Squash Bug Infestation
We found out that these bugs are a serious threat all across the US and Canada as well, so no area is more vulnerable or immune to them. Several people shared their experiences with companion planting, with mixed results. Some had good results, some had no change and some had differing results depending on the year. Many of you have said this is the most difficult garden pest to deal with, as it doesn’t seem to respond universally to anything or any approach. The bugs will overwinter under almost any debris, woodchips or other small shelter and re-engage their destructive behavior in the Spring, making their control a multi-year program.
The two most successful methods were spraying of Neem oil, either by itself or mixed with water, or Guinea hens in the garden. The Guinea hens seems like the most reliable method of controlling the bugs, if you’re able to get and keep the hens. They also seem to be the favorite bug controlling critter, regardless of what bugs you have. The Neem oil not only smothers the bugs, but slows their feeding and greatly reduces their reproduction if they ingest it. Several resources mentioned Neem oil as one of the foundational treatments for the squash bugs.
We were hoping for a somewhat universal approach, and one of our readers, Joann from Michigan sent us this recipe, and she says it will kill the bugs, not just drive them away! This looks to be a promising approach that will not only help with the immediate problems but speed up the decrease in population for next years program.
Garlic juice concentrate-
4tsp baking soda (anti fungal properties, also stops powdery mildew type problems)
1tsp vegetable oil (smothers) Neem oil would work well here. The amount could be doubled.
1tsp soap (emulsifier/sticker) Best to use a natural soap such as Dr. Bronner’s.
1 to 2 tbs garlic juice (kills)
Juice: 1 med bulb (not clove) of garlic blended with 1 to 2 cups of water. Let sit a minimum of 15 minutes and strain.
Add concentrate to a gallon of water and spray liberally. Repeat as often as needed to drive off or kill the squash bugs.
We will be trying this recipe to see how it works for us. Please let us know your experiences, or if you have a different approach that has proven to be effective, please let us know so we can share it!
I use this stuff. Completely organic–is a fungus/microbe that kills squash beetles:
Bacillus thuringiensis
Thanks, Linda! I forgot about Bt. It has been so misused by the GMO companies that I had forgotten its usefulness in its basic state.
Bacillus thuriniensis is only shown to be effective against the moth/butterfly/caterpillar order of insects Lepidoptera, not against bugs (the squash bug is in the “bug” order) or beetles (order Coleoptera). It’s important that Bt only be used against the caterpillar pests when they’re present, because otherwise using it will have an impact on wild and beneficial moths and butterflies. Bt can be such a help when it’s used correctly. Just thought I’d pipe in.
Thanks for the info, Cam!
We did not find guinea hens to be helpful in our garden because they ate the buds on my peas and beans, and possibly other plants, too, but this was a while ago so I don’t recall. We use a neem oil spray and mix it with soap and equal parts water and rubbing alcohol, which does kill or at least harm the pests. I am currently making my second attempt at growing summer squash, though, because the heat kept me out of the garden and I let up on my spraying regime. Squash bugs seem worse this year, and showed up earlier, than ever before.
Thanks for the input on the Guinea hens, as I don’t have any experience with them.
I agree, the squash bugs seemed much worse, both in timing and population. I’m guessing it is a seasonal response to the cold wet winter we had for the past couple of years.
Wow, I really would have wished for these suggestions earlier in the season. My pumpkins have been wiped out/nullified (one heirloom, one hybrid) and not one pesticide I’d tried worked.
I won’t be trying pumpkins again, however, because the surviving ones never pollinated despite “direct intervention” and they take up too much space.
We would have had these earlier, but didn’t have quite the problems that popped up later in the season.
I would recommend not giving up entirely on pumpkins. Give it a year or so, then try a smaller type, like the New England Sugar Pie. They are physically smaller, and the vines don’t sprawl quite so much, so might be an option.
I have been infested with red bugs with black dots and legs ALL OVER my tomato plants that are in raised bed with other vegetables. Only eating leaves and vines, not tomatoes themselves. Would you recommend neem oil for those?
Yes, I think that Neem oil is a good foundational application for undesirable bugs. As one of our readers pointed out as well, Bt is also a good deterrent.
I have used Neem Oil with some success, but nothing seems to work on all of them.
At the beginning of the season, I thought I could pick them by hand. I do believe I was winning the war until we strawed the tomatoes which were near the squash. I lost all seven plants even though I was picking over 100 bugs a day morning and night and squashing eggs that they were producing. Then they moved to my cucumbers and killed them too.
Meanwhile in the pumpkin patch which was on the other side of the yard, my sons newly hatch baby chickens skittered through the garden fence without there moms and ate every squash bug they could find, obviously doing a much better job than me!
A friend of mine is a certified organic farmer, farming approximately 1000 acres. He gave me an ounce of something called Pyganic, the adults fell over dead on the leaves. When I looked up the price of Pyganic, my heart skipped a beat I think.
Something else I found that worked when you spray, no matter what you are spraying neem oil, soap or even water, the adults come to the top making them much easier to catch and kill if you don’t have a big garden.
I haven’t had a garden in many years and I don’t remember dealing with squash bugs when I was a kid in my father’s garden. They have certainly made raising squash a miserable experience.
Thanks so much for your invaluable information and experiences, Jacqueline! I wonder if baby chicks or at least younger chickens could be a partial answer to these monsters…
The year that I planted radishes in the late winter and then just piled dirt on top of them instead of clearing out the bed before planting my squash, that year I had no problem with squash bugs. Or cucumber beetles. I also planted nasturtiums and marigolds in the squash bed.
I didn’t do that 2010, but I’ll be doing it again this year.
Thanks for another great tip, I’ll have to try this.
Wondering about the garlic tea and if you might follow up on your experience. Read from another site that detergent could possibly harm the plant (squash) and to be sure to use real soap and was having a hard time trying to figure out where I was going to find soap…but remembered I have some peppermint and lavender soap from the natural food store…yes!!!
Tommie-
We had some success with the garlic/neem oil/soap recipe, but got into it a bit late I think, as there was a full-blown infestation going on. Be sure to use an organic soap, such as Dr. Bronner’s to not harm your plants or the soil organisms.
Hey thanks Stephen. We tried the recipe on 2 rows of squash 400 feet long and there seems to be very little activity on them although there were lots of eggs and a few small, probably just hatched, nymphs before we sprayed 8 days ago.
We did modify the recipe: per gallon, we blended a medium bulb of onion that’s too hot to eat now (stalk and all) from the garden, a tablespoon of dried cayenne pepper, used canola for oil and upped the amount to 3 tbsp, but I’m ordering neem oil for next year, but planting cayenne now and garlic come fall as the bulbs around my neighbors garden made a couple weeks ago.
Our control was a row of Zuchinni which did not get sprayed at the same time as the squash and it is heavily infested with bugs, some with 100+ bugs/plant. We are now spraying with the mix; yesterday we sprayed the zuchinni, and I could see bugs dying, but the plants (more like the bugs) need to be doused multiple times with the spray. Today the number of bugs was reduced, and we are spraying again tomorrow.
I’m thinking the recipe is good, especially for eggs already on the plant.
Do you think canola oil, or any other type of oil, can be picked up by the plant and deposited in the fruit?
I think that the oil will not be ingested by the plant, but will remain on the outside of the plant.
We found planting squash in late June or July essentially avoids squash bugs. We battle every year with early spring planting with squash bugs. Think it has been in July we replanted and never saw another squash bug. So why did we early spring plant squash again. hah! We are going to be faithful with Neem oil this year just to check it out. The winter squash has to be planted early.
Thanks for the info, it is interesting to see that timing of planting may by the easiest way to avoid these nasty critters! Please let us know how the Neem works for you this year.
Helpful information. Will be altering my mixture for treating for squash bugs. Squash bugs decimated all of our cucurbits last season… even the winter squashes except for Blue Hubbard. We have spread our cucurbits around this year and have already gotten more squash and cucumbers than we did all last season. Have lost three plants to squash bugs so far. As soon as I see the wilting and evidence of squash bugs I pull the plant up and put it way-away from the garden plantings.
Thanks, Donna! You mention the Blue Hubbard squash didn’t succumb to the squash bugs. Is that because they weren’t attacked as much, due to the season or other factors? I’m wondering if the Blue Hubbard might be somewhat resistant to those critters.
I never had a problem with squash bugs in 30 years of gardening in NY. Two summers ago, I had my first garden in AZ (Humboldt), and lost most of my squash family plants to the bugs. Last summer, I resolved to hand pick them thoroughly 2-3x a day, and to my surprise and relief had no problems with them. Every morning, mid-day and evening I went down the rows, typically finding half a dozen mature bugs every two or three plants. After my experience the previous summer, I was expecting an explosion of bugs, but apparently, keeping after them so relentlessly prevented mating and egg laying. I didn’t see a immature bug all summer. I had about 40 winter squash plants and 20 other summer squash, cuke and melon plants. It took me about 15-20 min each “patrol”. Am curious to see what happens this summer; my squash are just getting to the flowering stage.
Thanks for your experience Bart! Please keep us posted as to how this growing season turns out, we will share it with our customers.