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How to Make a Squash Bug Trap
How to Make a Squash Bug Trap. The squash bug, sometimes confused with the stinkbug, is an invasive garden pest that will kill plants by sucking out the moisture. Squash bugs are not generally deterred by common insecticides, making them a difficult bug to eliminate from your garden space. Setting traps early in the season will be your best...
The squash bug, sometimes confused with the stinkbug, is an invasive garden pest that will kill plants by sucking out the moisture. Squash bugs are not generally deterred by common insecticides, making them a difficult bug to eliminate from your garden space. Setting traps early in the season will be your best defense. The traps are simple but effective and will require daily attention.
Things You'll Need
Squash plants
1-by-four-inch boards
Spray bottle
Dish soap
Plant squash in your garden early in the season, before you would normally plant other summer vegetables.
Place 1-by-4-inch boards around the squash plants, making a boarder. Searching for plants to eat, the squash bugs will flock to your squash. They will then seek shelter under the trap boards you have placed on the ground.
Mix 32 oz. hot water with 1 3/4 cups of dish soap. Pour mixture into a spray bottle.
Take your spray bottle to the garden in the early morning and flip over each trap board one at a time. Spray any squash bugs on the board with the soap solution to kill them instantly.
Inspect squash plants and spray soap solution on bugs found. Look for eggs on the undersides of the leaves and spray. Continue to flip the trap boards each morning.
Tips & Warnings
Put off planting additional plants in your garden in order to eliminate as many squash bugs as possible.
When planting the remainder of your squash plants later in the season, plant mint, catnip and marigolds nearby to further deter squash bugs.
Do not step on squash bugs, because they emit an odor.
