Post by Applelonia on Jan 25, 2016 12:50:11 GMT -5
The dreaded squash bugs and squash vine borers.....Tried row covers to help prevent borer damage...not much help. The squash bugs came in by the thousands four years ago. In a matter of days all winter and summer squash were dead. The first few years of gardening the garden was over run with bugs of various kinds. I don't use chemicals conventional/organic. I figured it was because we have conventional fields on one side of us and there was a large organic vegetable farm on the other side of us and that the bugs all came to my garden. Both farms sprayed...not sure what but many mornings the organic farmers were out spraying. The organic farm moved - now just organic hay is grown on the land and no spray. And the neighbors who own the conventional field, had the farmer who rents it, put about a 300 foot wide strip of hay in, that boarders our property and runs the length of our properties...they know we don't use anything on our land (Great neighbors!) So, for the last two years since the organic veggie farm has moved on, the bugs have been drastically improving!
There are still squash borers, so I can't grow lots of Buttercup squash (my favorite) ~ they seem to love this variety. Butternut is rather tasty and seems to do well with squash borers/bugs. I've planted several kinds of squash....one of my favorites so far was Greek Sweet Red. Also rather like the Chihuahua Landrace squash. It doesn't have a lot of meat to it but has a lovely flavor. The main problem with it ~ one practically needs an ax to get into it ~ VERY HARD rind.
Lew92, I agree, I've grown the Delicata squash before, some were sweet and flavorful but a number of them were rather "bland." I cooked them up and froze them right away as they don't seem to keep well.
Still in the process of selecting and ordering seeds ....might need to try this Sweet Meat squash this year!
There are still squash borers, so I can't grow lots of Buttercup squash (my favorite) ~ they seem to love this variety. Butternut is rather tasty and seems to do well with squash borers/bugs. I've planted several kinds of squash....one of my favorites so far was Greek Sweet Red. Also rather like the Chihuahua Landrace squash. It doesn't have a lot of meat to it but has a lovely flavor. The main problem with it ~ one practically needs an ax to get into it ~ VERY HARD rind.
Lew92, I agree, I've grown the Delicata squash before, some were sweet and flavorful but a number of them were rather "bland." I cooked them up and froze them right away as they don't seem to keep well.
Still in the process of selecting and ordering seeds ....might need to try this Sweet Meat squash this year!