2024 garden season

[TNTreeHugger]

Yuck!
Squash bugs on my squash plants.
Says frogs and toads will eat them, but I'm going to remove what I can and knock them into a bucket of soapy water.

https://www.foxrunenvironmentaleduc.../2023/6/12/get-rid-of-squash-bugs-organically

 

[sonny580]

soapy water only gives them a bath!!!!! LOL!! use GASOLINE instead!! problem solved!!!!

 

[TNTreeHugger]

soapy water only gives them a bath!!!!! LOL!! use GASOLINE instead!! problem solved!!!!

I would if I didn't have so many frogs!!!
The bugs are on the spent squash that I planted first, back in April I won't get any more off of them anyway.
The bugs are also on the squash plants from the second planting - but it's gotten too darn hot and dry for them to produce anything either.
I was going to pull the plants and toss them in the brush pile, but so many frogs, why deprive them of a good meal?

 

[TNTreeHugger]

Plus, I'm afraid if I get rid of the squash plants, the bugs will move to my tomato plants that are still doing well and bug-free.

 

[TNTreeHugger]

I've been getting a handful of sweet peas every morning for about a week now. I usually just eat them as I pick them since it's not really enough to bother cooking. They're very good - sweet, tender and crunchy.
I'll definitely plant more of these next time.

The second planting of squash and zucchini have been really struggling with the heat, no rain, and squash bugs, but I've been watering every day and this morning they are looking better with some nice flowers.
It's suppose to cool off tomorrow, with some rain, so hopefully I'll get some more picking off them.

Volunteer maters are hanging in there. After the next good rain, I'm going to separate and replant them.

 

[TNTreeHugger]

Btw, have to say I now agree with those who said they didn't care for the spaghetti squash.
It was good fresh, but the ones I froze were kind of tough when I reheated them.

 

[sonny580]

YUP! -- never did care for that kind of squash! TASTELESS!!!!

 

[TNTreeHugger]

Yay! 81F with a little breeze today, finally was able to get some work done outside.
After the good rain we had, I was able to easily pull the spent squash plants and stray weeds out of the garden and around the frog and fish pond. Not too much though have to leave some cover for the froggies.
Came in for a break, going to cut the bad leaves off the new squash plants and pull weeds in that area next.

Oh, also need to thin and replant those volunteer mater plants.

Feels Good to get outside again!!

 

[sonny580]

volunteer maters here are worse than weeds! Our late maters are not going to ripen this late in the year here,---- sun starting to lay too low in the sky. Too cold at night and heavy dews making them rot! Never got many this year and the ones we did get were poor quality.

 

[TNTreeHugger]

volunteer maters here are worse than weeds! Our late maters are not going to ripen this late in the year here,---- sun starting to lay too low in the sky. Too cold at night and heavy dews making them rot! Never got many this year and the ones we did get were poor quality.

I'm just happy to see the volunteers come up.
My other three plants are still doing well and making maters, quite a few green not ready to pick yet and these waiting to ripen some more before I cook them for sauce.

 

[TNTreeHugger]

As for the squash bugs... ... horrid little things!

After cutting off the bad leaves yesterday, I remembered reading frogs are attracted to light, because bugs are, so I stuck a couple of solar lights in the garden near the squash plants.
This morning, there are two little tree frogs on the squash leaves.

However - there are still more bugs than those two can eat so I put some hot water/dish soap in a bucket and went to manual removal. Instant death.

And the squash plants, some of them anyway, are definitely looking fabulous and blooming.

 

[TNTreeHugger]

Those nasty tobacco hornworms came back today.
A couple of the smaller ones had wasp eggs on them.
I snipped the worms off into a cup of hot water and tossed them into the frog pond.

I'm still getting some tomatoes off these plants so I want to keep them bug/worm-free as long as I can.
Also picked a nice size zucchini from a plant in garden B earlier.
Not real happy with the results of this later-planted garden. Been too hot and too dry.

 

[sonny580]

dont kill the ones with eggs on them! The eggs will hatch into little wasps that kill the worm. These wasps are good bugs!

got peppers growing now, about 1,200 of them.---have no idea what to do with them other than take them to the food bank!

 

[TNTreeHugger]

dont kill the ones with eggs on them! The eggs will hatch into little wasps that kill the worm. These wasps are good bugs!

got peppers growing now, about 1,200 of them.---have no idea what to do with them other than take them to the food bank!

Too late... unless they learn how to swim.
If I see more with eggs, I'll leave them.

 

[TNTreeHugger]

One of the worms with eggs landed on a water lettuce leaf and it's still there this morning. Didn't see the other two.
So, maybe the wasp eggs will hatch.

 

[sonny580]

I watched a couple one time with the eggs and they do actually kill the worm. The little wasps are s'posed to be good in the garden!

 

[Del_]

I watched a couple one time with the eggs and they do actually kill the worm. The little wasps are s'posed to be good in the garden!

After the eggs hatch the larva feed internally for I don't know how long. Maybe a week or more. If the caterpillar is dead then so are the larva.

 

[Mad Professor]

I'll chime in on the last ~10 days posts.

1) Soapy water is a good way to kill bugs you can collect in a container. Most bugs will float, and their exoskeletons are hydrophobic and resist wetting, soap allows the water to coat them and also enter their breathing apparatus. They will sink and drown, even a tick.

Soapy sprays also work on some bugs like aphids. I seem to get aphids on my brassicas in the late summer/fall. Insecticidal soaps are best and less harmful to plants, buy the concentrate, It can also be used as a wetting agent for other sprays like copper and sulfur powdered fungicides. Dish detergent works but may harm plants.

2) The time to combat squash bugs, I think they are the little stripped and spotted cucumber beetles in question? Is to do so as the sprouts emerge, which they can do a lot of damage to. This will keep them from breeding and large infestations to come. Hand picking is tedious, but effective for a few small sprouts/plants but not effective for mature plants.

There is a number of sprays that can be used and are also effective with other garden insects. See pages 52-53 of attached PDF from Cornell which deals with organic cucumber and squash production.

Pyrethrins and azadiarachtin (neem) products are two sprays which work on the beetles. Be careful with the former as it kills pollinators/most all insects/beneficials, but has short residual lifetime. Those two sprays and Spinosad and BT for worms/catepillars are good to have on hand in concentrates.

3) I've encountered the tomato hornworm but never got an infestation bad enough I could not control hand picking. Them SOBs will bite you too, non poisonous! I've never seen the wasp eggs on the worms (nice picture TNT) but by all means let the eggs mature. Maybe pluck off the branch it is on and set it aside? Spinosad and BT will work on those worms.

EDIT: Added NE Vegetable Guide PDF, 364 pp, covers most crops

 

[sonny580]

never had any luck with soap/water but gasahol does the trick! Take a small pan with a bit of gas in it and knock the suckers off in it and instant death,--water only gives them a bath as they crawl out and get back on the plants! lol!

 

[Stonesforbrains]

4 plus pounds of jalapeños this morning! Tons of flowers still and I have Pasilla peppers to harvest along with some habanero peppers in a day or two.