Squash bugs?

Question

i live in the south im trying to find something to get rid of these squash bug i know pyola is good to use when they are small but if there half grown what is good to use

Answer 1

Organically I would suggest to make a mix in a blender then siphon it, place it into a spray bottle, spray it onto your plants, here is the mix:

4 cups red hot peppers

4 cups water

Another organic method is kinda gross but it's good enough to get into the organic encyclopedia of gardening I read a lot:

A mixture (blended and filtered) of the bugs and water, spray them on the plants.

What worked for me was a sprinkling of fireplace ashes every time after I watered the squash. I did it each time and each plant lived. Now they are really big and the bugs are not any trouble at all. (to keep it organic I always used fresh organically grown oak to burn and those wood ashes are pure from a fireplace which is not used for the chemically treated woods sold in stores)

I had tried a blend of garlic and water and it did nothing.

I also tried a "bait crop" and they got eaten too quickly, but it almost worked to detract the bugs to a different location on the plot. I planted seeds 1 inch apart along the distant edge of the plot where I was not going to grow squash. They went there and my intended squash had a chance to survive. Soon the bugs just figured it out and attacked the flowers.

I have also tried planting marigolds between each squash plant, they were pretty and now they are very happily growing but the bugs are still there. I may have had the wrong flower, or they may be immune to the marigolds.