Happy Hour & Squash bugs

[Golden Community Garden]

Hi everyone, Happy Thursday!

It is supposed to be a beautiful night, so please join us at the garden for Happy Hour tonight from 6 pm. (Thursday the 11th).  BYOB drinks and bring an appetizer or finger food to share.  We will have music, and all are free to dance. Please come rain or shine as we have our beautiful and newly landscaped pavilion!

On a less happy note, we've found that we have lots and lots of squash bugs in the garden. Here are some steps you can take to help mitigate the issue.

1) Look for squash bugs in your garden and take measures to control them. Here are photos http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/M1208.html and instructions for physical removal. (also below)  

Physical Removal of bugs

• Remove or knock off and kill nymphs and adults by dropping them into a pail of soapy water. This is particularly effective if only a few plants are affected. This can be challenging because squash bugs hide under leaves and move quickly when disturbed.
• Crush eggs that are attached to the undersides and stems of leaves.
• Trap squash bugs by laying out boards or pieces of newspaper. Squash bugs will congregate under the boards at night, and then can be collected and destroyed in the morning.
• Remove plant debris around your garden during the growing season to reduce the potential harborages where squash bugs may hide. Clean up cucurbits and other plant matter around the garden in the fall to reduce the number of overwintering sites

2) Practice Good Garden Hygiene. There are lots of online sources of information on this topic. The below are a few things to start with

• Trim overgrown and damaged plants
• Weed
• Dispose of plant debris in a dedicated pile. We'll have to work on this. We do not want squash bugs in the compost or other areas.
• Control watering
• HARVEST :)

3) Use ONLY organic certified pesticide. Many would rather not use any pesticide. But if you're thinking organic pesticide, here are some points about the strongest one. Safer's Bug Patrol  (soap and pyrethrin) -  is the most likely treatment to be effective at this point in the infestation - according to them.  The soap supposedly makes it effective against adults.  Registered for certified organic.  The caveat - pyrethrins are stronger chemicals with some toxicity and they should be applied per instructions not exceeding the instructed rate.  Any edibles with application at this time need to be thoroughly washed with soap and water prior to eating - wash your squash. You probably won't find any other pyrethrin formulations locally, but if you do they need to be evaluated for other additives which may not be considered organic.  Also if they don't contain insecticidal soap they will not work against adults.

 

4) We'll have more info about these bugs for next year. (Early season there are other methods, such as Diatomaceous Earth.)

And

If you can't harvest, the foodbank team can harvest for you. Just plant a striped wooden stake in your garden and they'll come by to gather your bounty for the hungry.

Happy Harvesting!