This is what an adult squash bug looks like.
They can be darker in color or more on the brown side as well. To me, they kind of resemble an elongated stink bug. These little brown monsters like to suck out the juices of squash plant leaves, zucchini leaves, even melons and cucumbers as well. This year they got my pumpkins, squash and zucchini plants.
When I noticed the first adult climbing around a pumpkin leaf one day, I knew I was in for some trouble. I also knew if there was one, there was a bunch more. And the hunt was on. I was totally obsessed with finding them and destroying them. But, the more I looked, the more I found. So I figured, Ive got some adults, but maybe I can find all the eggs and destroy them before they hatch. The problem was, I had a ton of plants to pick through. Between all the pumpkins, squash and zucchini, there was over 50 plants to check. And if you've ever grown a winter squash plant, you know how big they can get.
Squash bugs lay their eggs in small clusters on the under side of the leaves, usually in between the veins. But Ive also seen eggs on the top side of the leaves as well, but not very often. The eggs are usually a copper color and are the shape of a football.
So when I would find the eggs, I would simply pinch out that part of the leaf and put it in a plastic bag until it was full and throw it in the trash. The task was overwhelming, but I continued on. I performed this job for several days after I got home from work. I felt a sense of satisfaction for a week or two, until….
Can you guess what this is? Yep, its a squash bug nymph. I had so many plants, there was no way I could ever find all the eggs. The nymph numbers were great and I was quickly loosing this battle. Fortunately most of the plants had already produced a good number of squash, so not all was lost.
I continued my hunt, killing as many nymphs and eggs as possible, but eventually gave up. Ive gotten some production out of the plants, and it was time to let nature take over.
So, what to do if the bug attacks your plants? Well, hand picking I think is a good option if you only have a few plants. For me, it just wasn't practical. One thing you could try is companion planting the squash with things like catnip, nasturtiums, tansy, radishes, and marigolds. Although its not proven, its thought these plants will help keep squash bugs away to some degree. I will be trying this next year to see what happens.
Next, its a really good idea to continually rotate your plants. Mainly because the adult squash bugs over winter and will be right there when spring returns to attack.
You could also use floating row covers over the plants and make sure to keep the plants well watered and composted with organic fertilizers.
The squash bug does have some natural enemies as well. Spiders, ground beetles, and even tachinid flies and other parasitic wasps that will lay their eggs inside them. So keeping a well diverse garden that will bring these killers in will also be a benefit.
The next pest that got me this year was one I was not familiar with. They showed up shortly after the squash bugs did. It was closer to the beginning of summer when the hotter weather really comes in. These little black and orange beetles were all over my broccoli, cauliflower and the radishes. They seemed to be eating the plants away. I had to look them up on the web to give them a name. I really don't know much about them, besides that they are related to the stink bug family and enjoy eating all my plants in the brassica family. So here they are, they are called the Harlequin bug.
To be honest, Im not sure what I will do if they show up in numbers again next year. I will rotate my crops and companion plant as usual, and keep building better soil through mulching and composting.
My thinking is, the more diversity in my garden, the more stable it will become. If I'm growing all my broccoli in one spot, it probably deserves to be taken out by pests. Nature will say, hey, you f****d up and I need to take these plants out. Its like planting a buffet line for the harlequin bug to fill up on! But if I plant one broccoli plant surrounded by a number of other plants of different families, it will be harder for a pest to find any specific plant. I think thats how nature would do it.
Ive had a few disappointments this year, but every time I do, I learn something new. And even though I lost all my broccoli and cauliflower to the harlequin bug, I now know what this black and orange bug is. I don't feel like it was a loss.
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