GARDEN + GARDENING + GARDEN DESIGN + GARDENING TIPS & ADVICE

This time of the summer you may be dealing with squash bugs.  A close look at squash leaves will indicate whether you have them chowing down on your garden plants.  They love squash, pumpkins, melons and cucumber plants.

The adult squash bugs are a hard-bodied bug about 3/4 of an inch long with a dull dark brown color.  They lay their eggs in groups on the underside of the leaves.  They are copper-colored and sometimes are strung out in a single line.

These bugs suck plant juices and inject a toxic substance that causes the leaves to wilt.  Getting rid of them can be a challenge.  Tear off the leaves that hold the eggs and bag them for the garbage.  Use Sevin or any garden pest control, but be careful to follow the instructions on the container. 

Adults can winter in your garden refuse.  The more you clean up your garden area at the end of the season the less hiding areas for these critters.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 1st, 2009 at 9:38 am and is filed under Gardening General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.