My Nemesis: Squash Bugs

When your squash plants start looking like this:

Chances are you have squash bugs.

Ihave been battling these pests for the past couple of years.

And for the last couple of years,

they have decimated the squash and zucchini plants.

Babies hatching

So, how do you handle a squash bug epidemic?

Short of napalming your garden

(and the other day I considered calling in an airstrike)

you can turn to a couple of possible solutions.

A simple (though back breaking and time consuming) solution

is duct tape.

Wrap the tape sticky side out around your hand

then use it to pull the eggs off the leaves 

and catch the bugs.

I wear gloves while doing this because sometimes I just 

smush the bugs I see.

And I don't really want squashed squash bugs on my hands.

Several bugs and some eggs stuck to the tape

If you just have a couple of plants, 

this can be a fairly effective solution

as long as you stay on top of it.

Or you can go get some Neem Oil

(an organic spray)

and use that too.

I had to resort to that and it has helped,

but populations have exploded so I use tape and spray.