year, they got so bad that I pulled the plants - put them in trash bags - and took them directly to my burning barrel and burned them.