Last year, I was quite disappointed to have the Squash bugs eventually completely destroy my Butternut Squash, Yellow Squash, Zucchini, and Cucumbers. It became one of the worst infestations of the bugs that I had ever seen in my garden. So when a few days ago I began noticing their reappearance on my squash plants, I started looking online to see if there were any ways to get rid of them without using chemicals. I had almost given up, when I came across a site with this simple tip that actually works! And the only thing it requires is a roll of packing tape.
Just look for the bugs and/or clusters of eggs on the underside of the leaves. (This picture is of them in the newly-hatched nymph stage.)
Then, taking a piece of packing tape, just tap the sticky side lightly over them. As you can see, it's quite effective in easily capturing quite a few all at once! It works quite well for catching the adult bugs as well.
The eggs are a little more difficult to remove, but if you press the tape down firmly, with a few tries most of them will stick to the tape.
It was somewhat time-consuming (about 45 minutes) to check over all of my squash plants, since we have a somewhat large garden, but by the time I was finished it was easy to see that the population was reduced by the hundreds. I've been checking back for the past couple days, and it only takes me about 5-10 minutes to quickly look over the plants again and remove any new bugs or eggs. Prayerfully, now, the plants will recover from all of the damage already done, and still produce a good crop this year.
The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
Psalms 24:1
4 comments:
Thank you for sharing this tip! And the pictures, too! I will know what I am looking for when I check my squash plants. :)
Our zucchini plants were destroyed by squash bugs last year. It was so disappointed. This year my husband added diatomaceous earth to the soil prior to planting. It is supposed to prevent bugs. So far so good! However if the squash bugs do make an appearance I will keep your tip in mind. : )
I'm glad you found a solution that really works! I can imagine it would be very frustrating, putting a lot of effort into the garden, only to have bugs eat your plants!
Whoever thought of this is brilliant! Thank you so much for sharing it. The photos are very helpful as well. I'm always on the lookout for such tips because we don't use pesticides.
Post a Comment