this post was submitted on 06 Aug 2024
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Gardening

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Squash bugs! (discuss.tchncs.de)
submitted 3 months ago by Krackalot@discuss.tchncs.de to c/gardening@lemmy.world
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Hey all, As the title suggests, I got a pest problem. I've tried diatomaceous Earth and spinosad spray, neither of which seem to work. I'm pretty sure they've killed my crop for this year. I'm wondering what you all do. I'm trying to avoid truly nasty pesticides, and I honestly don't have the drive to physically remove them, so for me, those two options are right out. I'm willing to keep trying spinosad, I think it's mostly that it rains a day or two later, and it's gone by the time the next batch of eggs hatch. Any suggestions are appreciated.

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[–] LemmyFeed@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months ago

Oh boy you're in for a battle. We've had squash bugs now for the second year and they are aggressive and once they've produced a few generations they are near impossible to get rid of. We've gotten to the point where we're not going to plant any squash for a couple years because they overwinter in the soil.

Your best bet is to get the eggs off the leaves before they hatch. I like to use a piece of duct tape to pull the eggs off. If you get to it early you can stop an infestation. But if you have eggs on nearly every leaf then it's too late. Even with heavy pesticides the cycle is hard to break. If the eggs hatch you can still kill the nymphs pretty easily with natural things like diatomaceous earth or Castile soap spray, but once the nymphs molt and turn to adult they cannot be killed without something like sevin pesticide (which will also kill beneficial bugs.)

Good luck.