Ive now lost 8 squash vines... what are these and how do I kill them? All of them.

[lorri d]

You are right about the stink, I was squishing them and I started to smell a tropical fruit like smell. It took a few squishes before I put two and two together. I told my husband about it and he thought I was nuts.

They seem to fear water, when I water my plants they run out the other side. I have someone on the other side when I water now, just in case they run out.

[Train]

Ya

This may well be the least informed post
on this subject but it would seem to be
worth the try.
That is in co-ordination with other remedies.
Diatomaceous earth!
Just a month ago I turned around only to
find that worms had eaten enough of my
grape leaves to kill every one of them and
the entire vine looked brown and dead.
My little landscape designer friend said
BT and I agree however that did not give
me the results I needed as it should have.
These little devils are tough so I puffed
the leaves heavily with DE and WHAM!
Today I see evidence they are back so
tomorrow I will hot them again.
Note that both DE and BT are organic
solutions.
It may also be interested to note that
the folks at Bakers Creek have a system
they cherish, Spinosad I think.
You might check with them for their
use and results.
Meanwhile I think everyone should
have DE on hand at all times.
Train

[Little Minnie]

But does DE really work on insects? I thought it only worked on soft bodied stuff like slugs and larva that are smooshy.

[darwinslair]

I had to go nuclear on them one year. <sigh> cannot say I was a purist on that one.

Tom

[Scott M]

spraybottle full of coffee, 2 tbls oil, 2 tbls dishsoap it really works and if you turn the hose on and flood under the plant they will all come up to drier areas and make easy targets. You have to spray directley on the bug and it suffocates them.

[phillip73]

I tried the coffee, oil, and soap spray on the 4th. It clean out the grey juveniles, but the adults showed no effect. I may not have hit the adult with enough spray. The bad news is that as I searched and sprayed I realized I had bigger problem than I thought.

[fugacity]

Originally Posted by darwinslair

I had to go nuclear on them one year. <sigh> cannot say I was a purist on that one.

Tom

Ditto. Actually the nukes were intended for the svb's but I'v had zero squash bugs or eggs this year.

[Scott M]

what are nukes?

[southerngurl]

Nukes would be chemicals I believe.

I use equisect it's a natural horse spray, pyrethrin and essential oils. I would spray probably three nights in a row with such a bad infestation and then go to once a week/after a rain (ha, what's that?). I spray at night to prevent killing bees. I have two hives in my garden.

I focus the spraying on the trunks- but would spray all over the first three days with as many as you have.

The first year we used it:

[Amei]

Originally Posted by Little Minnie

But does DE really work on insects? I thought it only worked on soft bodied stuff like slugs and larva that are smooshy.

It might kill the nymphs as they still have soft bodies. It wouldn't do a thing to the adults.