i try to catch them, i do, but every time i go out i only get a couple. judging by the sad death scene out there, there are dozens more that i’m not catching. i need squash bug goggles, or something.

between these and the tomato hornworms, i’m just dying out here.

Every morning, look for clusters of eggs hiding under leaves or on leaf stalks. A plant can usually handle the infestation of one hatched cluster, but two spells doom. Squish the eggs and any adults you can find: in the a.m., the adults are moving pretty slowly, and can usually be found below the base of the plant. Nothing kills or discourages the adults, alas. I have read that if you put a piece of cardboard near the base of the plant, the adults will hide under it: lift it up and have a squishfest!

Their primary target is Yellow Crookneck squash, then all the other summer squashes, then the pumpkins, then the butternut. Some varieties are more resistant than others

Sara, yeah, unfortunately, zucchini isn’t one of those that will root itself elsewhere, so it will be toast. So glad to learn you found the tutorial useful; sorry it took me so long to get posted, and I ended up taking the photos myself because SOMEONE was too busy. Harrumph. Oh well.

Amanda, during and after pregnancy I had horrible acid reflux and vertigo so picking something up off the ground became a challenge. You should’ve seen the contortions I would go through to load the dishwasher! SO indeed I can imagine how “fun” it is to garden, and you’re pretty far along! I remember putting up about a bushel (!!) of beets when only 4 months pregnant and I thought I was going to have to go into a back brace.

Yeah, Stef, that’s why the foil remains in the pantry: they’d go further up, I figured. I am not so sure about burying the thing up as it grows; the way it grows is the way it expects conditions to be so…maybe just doing the burying selectively is the best action. If you have borers that is.

MC, I never throw up my hands! Okay, maybe with weeding, but not with pests. I try to exercise all organic options before the plant goes into the burn pile.

Brooke! How odd, I thought that mites were an indoor plant problem. You would have to google a solution, as I would think spiders were good things. Sure that’s what they are? Aphids can look similar.

I wonder — if you routinely pre-buried the stems, would the wasp just lay farther along the stem? or be discouraged? I wonder.

Thank you for your wise words as usual! My garden is in a sad state this summer due to my general apathy and tendency to NOT like bending over these days.

I’ve got some lovely pie pumpkins going nuts out there (they decided to climb a nearby fence of their own will), but just yesterday I thought their leaves looked a bit wilty–Darn vine borers, I thought to myself. I’ll have to have a better look tomorrow. I’m hoping they were just thirsty and today’s rain will have perked them up.

The yellow squash and butternuts are still looking good. Fingers crossed.

I don’t think I’ve had them before either–or at least not until late in the season when I no longer cared if a zucchini would ever appear again….

I did somewhat try this with my zuke, but the whole stem started disintegrating when I examined it (too late I guess). The covering up the stem part is what I missed from previous instructions and will be a big help. And the pics are super useful too.

I read the tinfoil thing too and tried it on a couple of remaining younger plants, I figured what the heck?