The spray I made isn't working very well, it seems. Found about a dozen adult squash bugs this evening, nearly all on one vine. Killed all of them and sprayed more heavily. Now with tomato leaves and nicotine added.
Several things about it. One is that these were adult squash bugs. Since I have been killing off all squash bugs I have seen plus all eggs for weeks, these had to have flown in from somewhere else. I caught them soon after their arrival because there was a limited number of new eggs.
Second is that they could survive somewhere else in the garden because I am limiting spraying to just the pumpkin plants right now. Because of the nicotine. I do not want to kill off beneficial insects as collateral damage.
So, my only real choice here is to keep using the spray and manually killing off any bugs I find. If I keep them under control that way now, I should still have a good crop.
References say they lay their eggs in late fall in garden debris. Not much chance these survived in my own garden that way over winter. Between tilling, burning and acid treatments, that should have eradicated almost any eggs that may have existed.
Hopefully I'll be in better financial shape by next year and have some portions of the solarium built. Or at least make netting covers for the vines. (Since pumpkin vines can stretch 30 ft, that's a lot of netting.)
Cultivated the trenches in the south garden again today. May be the last time this season, since lots of vine plants are coming in and the risk of damage to them will increase later on. Have to work on keeping weeds on top of the mounds under control. Doing better on that this year than previous years. Still a lot of grass present but that's not doing great damage. May actually help retain moisture and moderate soil temp. I am pulling any bermuda grass I find and only leaving the short grass.
Daughter and I had our first ripe grapes tonight. They're still small. Green grapes don't look like they'll come in at all. Going to do some studying on how to grow grapes, so maybe I can do it better.
Several things about it. One is that these were adult squash bugs. Since I have been killing off all squash bugs I have seen plus all eggs for weeks, these had to have flown in from somewhere else. I caught them soon after their arrival because there was a limited number of new eggs.
Second is that they could survive somewhere else in the garden because I am limiting spraying to just the pumpkin plants right now. Because of the nicotine. I do not want to kill off beneficial insects as collateral damage.
So, my only real choice here is to keep using the spray and manually killing off any bugs I find. If I keep them under control that way now, I should still have a good crop.
References say they lay their eggs in late fall in garden debris. Not much chance these survived in my own garden that way over winter. Between tilling, burning and acid treatments, that should have eradicated almost any eggs that may have existed.
Hopefully I'll be in better financial shape by next year and have some portions of the solarium built. Or at least make netting covers for the vines. (Since pumpkin vines can stretch 30 ft, that's a lot of netting.)
Cultivated the trenches in the south garden again today. May be the last time this season, since lots of vine plants are coming in and the risk of damage to them will increase later on. Have to work on keeping weeds on top of the mounds under control. Doing better on that this year than previous years. Still a lot of grass present but that's not doing great damage. May actually help retain moisture and moderate soil temp. I am pulling any bermuda grass I find and only leaving the short grass.
Daughter and I had our first ripe grapes tonight. They're still small. Green grapes don't look like they'll come in at all. Going to do some studying on how to grow grapes, so maybe I can do it better.
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