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Community Garden

How to Get Rid of Squash Bugs Organically

September 14, 2020 Leave a Comment

Few pests can take out a healthy plant faster than a squash bug. But how do you get rid of squash bugs, especially if you’re trying to garden organically? With the following 10 tips, you’ll be armed for battle against these ruthless garden invaders.

How to get rid of squash bugs organically

One day, your squash plants are lush and thriving. The next, several leaves are yellowing and crisping up around the edges. Within a week or two, the plant has died completely, with nothing but dry, withered, brown vines and leaves and a wrinkled, immature squash or two to show for your hard work and care.

So what happened?

More often than not, squash bugs are the culprit.

Squash bugs are my sworn enemies, and I wish suffering upon them all. For the past two summers, I’ve been gardening in a small plot in my community garden, as well as in containers on my front porch.

Community gardening presents some unique challenges, but squash bug infestations have proved the most frustrating. In the past two years, I’ve lost watermelon, honeydew, and all manner of summer and winter squash plants to those pesky insects. My cucumbers have remained unscathed, but only because I grow them in containers at home.

In the process, though, I’ve learned a lot about how to prevent and get rid of squash bugs to keep my plants healthy.

Why are squash bugs a problem?

Squash bugs are fairly large, beetle-like insects who live their entire lives on or near squash plants. Where I live (Utah), they usually emerge in May and then wreak havoc through the remainder of the gardening season.

These pesky bugs pierce the vines and fruits of cucurbit plants, sucking out their juices and ultimately weakening or even killing the plant. The holes interfere with water and nutrient absorption and provide a way for infections to enter the plant. In addition, their saliva can carry bacteria that further harms your squash plants.

The leaves of cucurbit plants affected by squash bugs will quickly wilt and turn brown. Gradually, entire sections of the plant, and ultimately the entire plant may die.

How to identify squash bugs

Adult squash bugs
An adult squash bug

It’s better to find squash bugs before they start damaging your plants, so keep an eye out for them. Adult squash bugs are between 1/2 inch and 3/4 inch long. They have brownish gray bodies that can be striped around the edges. They are roughly teardrop shaped, with a triangular area leading to their heads. When you squish them, you’ll discover that their innards are bright turquoise and unpleasantly smelly.

Immature squash bugs have white to pale green bodies that are oval shaped. They have black heads, black, spindly legs and are about a 1/4 of an inch long.

Newborn squash bugs have small green bodies with black heads and are most identifiable by their spidery black legs. You’ll generally find them on the underside of leaves, newly emerged from their eggs.

No matter their age, squash bugs are absolute jerks, and you should kill them if you value your squash, cucumber, and melon plants.

So how do you get rid of them? Unfortunately, a full-blown squash bug infestation can prove difficult to contain. As a result, prevention and vigilance are your best tools in keeping the squash bug population in your garden under control.

10 Ways to Get Rid of Squash Bugs Organically

1. Rotate planting locations

Squash bug eggs and nymphs won’t survive a hard freeze, but adult squash bugs overwinter in brush, wood piles, and any mulch, woody compost, or plant debris leftover in the garden after autumn.

Spaghetti squash growing on vine

Since you can’t expect the cold to kill them, instead rotate your plantings each year so that the previous year’s squash, melon, or cucumber beds house something from a different plant family. Move those cucurbits to an entirely different part of the garden. Then cross your fingers that the squash bugs don’t find them.

2. Grow vine varieties up a trellis.

Squash bugs love to hide in the soil and plant debris right around the root of cucurbit plants. Getting your squash leaves away from the ground can make the area less appealing for these destructive insects. Vine varieties grown up trellises are a great option for making your garden less appealing to squash bugs.

3. Plant decoys and repellants

Like many insects, squash bugs dislike the scents of particular flowers and herbs. Interplanting marigolds, nasturtiums, mint, and beebalm with your squash, pumpkin, cucumber, and melon plants can make those cucurbits less appealing to squash bugs.

Another trick is planting a decoy squash plant – blue hubbard squash works especially well because squash bugs love it – on the perimeter of your squash bed early in the season. This plant acts as a trap and egg-laying sight for the squash bugs in the garden.

Once the plant is established and squash bugs have laid eggs on it (but before the eggs have a chance to hatch) remove the trap plant and dispose of it. Then treat the ground with one of the natural insect repellents listed in steps 8 and 9. You can then follow this up with a new planting of your main cucurbit crops.

4. Clean up garden debris

Clear out garden dead leaves and other garden debris to help prevent a squash bug infestation.

As mentioned above, squash bugs love to hide under mulch, dead leaves, and other garden debris. So keep those garden beds tidy! Clear out garden debris any time you spot it, and throw it straight into your compost pile.

5. Check for eggs daily

Tedious though it may be, this is one of the single most effective methods of preventing a full-fledged squash bug invasion. A single female squash bug can lay 250 eggs, and each of those eggs quickly mature into adulthood, so just imagine how fast things get out of control.

To keep that from happening, head out to your squash plants every day and, with garden gloves on, turn over each individual leaf. If you find a patch of small yellowish-brown eggs sticking in the crevasses of the leaves, cut off the leaf altogether and throw it away.

Dumpling Squash on a trellis

Alternatively, you can press duct tape to the eggs and then peel the eggs away from the leaf. Be careful not to damage the leaves in the process, but even if you do, you’ll still do less harm than a clan of squash bugs.

6. Get rid of squash bugs daily

This is the other finicky step that’s necessary to prevent a squash bug infestation, but you really do need to go on a squash bug hunt and kill mission every day, or at least several times each week. My preferred method involves wearing gloves, catching squash bugs by hand, and dropping them in a combination of water, neem oil, and dawn dish soap. Squishing is also an option.

Not seeing any squash bugs? They hide in the heat of the day, so I’ve found more of them early in the morning or near sunset. Watering deeply also drives them out of their hiding places.

An infestation of squash bugs

7. Set a squash bug trap

Want to make the process of finding squash bugs easier? Set a trap for them.

Lay out an old board, large rock, or piece of heavy cardboard near the base of your squash plants and leave it there for a day or two. Leave it overnight for squash bugs to congregate underneath. The next morning, turn the trap over and quickly squish or drown all of the squash bugs you find underneath.

8. Sprinkle diatomaceous earth

Though not an insect poison in the traditional sense, diatomaceous earth’s rough surface slices up the bodies of squash bugs. You can sprinkle a small amount right around the base of your pumpkin, squash, cucumber and melon plants to kill or deter any squash bugs in the area.

However, I recommend avoiding wide-spread diatomaceous earth use, because it can harm beneficial insects too.

9. Create an organic spray

Yellow crookneck squash

Neem oil is a food safe, organic product that you can use on a wide variety of insects (don’t let the smell put you off!). Mix it up with hot water and a bit of mild dish soap (I like to use peppermint castile soap), and then spray it on any squash bugs that are too quick to catch or squish.

Unfortunately, a neem oil spray will only work if you get it directly on squash bugs bodies. As a result, I try to spray it in the soil near the root of the plant, where I know squash bugs tend to hide. Avoid using it early in the day or in full sunlight, though, since it can scorch your plants. Using it late in the evening works best.

10. If you can’t seem to get rid of squash bugs, take a break from planting squash

If all else fails, it’s may be best to avoid planting cucurbits for one year so that the squash bugs that overwintered in your garden don’t have anything to survive on. Sometimes a break is essential for long-term success.

To be honest, this is where I’m at. I’m throwing in the squash towel for the year, at least in my community garden! I’ll still grow cucumbers and maybe a summer squash or zucchini in containers at home. Hopefully in another year, the worst of my community garden’s invasion will be under control.

Armed with these tips for getting rid of squash bugs, I’ll be ready for squash and pumpkins and melons galore!

10 Ways to Get Rid of Squash Bugs Organically

Tagged With: Community Garden, Garden Pests, Squash, Squash Bugs

What My First Year Gardening Taught Me

October 14, 2019 1 Comment

This week should bring on the first hard frost of the fall, and with it the end of my first year of gardening. Though I’m far from being a master gardener, I’ve learned so much along the way.

…

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Tagged With: Community Garden, Container Gardening, Gardening for Beginners, Mental Health

Common Community Garden Problems

September 23, 2019 Leave a Comment

Shared gardening space can be an incredible experience for apartment dwellers, but there are a number of common community garden problems. I know first hand. Fortunately, a little patience and ingenuity can make it an enjoyable experience for all. 

My community garden “tragedy”

I’ve never been so sad over a melon

Yesterday I visited my community garden plot, which I’ve lovingly tended since the spring, excited to see what might be ready for harvest. In particular, I was excited to check on two cantaloupes that were very close to being ripe when I had visited earlier in the week. All of my other vine plants – watermelons, honeydew, acorn squash, and delicata squash had succumbed to squash bugs long ago, and I had said goodbye to my long-suffering spaghetti squash plant just a couple of weeks before.

Through it all, my cantaloupe proved hardy. It stayed healthy and strong through inexpert planting, inconsistent watering, unexpected thunderstorms, and those pesky squash bugs, and I was so excited to try my first taste of fresh melon.

But when I arrived today, only one melon, far from ripe, remained. The other two were nowhere to be seen, apparently having been picked by someone else. I have to confess I’m a little heartbroken. That might seem silly, but I was so proud of those beautiful cantaloupe!

At least I brought my first two radishes home.

And yet community gardens are so worth it! Last week I shared all the wonderful reasons to join one, but today I want to share a few common problems you’re likely to run into. None of these are deal breakers, and with the right attitude, you’ll still enjoy your community gardening experience to the fullest.

Common Community Garden Problems (And How to Deal with Them):

Theft

Common Community Garden Problems

This is the obvious one, given my experience yesterday. Our garden has a sign urging people not to take the fruits of anyone else’s labor, which I’m sure helps, but it’s an inevitable issue in a garden that doesn’t sit safely behind your own fence. Luckily, this is the first time I know of this happening to me, and given the garden’s location near low-income housing, I’m just going to assume it was someone who needed that food far more than I do.

Confusion over plots

This might not be such an issue in other gardens, but I’ve had enormous trouble keeping people from planting in my plot. The garden sits on land right next to an apartment of elderly tenants, who frequently get confused about the plot assignment process. You may need to put up a small sign saying your plot is already assigned if you want to avoid this problem (but make sure you’re certain it’s really your spot first!). Planting early and visibly helps too.

Infestations

Community Garden Dill

In a shared space, some gardeners may be less diligent than others, resulting in weed and insect problems (and those problems can arise even with careful attention). This can be one of the most frustratingly common community garden problems, but when this happens, just care for your own space and do what you can to help in other areas. Other gardeners may be less experienced or less physically able, so it’s worth it to pitch in whenever possible.

Limited time to garden

Since gardeners sign up year by year in my community garden, we’re all expected to clear everything out by the end of October, and the water isn’t turned on until the beginning of May each spring. That means we miss out on some early and late crops. 

For that reason, starting your plants from seed at home can really lengthen the growing season. If your garden will allow it, it might also be worth planting in self-watering containers at home and bringing them out to the garden once the water is on.

Volunteer plants

Mint can be a problem plant in community gardens
Mint is beautiful, but aggressive. Limit it to containers, or it will take over the garden.

This can be either a blessing or a curse, depending on your reaction. Some plants, like mint and strawberries, spread very aggressively and are likely to show up in your plot whether you planted them or not (I recommend only planting them in containers if you’re a community gardener). Others have their seeds dropped by birds and can show up totally by surprise. If you don’t want them there, just pull them out. Or roll with it and enjoy the surprise. I ended up with a lovely marigold this way.

Common Community Garden Problems

Lack of privacy

I’ve gotten used to it now, but I initially felt very self-conscious planting in a public space. (Maybe this is less a common community garden problems than it is a Shaina problem). But if you also feel uncomfortable doing something new so publicly, just know that the more you do it, the less you’ll care about working alongside fellow gardeners or being watched by pedestrians as they pass by. Just enjoy the time outside and don’t worry too much about other people’s reactions. And maybe you’ll even make new friends!

Community Garden at Sunset

So if you’ve ever hesitated to join a community garden, don’t wait any longer. Sure, common community garden problems arise, but these gardens also offer unique benefits. It’s the perfect environment to learn how to garden, so look into joining one today!

Common Community Garden Problems

And in the meantime, please pray for my remaining cantaloupe.

Common Community Garden Problems and How to Solve Them

Tagged With: Common Community Garden Problems, Common Gardening Problems, Community Garden, Gardening for Beginners, Real Food for One

Eleven Reasons to Join a Community Garden

September 10, 2019 Leave a Comment

Buying my condo was both a big achievement and a bit of a disappointment. Of course I was excited to have a place of my own and to start paying off a mortgage instead of paying a stranger rent, but I was also sad to buy a home without a yard. I’d been dreaming of gardening for years, and it seemed like that dream was being put on hold in a major way.

Luckily, a home garden isn’t the only way to grow your own food. …

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Tagged With: Apartment Homesteading, Community Garden, Garden, Real Food for One

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About The Apartment Homestead

Hello, friends! I'm Shaina, a container-gardening, small batch-canning, apartment-dwelling homesteader. I'm here to help you achieve your homesteading dreams, whether you've got the homestead or not!
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