The squash bugs are causing me to think bad words! I Asked Vince yesterday if he would build me a squash house – something totally screened in so I wouldn’t have to deal with them. The answer was . . well, I don’t think he answered me. I think he decided not to say what he was thinking but in the end, I knew I wasn’t getting a squash house! 🙂
This morning I came up with a new plan . . he put one of the cattle panels against the back stairs and I moved all the squash and pumpkin plants over there.
I’m going to keep the ground dusted with DE and with all the squash type plants together, I can hopefully keep all the eggs off the leaves. I’ve been spraying with soapy water, with Neem oil in the evenings but I’m still finding too many bugs.
I’ve put every scented plant I can find around the squash plants. There’s rosemary and more borage that I potted up this morning.
There’s mint and dill.
There’s lavender. Not pictured are thyme, lemongrass, nasturtiums, marigolds and bee balm. We’ll see if anything helps!
neilleann says
If they are the same bugs I am thinking of – they are so darned ugly!!
judy.blog@gmail.com says
They are ugly and they smell bad.
nalaxu says
I have trouble with squash bugs, but even worse, squash vine borers. I just watched a youtube video saying pyrethrum daisies are good at repelling squash bugs. This was a new one for me. I am going to try to find out if it is too late to plant them now or not. (from seed) Here is the link the Millenial Gardner provided. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004HQP5AS?ie=UTF8&th=1&linkCode=sl1&tag=ncgardening-20&linkId=b1ff8789b4490e66a009c74e260caae3&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl
judy.blog@gmail.com says
I don’t use that because there are several beekeepers in the area and it’s very toxic for bees. If I can’t grow it without using chemicals, I’ll just give up on squash.
Marie L. says
Judy, my understanding is the insecticidal compound in the actual living daisies is primarily bound in the seed coats of the dry seeds and that the actual living plants are safe for pollinators. This website talks about it.
https://extension.msstate.edu/newsletters/bug%E2%80%99s-eye-view/2016/pyrethrum-daisy-vol-2-no-10#:~:text=The%20living%20flowers%20do%20not,they%20are%20dried%20and%20extracted.