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If a wholesome squash plant all of a sudden wilts, flip over just a few leaves and also you would possibly see a squash bug’s distinctive bronze oval eggs. Your fears about your squash vegetation are confirmed! What do you have to do now? (Spoiler: Don’t attain for a pesticide!) Though squash bugs are infamous for wreaking havoc on squash vegetation, squash bug prevention and natural management are doable with the fitting strategy. I’ll train you the way.
Figuring out Squash Bugs within the Backyard
Earlier than you may sort out squash bugs, it’s important to know what you’re up in opposition to. Right here’s what to search for:
Adults are about half an inch (1.2cm) lengthy, winged, with a grayish-brown physique and flat again lined in high-quality darkish hairs. As a protection, they provide off an disagreeable odor.
Nymphs (younger squash bugs) are smaller, wingless, greenish-gray, and comparable in form to adults. They typically cluster collectively.
Egg clusters are oval-shaped and copper-colored and often discovered on the undersides of leaves.
How Do Squash Bugs Harm Crops?
Adults and nymphs use their piercing mouth components to suck plant juices from cucurbit crops, which embrace summer time squash, winter squash, cucumbers, gourds, and melons. Severely affected vegetation’ leaves and shoots flip black, die again, and fail to provide fruit.
Natural Strategies to Management and Eradicate Squash Bugs
Sadly, squash bugs are worthy opponents and often require a number of strategies to regulate them. If you happen to do nothing, squash bugs multiply quickly and are troublesome to eradicate. Combining the next practices may be efficient for squash bug prevention and natural management.
Appeal to Pure Predators of Squash Bugs
The tachinid fly is a pure predator of squash bugs and may be useful in squash bug prevention and natural management. Plant all kinds of nectar and meals choices to encourage tachinid flies to reside in your backyard. Good plant selections to draw tachinid flies embrace rudbeckia, chamomile, cilantro, cosmos, dill, feverfew, borage, alyssum, and oregano.1 (Click on on the plant identify to learn articles with planting data for every crop.)
This text explains extra about the best way to entice helpful bugs to your backyard.
Sadly, not like different pests, squash bugs will not be simply managed by helpful bugs alone. As soon as noticed within the backyard, their management requires some work on our half.
Follow Companion Planting for Squash Bug Prevention and Natural Management
Plant nasturtiums amongst your squash vegetation to assist with squash bug prevention and natural management. An Iowa State College research discovered that planting nasturtiums amongst summer time squash considerably decreased their numbers.2 Learn to develop nasturtiums on this weblog put up.
Blue Hubbard squash is very interesting to squash bugs. Use this reality to your benefit and plant it as a entice crop.
To do that successfully, you will need to plant blue Hubbard squash three or 4 weeks earlier than your required varieties. Plant blue Hubbard a number of ft (1-2 m) away from different varieties on the outskirts of your vegetable backyard.3 Click on right here for blue Hubbard squash seeds. Study extra about the best way to develop winter squash on this weblog put up.
Hand-pick all Phases of Squash Bugs Every day
Whereas it might not be essentially the most glamorous technique, hand-picking could be very efficient. Early detection is essential. Examine your vegetation each day for all phases of squash bugs; if noticed, preserve a bucket of soapy water close to your plant. Examine the vegetation typically and eliminate the eggs, bugs, and nymphs within the soapy water. They’re slightly slower within the morning–that’s after I love to do my each day examine.
Use Traps
Trapping may be an efficient natural management technique for squash bugs. To do that, lay out a wood board in your backyard. Squash bugs will congregate beneath them in a single day. Within the morning, accumulate and eliminate the squash bugs.
Take away Crops if Numbers Climb
In case your infestation is uncontrolled, take away and destroy affected vegetation to forestall the bugs from spreading. Don’t add to compost. Preserve that bucket of soapy water helpful, and examine the realm across the eliminated plant and underneath the mulch. I like to make use of the hose to soak out any remaining stragglers.
Find out how to Forestall Future Infestations of Squash Bugs
Rotate Your Crops to Forestall Squash Bug Infestations
Don’t plant members of the cucurbit household in the identical spot yr after yr. Adults overwinter in backyard particles and emerge to mate and lay eggs within the spring. If you happen to develop in the identical location, you make it simple for them. Rotate your crops to forestall squash bugs from increase within the soil.
Clear Up Backyard Particles
To cut back overwintering websites, take away plant particles throughout the rising season and clear up all plant matter when the season ends.
Preserve Wholesome Crops
Wholesome, well-watered vegetation are extra resilient to pest harm. Preserve your vegetation in high form to scale back the influence of squash bugs.
Squash bugs don’t should spell catastrophe on your backyard. With these natural strategies and preventative measures, you may preserve your vegetation wholesome and thriving. Do you’ve any suggestions or success tales? I’d love to listen to them.
Sources and Additional Studying About Natural Management and Prevention of Squash Bugs:
Reference
Attracting Useful Bugs to Your Backyard, A Pure Strategy to Pest Management, Jessica Walliser.
Plant Companions, Science-Based mostly Companion Planting Methods for the Vegetable Backyard, Jessica Walliser.
Plant Companions, Science-Based mostly Companion Planting Methods for the Vegetable Backyard, Jessica Walliser.
Additional Studying
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