A couple of weeks ago, as our squash crops were maturing, we developed quite a squash bug infestation. You know those ugly, gray, angular bugs? You know, these guys? They make my nose itch just to think about them.
Well, we are pretty serious about not using chemical pesticides around here, and we've done a pretty good job controlling pests with beneficial nematodes and plain old "manual mechanical" methods (that is, picking bugs off and squashing them). But there was no way I was getting near enough to squash these with my bare hands, and we had far too many of them in any case.
Enter Mr. FC&G. One morning, I saw him inspecting the plants, and the next thing I knew, he was out in the garden vacuuming up the squash bugs in his old shop vac, leaving them to die inside before emptying them out. He was very seriously and thoroughly vacuuming each leaf, stem, and cluster of bugs on the ground, until the garden was more or less clear of the critters. And our squash harvest went off without a hitch.
So back off, ladies. He's all mine.
I had the same problem with my zucchini plant. However, since my plant was rotting from the base, and no longer producing, I didn't pay much attention to those creatures. Not sure why it was rotting. Would need to research those bugs. Thanks for the tip! Cheers!
ReplyDelete