All Natural Squash Bug Spray recipe.... it works and a method to prevent squash bugs in the first place

Let me  just say up front that I totalllllly did not think this would work. Nope I was pretty sure it wouldn't work. Why... Because nothing I have tried has ever worked on squash bugs once I had them... They seem impossible to get rid of. 

The most effective thing I had ever done to date was to prevent squash bugs in the first place. this is not to treat them once you have them but to try to prevent them... plant radishes in with squash and leave them. I read a article that said squash bugs disliked radish a lot so to deter the squash bugs plant radish in with your squash.  Just leave them there and let them do their thing all season in among the squash plants. I have to say I only did this one year so not a time tested for sure. Could it be that I simply did not get squash bugs that year.. Well yes it could....But I didn't have one single squash bug and its the only thing I had done different. So one would ask why not do that every year. Well I had planned to. But being my brain takes vacation on a regular basis it seems :O).. I totallllly forgot to plant my radish in with the squash. By the time I thought of it my squash plants were big plants and all was going good so far. So I figured well I will cross my fingers..... 

Fast forward about a week or so ago....  you guessed it. I found my first squash bug in my Zucchini plants! Actually I found six! Which I promptly squished. I did not see any eggs on the leaves at this point. Well I am sure any of you who know how hard if not impossible they are to get rid of once you have them, I was  most upset.  Grumbling at myself for not planting the radish in with them.. Grumbling because even when I did think of the radish I didn't go ahead and plant them! sighhh

So I started scouring the Internet looking for something new to combat the little devils... I found this recipe on a site online.. I promptly mixed up a batch. I sprayed the Zucchini I had found the squash bugs on and I sprayed every other squash plant and cucumber plant I had in my gardens as a precaution. I then twice a day early in the morning and in the evening check all my squash and cucumbers. I did find a few more of the beast which I squished, and I did find a very few eggs on the backs of two different leaves. I scraped those off and squished them. I continue to use the spray, I do it in the evenings so as not to sunburn my plants.. 

I did not use the Neem oil that the recipe says you could use.. I decided to go with regular old organic olive oil first and see how it did. I was not willing to give up my entire squash crop over using the Neem oil and if I was forced into it I would have tried it. Just be reallllllly careful if you decide to use the Neem oil.. Where Neem oil is considered organic gardening.....Direct contact on honey bees with Neem oil can kill them... Spray when they are not active and it can dry if you are forced into using the Neem oil. We love our honey bees and we do not want to be killing them off when its so easy to spray and let it dry when they are not active in the area. 

Garlic juice concentrate-

4tsp baking soda (anti fungal properties, also stops powdery mildew type problems)

1tsp vegetable oil  (smothers) Neem oil would work well here. The amount could be doubled.

1tsp soap (emulsifier/sticker) Best to use a natural soap such as Dr. Bronner’s.

1 to 2 tbs garlic juice (kills)

Juice:  1 med bulb (not clove) of garlic blended with 1 to 2 cups of water.  Let sit a minimum of 15 minutes and strain.

Add concentrate to a gallon of water and spray liberally. Repeat as often as needed to drive off or kill the squash bugs.

I used a giant elephant garlic bulb to make my garlic concentrate. I had them growing in the garden so I just pulled myself one to make this recipe. 

I can say I had not seen one single squash bug or egg in several days! Now its been raining here for the last couple days so I had not be using the spray... this morning I found some squash bugs in one cucumber trellis area. I squished them..No eggs just the bugs ... tonight I am back on the spray as no rain is expected. 

Now you would say well how can you say this works... because by now given the number of plants I have and that we are talking about squash bugs who multiple like no other garden bug I know at a rate of 100s at a time when the eggs hatch.. well again if you have ever had them you know what I am talking about... to be over a week into this I guess its nearly two... and be able to say I don't have a million of them. my plants are very  healthy... in my book that is a good spray! 

As a side note... I had two eggplants get aphids. those aphids love eggplants... anyway I figured well let me give you guys a drink of my nifty spray... it worked. Aphids are gone and my plants look great.

Hopefully this could help you out if you can catch the squash bugs early!