How to remove squash bug eggs from underside of leaf?

[CathyA]

These eggs are starting to show up on my beautiful butternut squash plants and I want to nip them in the bud. Squash bugs are gross! (and they can easily ruin the entire crop).
I don't use chemicals. Last year DH tried to scrape them off with a razor blade, but it was difficult. Do you have a tried and true method to get those little suckers off? Thanks.

[puglogic]

I take the whole leaf section off, CathyA. Sometimes I try to just crush them (ick) But more often, I use scissors and cut a little circle, trying to avoid cutting any of the biggest leaf veins. Don't forget to capture it all and throw it away or burn it. If you just scrape them off, they often just fall to the ground and hatch there. There's no easy way, for sure.

You might try planting buckwheat around your garden areas some year. Tachinid flies are a natural predator of squash bugs & their eggs, and they love buckwheat I hear.

[CathyA]

Thanks Pug,
Unfortunately, I rubbed them off earlier, before I read your response, and they fell to the ground. It was afterwards that I started to wonder........"are they going to still hatch??" Bummer.
But I have just read that duct tape pulls them off, so I'm going to try that tonight. So when you cut the section of the leaf out, it didn't hurt the plant?
I will use a soap solution on the nymphs, when I see them. Dang. I was hoping it was just too dry for them. Silly me.
Thanks for your suggestions!

[CathyA]

Hey Pug! I just tried the duct tape method, and it works GREAT!! I can't believe I didn't think of this before! You just roll a bit of duct tape in a circle and start dabbing the eggs. They come right off. Sometimes it takes 2-3 dabs, but they all get stuck on the tape. After the tape was full, I hammered on it to be sure the eggs were squashed. I can't believe how hard their shells are.
Give it a try!
The hardest part is trying not to step on any of the squash stems.

[puglogic]

CathyA, I often get accused of getting overly excited at the dumbest things, but that isn't going to keep me from telling you THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! What a great idea!!!! :D

[Birdie]

I smash them with my gloves. We hand pick squash bugs and the eggs and plop them into bucket of soapy water. If you check your squash plans weekly you can keep them under control.

[CathyA]

LOL Pug..........I know what you mean. I was really disappointed when I went back into the house to tell DH how great it worked and he was asleep! Little things can mean alot, right? :)
Birdie.........I tried to smash the eggs with my hand, but their shells are just too hard............plus it would really tear up the leaves. I'm just really glad I discovered this easier method!
Duct tape rules! haha

[CathyA]

On my second trip to use the duct tape on the squash bug eggs this morning, I found about 5 colonies of eggs I missed last night. The leaves are a bit wilted, since its noon on a hot day. I noticed that more of the leaves came off with the eggs today, so in the future I will probably try to do this in the early morning, or more towards evening, when the leaves aren't as fragile.
I'm already thinking of inventing some sort of "squash bug egg sticks"............to make getting in the corners of the leaves easier. they will all be biodegradable (except for the duct tape). Or.......I could invent some sort of organic super glue to use on the sticks. haha

I noticed some ants and spiders on the undersides of the leaves. I wonder if I'm removing their food? Oh well.....I'm sure there are alot of other bugs/eggs in my garden they could eat.
I also left about 9 milkweed plants to grow in the garden, and today I noticed the flowers were covered with japanese beetles. I hope they serve as a host plant to the beetles and they'll leave my pole beans alone.
Then again..........maybe the milkweed is attracting them to my garden?
I've heard of people using cordless vacs to get all those bad guys, but I don't like to torture anything.......so I haven't tried it.

[CathyA]

I'm experimenting with another way of killing the eggs. I mixed some olive oil with a fair amount of salt and I'm using a paint brush to paint the egg clusters with this, in hopes of it dehydrating/suffocating the eggs. (I hope they don't suffer). DH wondered if they could still get air from the other side of the leaf, so I painted that area too. We'll see.

[fidgiegirl]

I once read that interplanting onion with squash plants will keep the squash bugs at bay. We've done so two years and have never seen any yet (knock on wood).

Good luck Cathy!

[CathyA]

Thanks fidgiegirl.
Actually, I continued experimenting this morning. The olive oil and salt isn't any good. Doesn't seem to kill the eggs, and attracks olive-oil-loving insects. haha
This morning, I tried several different types of tape, and found that, surprisingly, blue painter's tape seemed to work better than the duct tape. The blue painter's tape is also a bit easier to work with.
Now I'm seeing some baby squash bugs, so I guess its time to make some soap spray. Stay tuned....... haha