Market Farming

["Jill Taylor Bussiere" <jdt AT itol.com>]

Bill,

 

    I haven't had to deal with squash bugs, but have had cucumber beetles - the little yellow beetle type bugs that hang out in the blossoms of all squash plants.

    When I have had them, I hand pick them off - of course vigilance is of the utmost importance, which I did not always have.  But still, even though I did not completely rid the plants of them, fairly frequent hand picking kept the population down enough so that I had some fruits from the squash.  I do think the harvest was minimized by their presence, however.

 

    Would it be possible to hand pick the squash bugs?  Are they readily visible?

 

                                                    Jill

 

 

Squash bugs are members of the true bug family, similar to stink bugs but longer, narrower and usually charcoal grey or brown in appearence. Adults overwinter and move into the squash and pumpkins as the crops begin to establish. They like to suck juice from the plants, which reduces the plants' vitality. As the adults lay eggs, very large populations of nymphs (juveniles) develop. Like my teenagers, they eat way too much so the pumpkins and squash really begin to suffer. If populations get high enough, plants die. I can't offer any organic remedies. In fact, not many insecticides work on this critter. I'd be interested in hearing about any effective organic strategies.

Bill Shoemaker