I had them real bad too. I got a bird feeder, am going to get a bird bath, and will be companion planting radishes next year.

I feel your pain and will be tuned into your post to see what advice is given. I had some absolutely gorgeous plants that were thriving and then KAPOOEY, they were literally destroyed overnight. I know that mostly at this point it was the SVB that got them, but the stink bugs were not far behind and finished the plants off.

Row cover seems like a plan, but how do the squash get pollinated if bees are blocked? It's such a hopeless outlook.

I even planted some squash really late and they got taken over too.

I had ZERO watermelons, ZERO cantelopes, I did fortunately get some squash, but not nearly as many as I had hoped for with the number of plants I had.

I will chime in with my thoughts....
I had an epic battle with the squashbugs, and this was my first year growing any type of squash. After planting the seedlings, they just showed up. Anyway, I found them early, and really went on the offensive - sometimes 3 times a day. Luckily, I won my battle - and no damage was done to my plants. They are, without a doubt - the most annoying pest that I've dealt with, and they will be back next year. But, i'll show them who's boss in my garden once more. I'm sorry that I can't be of more assistance, but that's my answer to the problem.

EG

Here is my idea and If I had enough money, I would probably do it.

I would build a huge hoop building greenhouse. Instead of plastic, put down row cover on the whole greenhouse. Then I would make sure every crack was filled and I would plant my squash. I am sure some would get in, so I would have to hand pick those. To fix the pollination problem, I would put a small hive of bees in the greenhouse.

Problem fixed!

Ok, now I have angry bees and ripe squash and no way to pick them.

ARGGGGGGGGGGG! I hate squash bugs! :)

Have a great day!

Jay

If you are violently opposed to chemical sprays, please disregard this post.

You could try the following: plant some "sacrificial" crops in an unused patch of ground, and spray the xxxx out of them. You could even use a systemic like Orthene, since you will not be eating the produce. Maybe you could do an "all sacrificial" year, in which you spray all of a certain crop. To protect the bees, do not let these plants bloom. Pick the buds off or whatever. Make sure to choose a sacrificial crop which is highly attractive to the pests. If you plant sacrificial plants around the perimeter of your garden, you may be able to knock the pest population way down on your "good" crop plants. Now you have used spray to reduce your pest problem without any danger to yourself, since you are not eating the sprayed produce.

But first, I would ask local experts what they recommend.

I am seasoned, though not necessarily smart. Just so you know how to view my advice.

I had squash bugs quite bad for a couple of years early on in my garden - season 2 and 3 I think it was. I followed my usual practice, which is to do little or nothing regarding insect pests. They dropped off markedly the next year and have not been more than a slight nuisance since, about 7 or 8 years. It was the same with japanese beetles. CPB and imported cabbage moth have not responded so well to that method, they have been seriously damaging - especially the cabbage-moth - for many years, but both are now declining rapidly in the last couple seasons.

My belief is, backed up by observation, that insect infestations are very difficult if not impossible to control to any significant extent pro-actively (poisons, by hand, row-covers, bt, you name it). Allowing the garden to "get in balance" is a very long-haul proposition, but it does seem to happen if we allow it. There are natural predators and diseases that will control them if the pest population is allowed to get to levels that will attract. Yes, certain crops will get slaughtered. But kale is still naturalized in my garden even with the horrible struggle with the moth. Squash produces every year even though the squash bugs show up in modest numbers.

"Knocking down" the pest population with contact poisons will ensure that the predators will not come and the pest will stay at high numbers year after year.

what are squash bugs natural predators? and are there ways to attract them (other than lots of squash bugs to eat?) this has been my worst year so far for them also.

I just googled "squash vine borer" and there is a huge amount of information out there. Does everyone here know how to use Google? Just go to www.google.com and type in one or two key words and hit Enter. It's amazing. Here is a link to a paper on organic control (which doesn't sound all that promising, unfortunately).

Here is a link that might be useful: svb organic control

Here is another good paper which has a list of insecticides, and mentions the sacrificial planting technique and how to do it. They call it a "trap crop".

Here is a link that might be useful: svb control

No offense intended... but more people need to utilize the GW search function before posting. There have been many recent threads concerning squash bugs - there is a link to one of them below, where I provided a non-toxic spray formula.

There is only one generation of squash bugs each year, so early control methods are the most effective. Preventative measures can vary in their effectiveness; but it is always easier to prevent infestation, than to deal with large numbers later.

Floating row covers have been very effective for me; I leave them on until the vines blossom, or until they outgrow them. This may not fully prevent infestation (especially for early plantings) but it does delay it, which minimizes the damage. Row covers are also highly effective against SVB, and protect the young seedlings from cucumber beetles... so I highly recommend their use. I could not grow squash reliably without it.

Where the seasons are long enough, planting late can be helpful. Most insects hatch & lay eggs in rhythm with the development of the crop they infest. If you can avoid the peak egg-laying period, it may decrease - or eliminate - the degree of infestation. This is doubly effective in combination with the use of row covers. I found a few nymphs when harvesting my acorns, but their life cycle has been so delayed that they could not reach adulthood prior to frost.

If early control measures fail, or if neighboring infestations spill over onto your garden, then it is important to destroy the first adults as early as possible. Watch for them, and hand-pick or spray them. This is where I use the soap spray, in a solid stream; provided that they are completely covered, it will kill them quickly. They usually first appear at the base of the stem, or under dead leaves or debris near there. Because of this, I do not recommend the use of mulches under squash, where squash bugs are a problem.

If you find adults, watch for their eggs, which are in clusters on or below the leaves. These are usually found near the stem or between the veins. They are fairly hard to crush. The grayish nymphs are even more vulnerable to the soap spray than the adults, but they are numerous & very good at hiding, so it will take frequent "search and destroy" to get them all.

Since squash bugs like to hide beneath debris, small pieces of cardboard beneath the plants can act like traps - check under them with spray in hand.

Squash bug adults over-winter in debris, so Fall tilling & cleaning up litter will reduce the population in the immediate area. If you have a compost pile, it should be located as far from the garden as possible. The adults are very mobile, however, and can locate squash by scent from great distances... so adults may still fly in each year from infested areas nearby.

Here is a link that might be useful: Squash bugs

In the past I have mashed a lot of squash bugs, but never made an all out effort to get them all. This year I have followed up by checking the fruits that are still out in the garden and also checking dead leaf clumps. This way I have killed many, many more...and even got a few in my neighbors pumpkin..[relax, it's ok.]

Sorry Zeedman down here in Texas there are more than one generation of squash bug each year and they overwinter in most of the state.

And I've never seen anything eating them at any stage so I'd like to know what their natural predators are as I've never heard of any.

Thanks, Pnbrown & Zeedman, for your non-toxic approach. I have had problems with squash bugs in the past, and they were back again this year, but not as many. I hand-picked, soap-sprayed, and smashed them as much as possible, but it is something that must be done often, if not daily. I have companion-planted all kinds of herbs, and will do so again next year. Tansy seems to help, but I also use grass-clipping mulch, and the bugs seems to like it. Might try plastic mulch and row covers next spring.
Good luck to all!
rosebush

I think I wouldn't mulch cucurbits at all next year. But use cardboard for traps and hunt them down w/ spray.

Here is a link that might be useful: pest management

"Sorry Zeedman down here in Texas there are more than one generation of squash bug each year and they overwinter in most of the state."

It figures... in Texas, you even gotta do squash bugs bigger & better. ;-)

And I'm with you regarding natural control. I'm a big believer in it, and I have tried - with considerable success - to attract & keep insectivorous birds and beneficial insect predators. There's hardly an aphid or caterpillar to be found. But as far as I can tell, the only thing killing squash bugs & stink bugs is me. And I've gotten really good at it (insert evil laughter here).

Check out this link. They claim that Nasturtium repels squash bug and several other pests of the cucurbits. Has anyone tried it?

Here is a link that might be useful: companion plant

Barring all other measures - Plant a 2nd crop of squash (if you have space) when the first crop starts to bloom. By the time the 2nd crop gets killed I'm usually tired of squash. This works for cukes too.

I tried growing nasturtiums near my squash, cukes, and watermelons with some success. The cucumbers and melons weren't touched. I lost one summer squash after getting an ok harvest from it and the other had damage but still kept producing right until frost. So the nasturtiums might have helped... I love them anyways, they are so pretty, so I will be planting them everywhere next year! I also had my cucurbits scattered all over my garden, so the other crops interplanted with them might have confused the bugs a bit.

I am planning to try wrapping the stems with foil or old stockings next year, since that's supposed to keep the bugs from laying eggs... I also want to try companion planting radishes, since the whole companion plant concept seemed to work pretty well for me this year (with other crops as well).

Lori

More ideas:

Here is a link that might be useful: svb control

Just my 2 cents...

We're mixing squash bugs and SVBs in this post obviously...

We have a bigger problem with squash bugs here. They are nearly impossible to get rid of. Apparently, the only time that they are able to be killed by Sevin is in the nymph stage so if you don't mind spraying, spray often and see if that helps. It seems to help somewhat here. Other than that, I've given up on pumpkins because they take long enough that the squash bugs will eventually kill the plants. With summer squash and zucchini I just plant way more than we need and some plants get killed. I just clean up and plant again. Last year we had much more than we could use doing it this way.

Have any of you thought about "GUINEA FOWL"? They work for me and they do not scratch up and eat the garden up like chickens.

I wish I could keep Guinea Fowl. Unfortunately, my homeowners assoc (and I only use the first three letters in that word usually) only allow horses and "pets".

One of my neighbors got some Guinea Fowl chicks one year as 1-day-old hatchlings. He put them in an incubator until they were old enough to be outside then made them a little pen until they were big enough to let run around. As soon as he opened the pen's gate, out they ran, came across our yard and disappeared into the big brushfield on the other side of us. That was the last time any of us ever saw any of them!

We had an awful invasion of the squash bugs this year, too. I'm going to plant my squash someplace else next year. After reading about nastutiums, I'm going to plant a bunch of them, too. Thanks!

I read on another thread that Hubbard squash is a powerful squash bug attractant. Maybe you could plant Hubbard as a trap crop and spray the hell out of it, and leave your other squash unsprayed if you prefer.

I think next year I'll spray Seven once a week at least, for the first 4-6 weeks. Or if SB and SVB are attracted by scent, try spraying with vanillin. You can get a bottle of artificial vanillin for a couple bucks at Walmart, diluted in a sprayer it could last all season.

Here is a link that might be useful: Vanillin

PS If you do get guinea fowl, get ready for the weird clattering honking noise they make. You can hear them from quite a ways off. They are territorial, and a small flock makes a good guard dog substitute. However, if you are so unfortunate as to live under the thumb of a HOA, they may accuse you of keeping a small brass band in your yard.

They are funny to watch as they busily hustle around. With their bulbous looking bodies and pin heads, they look like living Looney Toon characters.