Who dislikes squash bugs? Raise your hands. I have 8 ways how you can keep those bugs at bay. Well, if all your efforts fail, you still need to remove the eggs from the back of your leaves. Why? They can suck the life out of your squash leaves. (Those little vampires.) So every summer, I am on red egg alert with my new found favorite hack to easily remove those eggs from the leaves.
Good bye squash bugs. {And good riddance.)
As you can see in the picture above, squash bugs lay eggs in a pyramid type orientation. The eggs are quite small. In fact, one had the nerve to deposit her eggs while I watched from the other side of the bed!
In the past, I tore off that part of the leaf with the eggs and smooched it between my fingers. They are so small that I wondered if I am really killing them. Worse yet, I was tearing the leaf!
Could there be another way to remove squash bug eggs?
I recently read another way to remove the eggs which is much kinder to my plant using packaging or masking tape. (Thanks Quinn!) Granted, this approach isn’t the most environmentally friendly way to dispose of the eggs but it is effective.
Unfortunately, I had to improvise since my packing tape was stuck together. I tried masking tape instead.
Watch my video below.
Granted masking tape isn’t the best option, although it did the trick. I had to put the tape on the leaves a couple of time which can cause them to tear if you aren’t careful!
Note, other gardeners swear duct tape is the best option. As I mentioned above, Quinn loves packaging tape.
Put leaf checks on the to-do list.
Be sure to do leaf checks every few days in the summer. Those bugs adore my zucchini leaves and pumpkin plants.
Join the Conversation:
Do you have another method to scrape off the eggs?
Green Bean says
Interesting. I’ll have to keep that in mind next time these guys come for a visit.