There’s nothing like enjoying a harvest. It’s a beautiful thing to plant this little seed and nurture it into something life sustaining. On the other hand, there is the weeding and watering and the killing of the bugs. I saw these little buggers a month ago in my garden, just lazily procreating and laying their little tiny eggs on the leaves of the zucchini. 
No big deal – DH got out the bug spray and “took care of our little pest problem.” Yet the bugs were still there going about their business as usual. DH tried a more powerful bug killer the next time. Four days later our zucchini plant shriveled up and died! These squash bugs are harder to kill than ROUS’s (That’s rodents of unusual size). Not only do they laugh at our attempts to wipe them out with chemicals, they know I’m coming and hide before I can get them. They are ugly and really gross to squish. Now they have laid their little eggs all over my pumpkin leaves. 
When they hatch, the tiny little spider-like babies are going to suck the plant dry. So all I can say is – GAME ON! You bugs are going down! I will be making pumpkin pies and carving jack-o-lanterns and you are not going to stop me!
No big deal – DH got out the bug spray and “took care of our little pest problem.” Yet the bugs were still there going about their business as usual. DH tried a more powerful bug killer the next time. Four days later our zucchini plant shriveled up and died! These squash bugs are harder to kill than ROUS’s (That’s rodents of unusual size). Not only do they laugh at our attempts to wipe them out with chemicals, they know I’m coming and hide before I can get them. They are ugly and really gross to squish. Now they have laid their little eggs all over my pumpkin leaves. When they hatch, the tiny little spider-like babies are going to suck the plant dry. So all I can say is – GAME ON! You bugs are going down! I will be making pumpkin pies and carving jack-o-lanterns and you are not going to stop me! 
7 comments:
Shows how much I know about gardening. I just thought they were cute little tree bugs. Hmmmmm. I guess now I'll know when I plant zucchini!
Oh I totally know what you mean. Although I'm taking the quiet endurance approach with the bugs. My desire for my veggies will outlast their destructiveness. unending daily assalts.
You go girl, get those bugs!!! You'll feel really good when you are enjoying that home made, from the garden, pumpkin pie:)
Good luck - I've got some great recipes for some interesting concoctions...most of them include urine, beer, and tobacco - (that ought to kill anything right?). Let me know if you are interested!
lol...when I read maryann's comment about "some great recipes for some interesting concoctions", I was thinking she was talking about recipes that you eat. I was a little surprised to see "urine, beer, and tobacco" on the list of ingredients. :-)
The squash bugs are a pain to kill. I used some dust stuff that worked pretty well. I can find out what it is if you are not opposed to chemical pesticides. Otherwise you can use the urine, but please don't ask me over to eat any of the squash. :-)
Also, you should remove any of the eggs that are visible. That will help the prevent the spread.
MaryAnn - ugh, the urine, tobacco route is a bit of a stretch for me.
ej - I would love to know the name of the dust stuff. Was it called Sevin? I've heard that gets rid of the adults.
I have found an easier way to kill the bugs than squishing them - Death by drowning. They can't swim - too bad for them. I have been out there every day pulling off the eggs. I've removed so many I'm starting to see eggs when I close my eyes.
Julie,
I've lost a whole crop due to these um pests and my pumpkins are growing and I was LIVID when I found them, we used SEVIN dust and so far its working but you have to check EVERY leaf for eggs and you can't dust if there are bees around because its deadly to bees too and you want the bees to pollenate your plants, also beware the dust is very fine and can be inhaled easily I suggest a mask, although I'm sure you've probably done something about them already.......
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