Little bronze dots on the bottoms of leaves
One afternoon a few days ago, I noticed how hot it was outside. And again the next day. And the next. So, here we are, gardeners and other animals – summer weather has landed with aplomb.
Sorry to report, but there is something gardeners should watch for because it’s summer.
Squash plants should be large and boisterous by now, maybe with the first squashes ready for harvest. Also appearing on the stems, bottoms and topsides of the large leaves might be tiny bronze or brownish eggs. Not good.
These are squash bug eggs whose pertinacity and determination outperform my goodwill toward all living things. Fast-growing hungry nymphs hatch out of the eggs and maraud the squash leaf landscape in search of a place to picnic. Adults, too. There might be too many to control if not managed early, and the result will be withered leaves, weakened plants and your dreams of prize-winning squash at the fair dashed.
Turn over every leaf daily in search of clusters of eggs. This might be your chore for a while because frisky female squash bugs might lay eggs for another month or so. Sometimes there are adults and nymphs at different instar stages feeding at the same time.
The little darlings suck the life juices out the leaves. A strong, healthy plant might survive, but not if there is no control of the hordes of life-suckers. The adults are quick and cagy, but a determined gardener might find a way to knock them off leaves and into a pail of soapy water. You can also trick them (are you smarter than a squash bug?) by laying a piece of cardboard or anything flat nearby, and the adults will gather under there at night. Then in the morning, rise early and “collect” them.
Neem oil is supposed to be an effective control of squash bugs. Just spray it on. Problem is it washes off, so the squash caretaker must water the ground under the plants, not the leaves. Subsequent applications are probably necessary, regardless. There is also a product called Take Down Garden Spray which combines canola oil with pyrethrin, which is derived from chrysanthemum family plants. Caution should be used when using pyrethrin products and not all pyrethrin products are organic.
There have been summers in which squash bugs got too big too fast and I lost the plants, so early devoted attention is required. Are you up for it? Another strategy is to wait until July to plant summer squashes. Squash bug activity wanes later in the season.
Squash bugs might survive the winter in your garden by burrowing beneath leftover garden litter, so clean up the place, especially old squash plant parts, after your squash season is over. The problem in my garden is I depend on mulch to moderate soil temperature and moisture and improve soil friability, so I am providing safe haven for the marauders. All winter, they’re under the mulch playing pinochle and dreaming about Barbie.
Entomologists want you to know if you’ve had squash bugs in the past, you might never be without them. Last year, my garden was amazingly free of them, and I don’t know why. It might help to plant squash in different parts of your garden each year, but squash bugs can fly, and they have survived far worse fates than finding a new squash patch, and, in my case, there’s not another garden for miles, so they stick close by.
Gardening can be a challenge. You have to want to put in the time and resources. Among the most frustrating developments for an earnest gardener following all the rules to encounter are infestations of aphids, white flies or squash bugs. They have their own rules.
But I’m a gardener, and I want to grow my own dang squash plants for me, not for sneaky, silent, stinky (nothing personal), hyper-procreative insects that don’t want to share. Perhaps I’m getting cranky, and I have neem oil handy.