How to KILL Squash Bugs and Cucumber Beetles ERADICATED 

Wow! This is very valuable information 😊thank you

@@aprilreed8657 no problem April, may you have a bountiful harvest this year.

Thanks for sharing your gardening tips. This information is valuable for people that don’t want to use pesticides 😉

Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge and experience. I am hoping to balance out the good and bad pests in my garden over the next few years using companion planting. I had aphids on my peppers early in the summer and planted dill and marigolds nearby with hopes of attracting ladybugs. I'm not sure if it every attracted ladybugs but my aphid problem was solved within days!

@B_ kool TV yes…there’s far worse insects that crawl all over your fruits and vegetables at night 😉

Yes, leaving the soap on kills the plant as well.

Nick A I just blasted the fuck out of my pumpkin plants 🎃. Thank god for youtube gardeners!! Giving me all the tricks.

I don't know why you think he answered your questions because he actually doesn't know what he's doing. You don't need half a cup of soap in a gallon of water which he did say but he also added I just want to make sure. So I watch to the end and sure enough he thinks it's the soap that killed the bugs. It's not the soap. The soap only helps hold the water in suspension on the bugs which drowns them because of the way they breathe through their bodies, not their mouths.

darnit. You're NOT supposed to fall off the ladder! Hmm.. squash plants that tall huh? WOW! Just WOW!

I’m here this many years later... how are ya?

Manda Panda Woods lolll we are here 2 hrs apart

Joshua Ervin haha

Jessica fae I have a better solution. In my garden I have several Praying Mantises & if you know anything about this bug then you'll know just how beneficial they are to ones garden & if you don't, Google how does a praying mantis benefit gardens. These bugs eat anything including hummingbirds which can also cause havoc on your garden & they don't eat one or 2 bugs in a day then they're full, no Praying Mantisis are voracious eaters. They eat hummingbirds, moths, scorpions, grasshoppers, larvae, flies, etc. Not everybody likes Praying Mantisis because they also eat other bugs that are beneficial to your garden like ladybugs & pretty bugs like butterflies but you'll have a much safer garden from critters. And unless you have tarantulas in your garden, nothing will hunt & kill a Praying Mantis. Now if you have cats or dogs & you allow them to roam your garden then your cats or dogs will kill them & leave their carcass for the ants so keep your pets away or don't buy a praying mantis! You can buy an Mantis egg from your local bug store that sells eggs. An egg case contains anywhere from 50-200 eggs. At the beginning of Spring, simply put the egg case on a branch or tie it to a tree. The egg case needs sunlight to hatch & it'll hatch within 2 weeks. DO NOT PLACE THE EGG ON THE GROUND. If you place it on the ground you take the risk of ants & other predators of invading the egg case & eating the eggs. Once born the nymphs will hang from the egg case to dry off their legs & build strength. After a few minutes of that, they'll begin hunting immediately eating some of the smaller bugs within the garden. As they grow, they'll take on bigger prey. If no food is available then they'll eat each other. A praying mantis can live up to a year. Your female mantis(is) will reproduce before dying off, guaranteeing you new praying mantisis for the following year. I rarely have problems with critters now. My biggest problem are birds coming by poking at my fruit!

Was wondering about Spinosad. Clemson extension service recommends it around organic gardens. Not Sevn or stronger insecticides.

motogpfan46rossi I have a better solution. In my garden I have several Praying Mantises & if you know anything about this bug then you'll know just how beneficial they are to ones garden & if you don't, Google how does a praying mantis benefit gardens. These bugs eat anything including hummingbirds which can also cause havoc on your garden & they don't eat one or 2 bugs in a day then they're full, no Praying Mantisis are voracious eaters. They eat hummingbirds, moths, scorpions, grasshoppers, larvae, flies, etc. Not everybody likes Praying Mantisis because they also eat other bugs that are beneficial to your garden like ladybugs & pretty bugs like butterflies but you'll have a much safer garden from critters. And unless you have tarantulas in your garden, nothing will hunt & kill a Praying Mantis. Now if you have cats or dogs & you allow them to roam your garden then your cats or dogs will kill them & leave their carcass for the ants so keep your pets away or don't buy a praying mantis! You can buy an Mantis egg from your local bug store that sells eggs. An egg case contains anywhere from 50-200 eggs. At the beginning of Spring, simply put the egg case on a branch or tie it to a tree. The egg case needs sunlight to hatch & it'll hatch within 2 weeks. DO NOT PLACE THE EGG ON THE GROUND. If you place it on the ground you take the risk of ants & other predators of invading the egg case & eating the eggs. Once born the nymphs will hang from the egg case to dry off their legs & build strength. After a few minutes of that, they'll begin hunting immediately eating some of the smaller bugs within the garden. As they grow, they'll take on bigger prey. If no food is available then they'll eat each other. A praying mantis can live up to a year. Your female mantis(is) will reproduce before dying off, guaranteeing you new praying mantisis for the following year.

Shop vac? Wouldn't that suck the leaves right off the plant?

@@523hotsauce That's what I was thinking too!

Hi Donna, This "soap solution" that you spray won't kill every bug, but it will kill so many, and that's awesome, I forgot to mention in the video that after 15 minutes, all the bugs that are gong to be killed, will be dead, so after 15 minutes, rinse off the top of the leaves, (so they don't get burned by the sun/soap combination.I don't buy lady bugs, but I have lots of flowers, and they come for the fun (AHHH.... the life of a lady bug )...;-) My beds are set up for row covers.... etc... but I never use them, I kill the bugs , rinse off the plants and then stand back and clap ;-)

Jon Hughes

Donna Bentkowski Thanks Jon,foe replying so quickly, great insight,I didn't realize u needed to rinse off your soap solution after you use it,that could be why my plants wilted and died after i sprayed them.I love your carefree ,simple attitude about how you handle your garden pest/bugs.I need to adopt such an attitude ,I get very frustrated when I encounter different pests and probably work too hard at trying to figure out what method I should use to get rid of them.If you or your readers have any successful way to kill squash vine Borers let me know.

Donna Bentkowski Hi Donna, This link is disgustingly accurate ;-) The whole thing about bugs....is that they suck.... and there are no "good" way to get them all, the best way that I know is too plant in a green house every two weeks with seeds , and if you don't need them, toss them into a compost pile, but if you do need them, then you have them ready to go....in other words , don't try to fight, just adapt..... and be ready to rip yours out and plant new.... www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CD8QFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.michiganorganic.msu.edu%2Fuploads%2Ffiles%2F31%2Fsquash%2520bug%2520and%2520squash%2520vine%2520borer%2520control.pdf&ei=lpXNUrikCdPboASV-4DoDQ&usg=AFQjCNE7v2sBAUJTQCyegt1_oe-WXna5rw&sig2=Q9z-Im7NeBRrjkc7j5-QjA&bvm=bv.58187178,d.cGU

Wayne Vogeler Interesting! What is that?

I have become an expert on Squash borers, they are my nemesis!!! But, last year, I beat them! Inject BT into the base of the plant/stems. Not only will it kill any that are in that immediate area of the plant, but it will prevent them from traveling down from the leaves and into the main stem. I have found that they cannot be prevented, no matter what I do. It is just too easy to miss an egg or two. BT will get them, promise!

Hi Marilyn, What is BT? I'd like to try your method.

Please what is BT? I don't even want to grow squash anymore I will try anything

I watched a video on this by Brian at California Garden TV and he recommended wrapping aluminum foil around the base of the squash plant to keep the borers out. I haven't tried it because I don't get borers....just squash bugs. They literally killed every squah, cuke and melon plant I had last year.

Always start with blasting whiteflies (and aphids and many insects) with your watering hose. This will cause them to scatter. Then, spray your leaves with insecticidal soap. Coat them; be sure to spray the undersides of leaves.

Yeah I would assume they will not make it and plant a new start near that plant so if it doesn't make it you haven't lost anything you've only spent a couple of dollars for a starter plant

And what I mean by that is where you see the worst leaves on that plant trim those ones all the way back to the end That will open up some space to put in a new starter

Hi Hannah it only kill the bugs when they're alive and walking around you can't do it for preventively Also super super super important is to rinse rinse rinse your leaves after you spray the soap on them or you will kill the plant and the leaves will be scorched by the Sun

@@Jonehughes Thank you! I lost all my zucchini and half my butternuts to squash bugs/cucumber beetles last season despite hours and hours removing eggs with tape. I'm so relieved to have found your method; I probably won't waste my time with egg removal this season, now knowing of a solution quicker, deadlier, and possibly more effective. Thank you again, and also for the tip to rinse liberally!

Hi Hannah yes this system works totally perfect but the most important part is rinsing because the bugs are killed within a few seconds and you can just simply rinse them all off and that's it so there's no reason to do any work at all just spray them they all die then you rinse like crazy it's best to do it when it's not real sunny cuz the Sun and soap does not mix

www.homedepot.com/p/Roundup-1-Gal-EZ-Pump-Sprayer-190500/300259181

Vlad The Impaler Țepeș III I have a better solution. In my garden I have several Praying Mantises & if you know anything about this bug then you'll know just how beneficial they are to ones garden & if you don't, Google how does a praying mantis benefit gardens. These bugs eat anything including hummingbirds which can also cause havoc on your garden & they don't eat one or 2 bugs in a day then they're full, no Praying Mantisis are voracious eaters. They eat hummingbirds, moths, scorpions, grasshoppers, larvae, flies, etc. Not everybody likes Praying Mantisis because they also eat other bugs that are beneficial to your garden like ladybugs & pretty bugs like butterflies but you'll have a much safer garden from critters. And unless you have tarantulas in your garden, nothing will hunt & kill a Praying Mantis. Now if you have cats or dogs & you allow them to roam your garden then your cats or dogs will kill them & leave their carcass for the ants so keep your pets away or don't buy a praying mantis! You can buy an Mantis egg from your local bug store that sells eggs. An egg case contains anywhere from 50-200 eggs. At the beginning of Spring, simply put the egg case on a branch or tie it to a tree. The egg case needs sunlight to hatch & it'll hatch within 2 weeks. DO NOT PLACE THE EGG ON THE GROUND. If you place it on the ground you take the risk of ants & other predators of invading the egg case & eating the eggs. Once born the nymphs will hang from the egg case to dry off their legs & build strength. After a few minutes of that, they'll begin hunting immediately eating some of the smaller bugs within the garden. As they grow, they'll take on bigger prey. If no food is available then they'll eat each other. A praying mantis can live up to a year. Your female mantis(is) will reproduce before dying off, guaranteeing you new praying mantisis for the following year. I rarely have problems with critters now. My biggest problem are birds coming by poking at my fruit!

i have good luck with the Scotts brand of sprayer i got from either lowes or homedepot. this year one finally quit spraying so i ordered a repair kit to get the button gasket it needed.

You can try anything, but my way works great.... but do clean the leaves after they are dead, a few minutes after application.

You have to be careful using borax. Boron is needed for plant life and is present in your soil. But introducing too much boron could kill your plants. Not a good idea.

I use my shop vacuum to suck them up.

i guess i am too lazy for this labor intensive hands on method!

How can you catch them when they come up??? They fly!! If you try to grab them..

@@dietrevich While squash bugs can fly, mine rarely do. In all my years of gardening I might have seen one fly. I do what Nunya does but instead i just use a jar of soapy water instead of a jar of rubbing alcohol. They die quickly in a jar of heavy soapy water. I hold the are in one and and I put a light work glove with rubber palms/ fingers on the other and I just pick them up and drop them in the jar. they die in under a minute. Now I will say this as far as flying. Sometimes when I pick them up, I do feel them vibrating and I believe this vibration is because they are trying to fly away. But I have never had one able to actually break from from my fingers and actually fly away. I guess it's possible that in certain places they are more prone to fly, but definitely not in my area. And the instars (immature ones) can't fly at all but they are a lot harder to catch as they are faster and more elusive. If you get to the point where you have a lot of instars, then spraying with soapy water is probably your best bet.

@@VladTheImpalerTepesIII u are some lucky fellow.. here if they see me coming they will fly away, there is no way I can get close enough to catch em. And some come flying at you which gives me the creeps. This makes it hard to spray em too..

Greg KEEL Hi Greg just remember to do it not during the heat of the day and then spray it all and kill them all and then wait a little bit spray them again make sure they're all dead then rinse off your plant again and again and again and it'll be literally brand new you don't want to leave that residue on your plant leaves at all because the sun will turn it into dust so anyway rinse rinse rinse after they're all dead okay

Spray, let them die, repeat once or twice in an hour, then rinse off all the soap. Got it. Thanks again

Greg KEEL I have a better solution. In my garden I have several Praying Mantises & if you know anything about this bug then you'll know just how beneficial they are to ones garden & if you don't, Google how does a praying mantis benefit gardens. These bugs eat anything including hummingbirds which can also cause havoc on your garden & they don't eat one or 2 bugs in a day then they're full, no Praying Mantisis are voracious eaters. They eat hummingbirds, moths, scorpions, grasshoppers, larvae, flies, etc. Not everybody likes Praying Mantisis because they also eat other bugs that are beneficial to your garden like ladybugs & pretty bugs like butterflies but you'll have a much safer garden from critters. And unless you have tarantulas in your garden, nothing will hunt & kill a Praying Mantis. Now if you have cats or dogs & you allow them to roam your garden then your cats or dogs will kill them & leave their carcass for the ants so keep your pets away or don't buy a praying mantis! You can buy an Mantis egg from your local bug store that sells eggs. An egg case contains anywhere from 50-200 eggs. At the beginning of Spring, simply put the egg case on a branch or tie it to a tree. The egg case needs sunlight to hatch & it'll hatch within 2 weeks. DO NOT PLACE THE EGG ON THE GROUND. If you place it on the ground you take the risk of ants & other predators of invading the egg case & eating the eggs. Once born the nymphs will hang from the egg case to dry off their legs & build strength. After a few minutes of that, they'll begin hunting immediately eating some of the smaller bugs within the garden. As they grow, they'll take on bigger prey. If no food is available then they'll eat each other. A praying mantis can live up to a year. Your female mantis(is) will reproduce before dying off, guaranteeing you new praying mantisis for the following year. I rarely have problems with critters now. My biggest problem are birds coming by poking at my fruit!

Any soap will burn the plants when the sun comes out Even water will burn the plants when the sun comes out That's why you shouldn't water the plants in direct sunlight At least not while it's hot

No And if it's not completely clear Please rinse rinse rinse And then when you're done rinse some more It totally kills all the bugs But it will kill your plants too Because the sun will burn it So don't do it in the sun And make sure you rinse all the soap off The soap will burn the leaves So definitely kill all the bugs Then rinse rinse rinse

@@Jonehughes Thanks! I’ll rinse tons and add some neem oil later for the eggs. I’ve been picking them off as best I can, but they’re so small, I’m sure I’ve missed some. :)

Getting to the eggs is a lot of work Just keep doing sprays whenever you see a handful of bugs Then rinse like crazy after they're all dead Takes way less time 😬

+piffdaddy420 those are cucumber beetles and it works the same with them, spray the bugs and wait a few minutes, spray again when they re-appear from underneath the leaves and then when they are all dead , completely wash off the leaves , (best you can anyways), and you should be good to go, better luck next year, kill them suckers ;-)

That is hilarious We are all on a learning curve One farmer plants a particular tomato plant and concludes because his Harvest was so small that this tomato plant does not grow in our Valley I plant 100 of the same tomato plants and 97 of them do great... I make the conclusion that the plant does very well in our Valley with a couple of exceptions Once squash bugs get into your garden they never leave never They burrowed deep into the soil and they hang out and wait till the next spring So spray them when you see them and then rinse the leaves really really really really really really really really really well To be safe you need to plant as many plants as you have land available and then give them away when there's too much Harvest you'll bless other people amd at the same time you keep enough for yourself and your family and friends

Don't ever leave the residue of the plant leaves, they will die from being burned, just spray the critters and wait a few minutes, spray again, to finish the job, then after a couple of minutes, wash off the leaves really well, they will be as good as new, soap only kills them "on contact", so just spray the little beasts, and as soon as they are dead, rinse the plant well, and you are good to go

I think neem oil can be used as well... it works through saturation of the soil and when it is taken into the plant it inhibits larval growth and discourages insects from feeding.

@@charlesjurgus Neem oil for insect control is a huge myth. What kills the insects is the soap you mix with the neem to get the neem to mix with water. It's all a big lie.

@@VladTheImpalerTepesIII ...Don't you have a Walmart to get kicked out of, idiot? ru-vid.com?search_query=thrown+out+of+walmart

Hi Susan, You can use any detergent, the bugs still die.... BTW....They die on contact, so after you have done this a few times during the hour (to get the ones who hid during the initial spraying), wash off the plants with water ... that way the leaves won't be burned by the detergent either.

It wasn't the bug killing I was concerned about, it was remaining organic (plants and soil) when using Dawn. I think I will use Dr Bonners soap or some other more natural kind to kill the bugs. It's all about choices for what is right for each one of us.

No, its not organic !

Susan Galuski Dawn is what they use to wash ducks off after an oil spill. Although I soak home grown stuff in the kitchen sink with a little bit of vinegar, I use Dawn to wash my veg that I get at the grocery store. The secret is rinsing well.

do you wash your dishes with organic soap or do you use dawn? i use dawn. dont let this organic thing get out of hand

Sabine RiverAuthority but will it affect the plant?

@@chloesticyouth9783 Yes, it will. Anytime you spray a plant with soap, you want to go back about 20 minutes later and hose the plants down with water. Also I only use dollar store soap because it has very little, if any, degreasers in it (which is why it sucks lol). Much safer for the plant. Some people use organic castille soap but that is way too expensive for my blood.

+Threshing7 Hi Threshing7...Amen.. Jesus IS LORD ;-) BTW... as soon as the bugs are dead (just takes a few minutes), rinse off the leaves real well , so there is no chance of leaf burn from the soap and sun combo ;-)

Oh, no! I sprayed early this morning, I thought it was a good preventative. I left it all day. I guess I should take a look at my garden...Thanks again for the tips

Yikes.... no it doesn't prevent anything its only good while it is wet and while it is on the bugs right after that it's worthless and actually causes damage so soon as you can clean it off the best you can and let's hope for the best

So I learned something new. As you can tell, I am totally new to gardening. And now I know what leaves look like when they have soap burn..lol. All new to me.

:-)

Amen to that brother rinse rinse rinse and do nothing in the blazing sun

SOUNDS like you had something else in your sprayer. NEVER use antibacterial soap on garden plants. That WILL kill your plants. My guess is thats exactly what you used.

good to know...but i refilled an old unmarked dish bottle so will wait and see. thanks for aharing your knowledge.

You're funny brother I grow my garden for the local food bank I donate approximately 12000 lbs of fresh vegetables from my garden There were a lot of squash bugs But I killed them all And kept right on growing I'm sure the people who got to eat those fresh vegetables Were happy I didn't burn the place down :-)

Yes it kills them instantly But remember to rinse rinse rinse Get that stuff off the leaves Before the sun hits it or it will burn the leaves

My bottle does not say to mix with anything but plain water. Mine is 70% neem oil Going to try it tomorrow if I have time. Note: neem oil gets into the plant's circulation and can get the bugs that way too. It also gets into the soil and the plant takes up up that way too.

@@crazysquirrel9425 The detergent is what helps it be suspended in the water and stick to the leaves, oil and water don't mix. Amazon sells 100% cold-pressed Neem oil if you are looking.

Neem oil kills bees 😡

@@tmorrison5965 if your using it wrong yes it can. If you spray in the evening after the pollinators go away it does not. Your also treating the leaves that are eaten, not the flowers. Maybe you should do a little research.

@@jakelong7756 the time of day to put it on doesn't mean it doesn't kill bees..your come back to do research is pretty weak when you agree with the statement but then specify an application time that you didn't mention at all before. 🙄

Ladybugs only eat tiny soft insects and praying mantids are unreliable and you would need a ton of them. Using predatory insects to kill pests is a VERY limited way to control pests despite what people who sell them and narcissistic youtube gardeners want you to think.

no As soon as they hatch spray them

That's what they use to get oil off ducks etc. after a spill. Have for years.

how is ur garden diin?

Perfect...now I have a new, all-organic, way of killing squash bugs and cucumber beetles coming out tomorrow ..look for it ;-)

You have squash bugs on your tomatoes?

you will want to try anything and everything to keep your existing plants producing....... 1. Spray as I have outlined..... 2. After 15 minutes, rinse the plants thoroughly, to remove all residue (soap burns the plants if left in the sun) 3. wait a couple of days and do it again... 4. as soon as the bugs hatch , do it again... 5. you will continue to have a harvest , if you do this ;-)

You NEED to get rid of those! They decimated my pumpkin crop one year!

+Jerry Willis Jerry is right on a bunch of things... but.... if you don't have enough of the season to replant and achieve a new crop, then you will want to try anything and everything to keep your existing plants producing....... 1. Spray as I have outlined..... 2. After 15 minutes, rinse the plants thoroughly, to remove all residue (soap burns the plants if left in the sun) 3. wait a couple of days and do it again... 4. as soon as the bugs hatch , do it again... 5. you will continue to have a harvest , if you do this ;-)

Not true. The infestation starts with adults. If you get on it early and kill the adults as well as check every leaf for eggs, you can beat them. In fact, I did this in 2018 and had no squash bugs at all in 2019. Now, in 2020, still none. But too early to tell for sure since it's only last week of July. But I should have seen some by now as they start showing up late June early July in my area.

if nothing left for them to eat they will go after your tomato plants too.

Mike it's just not the same between you and me brother I grow over 12,000 lbs of fresh vegetables for the needy in my community Things can get out of hand real quickly with that many plants it's not just having a plant or two it's having hundreds of plants I do the best I can brother

@@Jonehughes get you some volunteers in your community to help you out. I'm sure alot would lend you a hand to take some of the work load off of you. It's a Great thing you're doing for your community. I also help that way. I have cucumbers on trellis at my mailbox and everyone knows they are for the Mail Lady. As she needs she will pick some when she delivers the mail. Whether she uses them for salads or what have you she Loves them. Then I have more in the Garden for whoever wants to go pick them a few.

Amen brother Preach it ....

Yes any liquid detergent will do

But make sure you rinse rinse rinse after all the bugs are dead

That way your leaves won't burn when the sun comes out

Just make sure you rinse the leaves I mean rinse really really good that way you won't do any damage to the plant if you leave soap on the leaves it'll burn the plants

Also, to anyone who reads this, I did read the comments and saw that you should wash off the plant once you've sprayed so I did that as well.

yepp I soaked them down good. If I didn't try something tonight I probably would've lost a couple plants by tomorrow, so if It works that's great.

@@LifeofLauraVideos oh it works perfectly as soon as you do it you can see them all dead and then you just keep doing it as they keep crawling back up to the top you just keep soaking them and killing them eventually they're all dead in one sitting and then you rinse the plant super good it'll all be perfect

Jon Hughes yeah I was Outside at 10pm doing it so I’m gonna do another round in the morning lol

Jeffrey Williams I have a better solution. In my garden I have several Praying Mantises & if you know anything about this bug then you'll know just how beneficial they are to ones garden & if you don't, Google how does a praying mantis benefit gardens. These bugs eat anything including hummingbirds which can also cause havoc on your garden & they don't eat one or 2 bugs in a day then they're full, no Praying Mantisis are voracious eaters. They eat hummingbirds, moths, scorpions, grasshoppers, larvae, flies, etc. Not everybody likes Praying Mantisis because they also eat other bugs that are beneficial to your garden like ladybugs & pretty bugs like butterflies but you'll have a much safer garden from critters. And unless you have tarantulas in your garden, nothing will hunt & kill a Praying Mantis. Now if you have cats or dogs & you allow them to roam your garden then your cats or dogs will kill them & leave their carcass for the ants so keep your pets away or don't buy a praying mantis! You can buy an Mantis egg from your local bug store that sells eggs. An egg case contains anywhere from 50-200 eggs. At the beginning of Spring, simply put the egg case on a branch or tie it to a tree. The egg case needs sunlight to hatch & it'll hatch within 2 weeks. DO NOT PLACE THE EGG ON THE GROUND. If you place it on the ground you take the risk of ants & other predators of invading the egg case & eating the eggs. Once born the nymphs will hang from the egg case to dry off their legs & build strength. After a few minutes of that, they'll begin hunting immediately eating some of the smaller bugs within the garden. As they grow, they'll take on bigger prey. If no food is available then they'll eat each other. A praying mantis can live up to a year. Your female mantis(is) will reproduce before dying off, guaranteeing you new praying mantisis for the following year.

Marcy RP I have a better solution. In my garden I have several Praying Mantises & if you know anything about this bug then you'll know just how beneficial they are to ones garden & if you don't, Google how does a praying mantis benefit gardens. These bugs eat anything including hummingbirds which can also cause havoc on your garden & they don't eat one or 2 bugs in a day then they're full, no Praying Mantisis are voracious eaters. They eat hummingbirds, moths, scorpions, grasshoppers, larvae, flies, etc. Not everybody likes Praying Mantisis because they also eat other bugs that are beneficial to your garden like ladybugs & pretty bugs like butterflies but you'll have a much safer garden from critters. And unless you have tarantulas in your garden, nothing will hunt & kill a Praying Mantis. Now if you have cats or dogs & you allow them to roam your garden then your cats or dogs will kill them & leave their carcass for the ants so keep your pets away or don't buy a praying mantis! You can buy an Mantis egg from your local bug store that sells eggs. An egg case contains anywhere from 50-200 eggs. At the beginning of Spring, simply put the egg case on a branch or tie it to a tree. The egg case needs sunlight to hatch & it'll hatch within 2 weeks. DO NOT PLACE THE EGG ON THE GROUND. If you place it on the ground you take the risk of ants & other predators of invading the egg case & eating the eggs. Once born the nymphs will hang from the egg case to dry off their legs & build strength. After a few minutes of that, they'll begin hunting immediately eating some of the smaller bugs within the garden. As they grow, they'll take on bigger prey. If no food is available then they'll eat each other. A praying mantis can live up to a year. Your female mantis(is) will reproduce before dying off, guaranteeing you new praying mantisis for the following year. I rarely have problems with critters now. My biggest problem are birds coming by poking at my fruit!

I see it's been awhile, but I never saw this, so I came back to see the video again to refresh my memory... getting ready to plant fall stuff and HAVE to get rid of the squash bugs. So, praying mantis, huh? I wouldn't think anything would eat squash bugs since I understand they emit a foul odor when threatened, but I've never had praying mantis in the garden. I'm going to look into it though. My only concern would be if they would reproduce TOO much! Bugs seem to thrive happily in Texas and I'd hate to introduce something else into my yard that would need to be controlled. If they eat aphids and mealybugs though, it might be worth it! Thanks for the info! It's HOPE!

Steve Vet365 that's why it says you need to rinse off a plant real good takes a couple of seconds to kill the bugs do it 2 or 3 times make sure they're all dead then while the plants still wet rinse the living snot out of it it'll be totally fine the dawn won't hurt the ground at all one hurt the plant at all that if you leave it on the leaves it'll burn the plant and then it will die

Steve Vet365 I have a better solution. In my garden I have several Praying Mantises & if you know anything about this bug then you'll know just how beneficial they are to ones garden & if you don't, Google how does a praying mantis benefit gardens. These bugs eat anything including hummingbirds which can also cause havoc on your garden & they don't eat one or 2 bugs in a day then they're full, no Praying Mantisis are voracious eaters. They eat hummingbirds, moths, scorpions, grasshoppers, larvae, flies, etc. Not everybody likes Praying Mantisis because they also eat other bugs that are beneficial to your garden like ladybugs & pretty bugs like butterflies but you'll have a much safer garden from critters. And unless you have tarantulas in your garden, nothing will hunt & kill a Praying Mantis. Now if you have cats or dogs & you allow them to roam your garden then your cats or dogs will kill them & leave their carcass for the ants so keep your pets away or don't buy a praying mantis! You can buy an Mantis egg from your local bug store that sells eggs. An egg case contains anywhere from 50-200 eggs. At the beginning of Spring, simply put the egg case on a branch or tie it to a tree. The egg case needs sunlight to hatch & it'll hatch within 2 weeks. DO NOT PLACE THE EGG ON THE GROUND. If you place it on the ground you take the risk of ants & other predators of invading the egg case & eating the eggs. Once born the nymphs will hang from the egg case to dry off their legs & build strength. After a few minutes of that, they'll begin hunting immediately eating some of the smaller bugs within the garden. As they grow, they'll take on bigger prey. If no food is available then they'll eat each other. A praying mantis can live up to a year. Your female mantis(is) will reproduce before dying off, guaranteeing you new praying mantisis for the following year. I rarely have problems with critters now. My biggest problem are birds coming by poking at my fruit!

As a matter of fact, shortly after my post, our squash became infested with Praying mantises. They didn't kill all the stink bugs but boy did they ever have a feast.

Steve Vet365 Nice. It's important to keep an organic garden if you want to attract praying mantises. Stink bugs can multiply pretty quick so what I suggest you do is buy 2 cases of 200 eggs each & mount it near where most of the stink bugs are if you can or close to it 10 Sq. ft apart from each other. You'll probably have to relocate the mantises inside your home in a jar or an aquarium or kill the praying mantises that currently reside in your garden as they might try to eat the eggs or, if where you live have winter seasons, simply wait till after your frost date to buy the cases.

Make sure you use actual blue dawn original. Don’t use anti bacterial soap either.

Robert Stilson Robert, your analysis is correct, which is why I wrote in the description"BTW....They die on contact, so after you have done this a few times during the hour (to get the ones who hid during the initial spraying), wash off the plants with water ... that way the leaves won't be burned by the detergent either."If we wash off the plants after the bugs die, we are good to go....

Jon Hughes You have my same last name! Mines is Hughes to!

Jon, please put a note in your video that tells people to rinse off their plants. You are killing people's plants before the bugs would! You've manged to put that "Jesus is lord" in there, why can't you put "Now! Don't forget to rinse your plants or they will die!!!" No one reads descriptions! You should know that, unless you are selling products, advertising or mention all of your social media links. Please fix this video or take it down because you are still killing people's plants to this day!

+Robert Stilson 1 TEAspoon per gallon does NOT kill my squash bugs. In fact, I have tried as much as 4 TABLEspoons per gallon and it does not kill squash bugs or even cucumber beetles. That's 12 times as much as you suggested. The only thing that 1 teaspoon per gallon seems to kill is very small soft body insects like aphids. That about all. At this point, I don't even use soap anymore. I just spray my plants at the base with plain water and wait for them to start climbing up the stems then I manually pick them off and throw them in a jar half full of 91% rubbing alcohol. I also go around to all my plants and look for egg clusters. When I find them, I remove the cluster with a piece of clear packing tape, fold the tape in half, squash the eggs in the tape and discard the piece of tape. If you start doing this early on in the season, you can get the situation under control. I only have no more than 8 zucchini plants at one time, but if you have a very large garden, this is very time consuming. I would love to learn more about your organic method of destroying squash bugs. You said this 3 years ago but you never came back to say anything more on the subject.

Trying this tonight, With a continuous light mist, I sprayed each group at the top leaves for probably 5 or 6 seconds. And some I sprayed multiple times. Hand picking would also work though!

Strong is good It does not matter if it's too strong It kills them instantly As soon as they are all dead Rinse the plant real well And then when you think you've rinsed it real well Rinse it again And don't do it during the heat of the day Early morning or at dusk

I use dollar store dish soap. It works just fin for killing bugs and it is less harsh on the plants. (You still have to rinse the plants though). It's less harsh on the plants because it is lacking in degreasers (which is why it sucks for dish washing lol).

Joe Smith hi Joe very sorry about your plants brother you should have followed the directions a little better maybe they weren't clear enough let me try again after you kill the bugs and it only takes a couple of seconds you need to rinse off the plants super good and if you need to do two or three times to kill the bugs as soon as you're done killing all the bugs rinse off the plant super good what kills them is keeping that soap product on the leaves you need to rinse it off and you will be fine next time