Control and Prevention

How to Get Rid of Squash Bugs

• Early detection is critical! You want to catch squash bugs before they grow into adults or they are very difficult to kill.
• Pick egg masses off the plants in the morning and later in the day. One reader fills a vase with water and liquid detergent and flicks the squash bugs into the water. Once the bugs are dead, it’s fine to dump the water anywhere. You can also simply scrape the eggs off the leaves with a butter knife and let them fall onto the ground, where beetles will eat them. Eggs hatch in about ten days, so be sure to check for them on at least a weekly basis.
• Place a board or shingle in the garden at night. During the night, both adults and nymphs will congregate underneath the board. Squash between two hard surfaces in the morning and dispose.
• Insecticides (such as carbaryl/Sevin) are most effective if applied when eggs are hatching. See your garden center for controls that are locally approved.
• Keep checking your plants, at least daily. If there are no more than a few vines infected, keep collecting and destroying the bugs and crushing the egg clusters that you find on the undersides of leaves.

How to Prevent Squash Bugs

• Prevention is key: In the fall, be sure to burn or compost old squash vines to rid your garden of any possible shelters for breeding and over-wintering.
• Avoid deep, cool mulches like straw or hay that provide an environment that these bugs seem to love.
• Rotate your crops.
• Consider keeping vines covered until blossoming begins. Remove the cover for pollination needs. There is only one generation of squash bugs per year, and you can avoid them by covering your plants for the first month of spring. You can also delay planting your squash until the early months of summer.
• Companion planting can be useful in repelling squash bugs. Try planting nasturtium and tansy around your plants that are commonly affected by squash bugs.
• Select varieties of squash that are resistant to the squash bug if you have a big problem. ‘Butternut,’ ‘Royal Acorn,’ and ‘Sweet Cheese’ varieties are all more resistant to squash bugs.