Organic pest control for squash?

[spinbaby]

This year we are blessed with both vine borers and squash bugs. The butternut squash were collapsed yesterday and just covered with squash bugs. The kabocha and zucchini are long dead. All the recommendations I can find for controlling these pests involve spraying pesticides. Organic solutions I have tried, including an insecticidal soap with mint and garlic at $14 a spray bottle, have not worked. Suggestions, please.

[TygrBright]

1. Put on a pair of gloves ("foxgloves"-great for tasks like this...)

....and get a smallish-mouthed jar or bottle with large capacity and fill it with liquid soap mixed with enough water to make it thin.

Pick the little suckers off and put them in the bottle. When you have a bottleful, get another bottle. Cap the bottles and shake, leave the icky mess in a sunny place for a day or two, then empty it onto your compost heap where all the dead bugs will do some good, finally.

Gardening is not for people with a high "eeeeeyew" factor.

bloodthirstily,
Bright

[spinbaby]

2. No thanks

There are about a billion of them and I have better things to do with the next three weeks of my life than to pick up squash bugs. I was thinking maybe I could cover that area with clear plastic--after Ernesto moves through, of course--and cook the little bastards.

[TygrBright]

3. Well, you will also cook the plants that way...

...which won't necessarily harm any fruit currently ripening but will pretty much end the fruiting season.

Hose blast might dislodge some, you could try that.

dubiously,
Bright

[spinbaby]

5. The plants are already dead

The bugs took care of that. I want to get rid of the bugs still lurking on the ground.

[Ecumenist]

4. Try Neem and Rotenone

Both ARE TERRIBLY POISONOUS to Squash borers, bugs etc. and THE BEST PART IS that they're completely organic, being derivatives and extracts of plants. Both can be used on edible things, although the neem should be sprayed no later than 1 day before harvest. NEEM SMELLS TO HIGH HEAVEN but it works!! Rotenone should be used with breathing protection and gloves AND prevented from drifting into ponds as it is a VERY EFFICIENT PISCICIDE--translation-- It'll take your fish out BIGTIME and probably any unlucky amphibians as well. Hope this helps, honey. Been there and done that, trust me.

[spinbaby]

6. I've tried rotenone in the past

But as soon as the plants start to bloom, I stop using it so the bees can pollinate. That's when the bugs move in. This year I tried a fairly worthless organic insecticidal soap. Maybe if I hand pollinate?

[Ecumenist]

8. I would , Spin.

It's sure as heck is worth it....

[Kolesar]

7. Plant squash elsewhere next year

Place the plants in another corner of the garden, or start another garden elsewhere in the yard. I expect you would do better with the latter solution because the bugs are mobile. I am no expert on this, though. I found this at a newspaper site (edited for copyright reasons):

http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2006/072006/07212006/207119

Monitor plants and take appropriate actions when just a few pests are present to prevent large populations from developing. Gardeners can remove squash bug eggs, adults and nymphs manually and destroy them. Since squash bugs tend to congregate, boards or shingles placed around the plants will promote squash bug aggregation and simplify collecting and destroying the bugs. Controlling squash bug adults can be difficult, so treatment should be directed toward nymphs. Home gardeners can use carbaryl (Sevin) to try to control squash bugs on pumpkins, squash and other cucurbits.

[Ptah]

9. Diatomaceous Earth

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatomaceous_Earth

Pest control

Diatomite is also used as an insecticide, due to its
physico-sorptive properties. The fine powder absorbs
lipids from the cuticle, the waxy outer layer of insects'
exoskeletons, causing them to dehydrate. Arthropods
die as a result of the water pressure deficiency, based
on Fick's law of diffusion. This also works against
gastropods and is commonly employed in gardening to
defeat slugs. However, since slugs inhabit humid environments,
efficacy is very low. Beekeepers are apparently experimenting
with it, to keep small hive beetles from breeding.
It is sometimes mixed with an attractant or other additives to
increase its effectiveness. Medical grade diatomite is sometimes
used to de-worm both animals and humans. It is most commonly
used in lieu of boric acid, and can be used to help control and
eventually eliminate a cockroach infestation.

[eleny]

10. Try not to weed too much

The year I let the weeds practically take over, I had good yields and never used anything for bugs. Every once in a while, I'd go in and clear out some of the tangle. What happened was that I got some spiders taking up residence and I think they may have helped keep the vegetable garden pest free. I never saw one tomato worm and enjoyed lots of squash.

[NMDemDist2]

11. now that's my kind of gardening!

:yourock:

[eleny]

12. I'm series!!!!!1

It really worked. The day I read about that in some book was one of the happiest. I put out the welcome mat for spiders and sat back on my duff. The ground stayed a little cooler and did't dry out so fast in between waterings, too. You know how the sun can beat down in these parts.

[Kolesar]

13. We mulched with straw and grass clippings to keep the soil moist...

...and keep the weeds down. Used newspaper in a few places too. It worked. Of course, that does nothing to create a Habitat for Arachnidity.