for them squash bugs...

Squash Bugs: (Anasa tristis)
For squash bugs we carry: Rotenone/Pyrethrum Spray

Predators: Praying mantises will eat nymphs and egg stages. Tachnid flies will get them also.

The nymph stage is a tear drop shaped crawling insect with a reddish colored head, greenish-yellow body and red legs when just hatched. Adult has a shape similar to a cockroach and is 5/8 inch long. The main body color is brown to black with some brown to orange marks around the edge of the abdomen. Eggs are laid on the undersides of leaves. They are elliptical in shape and have a shiny brown, red or yellow coloring. Eggs take 1-2 weeks to hatch. They hibernate as an adult in garden debris and go through one generation per season with the new generation mating the following season. The nymphs will take a whole season to reach adult hood, going through 5 stages of molting. When crushed or disturbed they give off a putrid odor. This same reaction is found with stink bugs which are often confused with squash bugs.

Both the nymph and adult stage are very destructive and operate in the same manner. Seedlings and young plants are particularly vulnerable to the squash bug. Winter type squash, like Marrows or Hubbard are more at risk from the squash bugs than other cultivars. They have a sharp mouth that pierces plant tissue allowing the to suck the sap. If that is not bad enough they release a toxin at the same time while feeding that causes certain plants to wilt!

Predators: Tachnid fly. Praying mantids eat the eggs and nymphs.
Repellant Plants: Marigolds, borage, mint, tansy, nasturtiums and radishes.

A thorough fall garden clean up is essential to prevent them from overwintering.
Dust a combination of 50/50 wood ashes and hydrated lime in a shallow trench around host plants being careful not to get it on plant foliage. Moisten it to keep it from blowing away. It will desiccate the bugs.
Here is an interesting method from one of our visitors: Kayla A., an organic grower from Nebraska. Kayla sprinkles imitation vanilla around susceptible plants and swears it keeps them away. Certainly worth a try. Thanks to Kayla for this!
Consider growing your plants on trellises which offers some protection.
Use old scraps of plywood or thin boards under which they will congregate making for easy capture.
Handpicking is effective though time consuming. Dump them into a bucket of soapy hot water.
Use compact mulches like sawdust which they do not like. Avoid plastic mulches as for some reason they seem to help increase populations.
As a last resort you can spray with rotenone or dust with sabadilla.
Use insecticidal soap mixed with isopropyl alcohol.


from http://www.ghorganics.com/page9.html

edited to fix link :-)

This message was edited Jul 21, 2005 11:17 PM

Tamara,

Can you fix that link at the bottom of your post?
Thanks.

~* Robin