Late squash planting

[desertgirl]

My SIL said that if you wait to plant squash until later in the season you won't get squash bugs (as they will have already set up shop in someone else's garden). I'm not convinced.

Any thoughts??

 

[hoodat]

If you have squash bugs in your area I guarantee they'll find your squash wherever and whenever you plant it. Those things made it impossible to grow any kind of squash in Oklahoma. We used to have a good squash bug killer till sapadilla dust went off the market but I have yet to find a good way to get rid of them since then.

 

[digitS']

I always have a thought . . . usually the wrong one, DG .

So far, the vine borer hasn't found this part of the world (that I know of, anyway). I'll continue to knock on wood for that one.

There are cucumber beetles here but I've only had problems with them a few times AND it was in the squash. And, that's about it for my experiences with squash pests.

What I do have problems with is mildew. I can overcome the production loss from that disease by planting zucchini twice - once during the last of May and once in the first week of July.

The mildew overtakes the May planting and I often have to pull the plants. However, the 1st of July planting is just coming into production about that time and can produce nice fruits until frost.

See how off course my thoughts can be . . ?

Steve

 

[desertgirl]

It just seems like if they smell 'em, they will come. I don't think they have an anti relocation clause built into their little bodies!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I've seen that recommended but I agree with Hoodat. If I plant squash early I can get a few, then the squash bugs in the thousands take over. Later in the season, no way.

I've picked eggs off the plants diligently. I've tried putting planks down to get them early in the morning while they are still hiding. I find that strategy highly overrated. Trying to catch enough nymphs and bugs by hand to make a difference is a joke around here. I've tried spraying the nymphs with Sevin. It kills a lot of them but never gets them all. Sevin does not seem to kill the adult squash bugs as well as I wish it did. I never mulch squash to give the bugs a place to hide. I take out dead leaves and anything else that may give them a place to hide.

I'm pretty sure they grow up on other plants in the general area then move into my garden in numbers. I can usually get a few winter squash to mature and get a few weeks production from my summer squash and zucchini, but the summer long production many people enjoy is a dream for me. I just plant more than I should and preserve as much as I can while I can. Frozen squash has absolutely no texture but it still makes a good change of pace in January.

I have started nasturtiums so I can have started plants when I direct seed the squash. I've heard that nasturtiums are supposed to help keep squash bugs away so I'll try it. I've tried searching the internet without success to see if they act as a trap plant, attracting the bugs to the nasturtiums instead of the squash, or if they actually repel the bugs. I've found different sites that say different things. As bad as the squash bugs are here, what do I have to lose.

As you can probably tell, squash bugs have a special place in my heart, along with rabid skunks. I wish I had a good strategy to share with you.

 

[desertgirl]

I appreciate the help. I've been lucky with the squash bugs so far,but my know it all SIL came up with this strategy and I just wanted some opinions.

I don't think I will tell her it won't work, I'll let her plant late and she won't get any squash.

Then I'll sell her some of mine in a few months!!

(just kidding!)

 

[obsessed]

I agree with Hoodat (Where'd you get your name? All I can hear when I think of it is " Hoo dat Hoo dat Hoo dat sayn dey gona beat dem saints?!) as well. Last year I lost 4 plantings of squash to the vine borer. The first was a super early with Wintersown seeds, then those died and I tried again. Then agan in July/August. I could not grow a thing.

I did the radish thing this year and if I loose this crop I will get the floating row covers next to grow my pumkins.

 

[hoodat]

I appreciate the help. I've been lucky with the squash bugs so far,but my know it all SIL came up with this strategy and I just wanted some opinions.

I don't think I will tell her it won't work, I'll let her plant late and she won't get any squash.

Then I'll sell her some of mine in a few months!!

(just kidding!)

Just to be certain, when you say squash bugs I presume you mean those hard shelled gray things that look something like stink bugs and smell even worse when you squash them?
I've searched every source I can find trying to find a natural predator of them and can't find a single one.
You might try neem oil. I doubt it will kill the adults but it should get the nymphs. Neem oil has a unique effect. It does something to the bugs nervous system so they "forget " how to molt, feed etc. They just seem to lose all interest in buggy things.
The nice thing about neem is that if you get some spray on you it is actually good for the skin. It's sold in skin creams for that purpose.

 

[simple life]

The neem is probably a good idea to try, it definately won't hurt.
I direct plant nasturtium seeds when I plant my squash seeds.
I had read that it repels them but who knows exactly what it does.
I read that you could plant a trap crop but I can't remember what it was, I'll have go back and research my book marks.
Baker Creek sells a lemon squash, that is yellow and you got it, looks like a lemon.
I bought it because its something I haven't tried before and then I was reading someone's blog and they posted that they bought those same seeds because they are advertised to be bug resistant.
They posted that the squash did very well, it was prolific and no bug problems.
Let me go fine that blog page. Here it is:

http://futurehousefarm.blogspot.com/search/label/squash

I like this blog, these two are having fun with trying to raise all their own veggies.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Thank you. Lemon squash will get a try.