How do you get rid of squash bugs in a vegetable garden?

Lisa Sisco
by Lisa Sisco
Year after year, after year my husband has been struggling to keep our squash plants alive long enough to bear enough fruit for the two of us. He says he has read up on how to get rid of squash bugs, and can find nothing other than picking them off by hand that will get rid of them. Maybe someone else has found an easier solution?
  18 answers
  • Pat Pat on Apr 10, 2015
    I just purchased Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth. It is certified organic and is safe for vegetables, pets (including chickens), and family. For more detailed info. I found out about this at www.cleancoops.com. I am planning the chicken raising thing and found this fabulous site and found the info. re: Diatomaceous Earth there. It seems like it is perfect. Kills Japanese beetles, fleas, mites, plus many other pests and wont harm earth worms if you follow directions. The organic part sold me!
    • Lisa Sisco Lisa Sisco on Apr 10, 2015
      @Pat Thank you for your answer. Diatomaceous Earth is an excellent product. It will not, however, kill squash bugs because their bodies are too hard...but it is great for other bugs!
  • Anne Fitzpatrick Anne Fitzpatrick on Apr 10, 2015
    Lisa, I use Nicotiana, tobacco plant away from the garden, they like this plant...also use salt marsh hay on the vegetables like cucumbers, It works for me!
  • Anne Fitzpatrick Anne Fitzpatrick on Apr 10, 2015
    Salt marsh hay is found on the marshes near the ocean, we aren't that far away & they sell it in feed & grain supply stores.
  • Ken Ken on Apr 11, 2015
    Have you tried penning the chickens up in the garden for a few days ? They might enjoy the bugs and keep others away as well.
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    • Lisa Sisco Lisa Sisco on Apr 17, 2015
      @Anna Gregg yes, I know...I was trying to be polite, as one of my comments on this site was reported for just giving my honest opinion...thanks!
  • Moxie Moxie on Apr 11, 2015
    I have had some success with spraying plants with dawn and water from a sprayer (original not the orange stuff), it makes a somewhat sticky layer the bugs don't like/get hung up in but the plant doesn't seem to mind.
    • Lisa Sisco Lisa Sisco on Apr 11, 2015
      @Moxie We have actually tried that one with no luck. All the bugs go away except the squash bugs. Maybe we weren't mixing it thick enough?
  • Mary Mary on Apr 11, 2015
    At the beginning of every season (when my patience is longer), I hand-pick the little buggers and rub their eggs off with my fingers. HOWEVER, with the emergence of more leaves, this method becomes almost impossible, as the squash bugs multiply too fast! We are too far from the ocean for salt marsh hay and in my experience, chickens can really mess up your garden. I'd be VERY interested in a good method to eliminate squash bugs in the garden!!!
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    • Lisa Sisco Lisa Sisco on Apr 17, 2015
      @Mary very good question. I was wondering about that myself.
  • Mary Adkisson Mary Adkisson on Apr 11, 2015
    I use Insecticidal Soap: 5 Tbs Castile Soap, 2 Tbs corn oil (helps it stay on longer, but tends to clog up the sprayer), 1 gallon water. Mix and spray on top and underneath the leaves. I got to keep my squash almost all summer last year. I also use this Soap on my beans...helps keep the chewing bugs off especially if you put some cayenne pepper in the mix.Good Luck!
  • Norma Fuson Norma Fuson on Apr 11, 2015
    I used vinegar & water last year but I don't remember the ratio but it does work
  • Karen V Karen V on Apr 11, 2015
    I heard that very fragrant smelling laundry detergent in several bowls around your garden will get rid of them And I plant marigolds. For some reason these Beetle types don't like marigolds. I didn't lose a single plant last year and had high yields.
  • Dana Dana on Apr 11, 2015
    If you can get your hands on some tobacco stalks, they will do the trick. They need to be stalks that have been smoked and if you can mulch them. They are tough so they won't compost quickly.
  • Carolyn S. Carolyn S. on Apr 11, 2015
    Squash them...LOL. Sorry, but I don't know and I couldn't help myself!
  • Jill Jill on Apr 12, 2015
    Unfortunately, soaps, including the insecticidal ones will not work on squash bugs. The only real way to get rid of them once you have them is to either pick them off and squash them, or kill them by drowning them You can place two flat boards in the garden area at night. The bugs will leave the food to hide at night under the boards. Simply place the first board on the ground into the dirt so there is no space to crawl under, then put the second board on top leaving some space in between boards. You can then carefully pick up the boards and dispose them or stomp on top of the the two boards killing them. A friend of mine has another method she swears by. She takes the one board and places a sticky tape tacked on it. She uses something like fly paper, unrolls it, then tacks it to the board. She then carefully places spacers just wide enough on one side of the board and then places another board on top. The bugs crawl in at night and get stuck to the sticky tape. She then just peels it off and throws it away. I would think you could also just use the tape around your plants without the boards, but it will would probably also catch the good bugs too. The best thing you can do next year is make sure there is no leaf debris left in your garden at all at the end of this growing season. Take all of it and place it in a recycling bin and make sure that the pile heats up well during the winter by adding a composting additive that speeds up the composting causing to get very warm. If you chose you can also turn the debris very deep into the soil, making sure that none of it is above ground thru the winter. Most gardeners use to burn this material instead, but now most places have bans on burning. These will prevent the bugs from having a place to live thru the winter and hide until the next year. During the growing season, make sure you remove all dead leaves so the bugs have no place to hide. Make sure that your garden is not near any wooded areas, or piles of wood where the bugs go to hide at night, or hibernate during the winter.
    • Lisa Sisco Lisa Sisco on Apr 17, 2015
      @Jill LOL not near wooded areas...we are surrounded...you sound like you know what you are talking about though. I may just have to try the board idea..thank you!
  • Cindy Cindy on Apr 12, 2015
    Lisa - Don't know if any of this applies, but I have actually had squash bugs & NOT had squash bugs. Let me explain. Live in NC, squash bugs well known here. If I ever use anything in Veggie garden it's only Sevin Dust. (Can use on Dogs too for fleas) Anyway, moved & totally redid our garden a couple of yrs ago. Got some 'compost' from local nursery mixed in to soil during prep. Had read about marigold keeping multitude of bugs away so planted around inside of garden and here and there in rows. Tried a few 'new' things like cabbage and lettuce. Only pest was on cabbage. But garden got totally out of control due to compost. See photo. Opposite problem you have!!
    • Carolyn S. Carolyn S. on Apr 13, 2015
      @Cindy The active ingredient in Sevin, carbaryl, is very toxic to a wide variety of animals...from insects to humans. In humans, it acts as a cholinesterase inhibitor, which is something to be strictly avoided. The EPA has determined it to be a very possible carcinogen, as well. Because it is so deadly to bees, you must not use it in your flowers. And it is also one of the chemicals known to be deadly to earthworms, if that matters to you. Another side effect of using Sevin is that it is so effective in killing insects that the beneficial species are also wiped out. That means that the pests can come back with a vengeance...which has been documented
  • Cathy Spiller Cathy Spiller on Apr 12, 2015
    Have you tried a duck? No kidding...I've heard that ducks will eat those awful squash bugs and not eat the plants like chickens will.
    • Lisa Sisco Lisa Sisco on Apr 17, 2015
      @Cathy Spiller We have had ducks and let them out to roam in the yard. They ate all of our landscaping plants and flowers, so no way would I let them loose in the garden! LOL thank you!
  • Alicefay Alicefay on Apr 14, 2015
    The best thing is black pepper. After you see the bugs, liberally throw black pepper on the plants. It works for many pests. You can even put it in bird feeders so the squirrels don't eat the feed. They don't like it and the birds are not hurt by it.
  • Gail Salminen Gail Salminen on Apr 17, 2015
    @Lisa Sisco I found answers on the Old Farmer's Almanac site - http://www.almanac.com/content/squash-bug Sounds like you have to put the garden to bed for the winter in the nude to avoid problems in the next season. Had a similar problem with our potato plants, finally had to stop growing them for a couple of years and now only plant every other year to avoid the bugs. Good luck.
  • Colleen Walpert Colleen Walpert on Nov 19, 2015
    If practical, try tenting the new plantings with horticulture fabric. Hoop houses work best. Keeping the bugs off is the only solution. You can plant at 2 week intervals so you get some fruit while letting the beetles have the older vines. How about guineas?