The soap worked good, if you spray it right on the bug. I sprayed it on the eggs but was not sure if it would kill them or not so I did like LoneStarSon said and was cutting that part of the leaf off. I guess I will put Sevin on there and be done with it. When using Sevin, do I need to get it on both sides of each leaf, or will they walk through it and die? Any time I see someone using Sevin, they just sprinkle some on the plant. Also, why do some of my squash start out good then just wither and die? Prob half or a little less are dying like that. They are getting enough water.

Hot pepper wax.

the heat is winning this year.tomatoes have about stopped.hope to keep a few plants alive to get some early fall.having trouble with birds are tomatoes splitting. pick green wrap in news paper put in cool place. will be ripe in a few days.

to get rid of squash bugs.mix water and vanilla extract in a pump up sprayer.about 50 to 1 water to vanilla more or less.spray all over and under leaves and ground around plant.watch the bugs run.works for me.

Well, my fish carcass compost is working wonders. Planted squash seeds at the end of May & we have approx 3-4 months worth of growth out of them already. Likewise on the okra!

Only problem is that it takes time for the compost to 'cook' and I still have more yard that needs it

Well, I have a mulch pile (mown grass, leaves, etc) in addition to the compost bins. One bin is the active pile that I'm adding stuff to, and the other is the stuff thats 'cooking' itself down & I'll turn this one periodically. The normal 'kitchen' routine is to cover the kitchen scraps in the active pile with some fresh mulch. Whenever I put fish carcasses in the compost bin, I spread a layer of coffee grounds over them, then cover with enough mulched grass to absorb odors.

The finished compost is incredibly rich, black soil and it doesn't stink at all ... fairly aromatic, but I've asked my neighbors if they've ever noticed any smell at all & they say 'no'.

I will be ripping out most of my plants, except my peppers in the coming days/week. The squash bugs, and doodle bugs have decimated everything but the peppers and a few melons. I will be doing a heavy dusting with Sevin before I till the ground again. The combination of the drought and bugs has been brutal.

How is everyone else doing?

Peppers Toms and Cucumbers are still doing ok. Cukes and peppers are producing fruit still. Tomatoes are pretty much in a holding pattern, except for one particular plant that has about 20 new fruit on it. I canned 5 quarts of subpar salsa from garden fresh vegetables yesterday. I suck at it. better luck next time.

Pole beans and squash were a total failure this year.

I have never seen squash bugs like this and I'm not real certain there weren't a few stink bugs thrown in the mix as well. Those are more difficult to get rid of. My plants were turned to powder. It's the strangest thing and I've never had it happen before. My garden in Joshua has done rather well...Perfect tomatoes. I wish it was cheaper to water there, I'd have a bigger garden.

I have a peace lilly that I did nothing but add some water hen the leaves drooped. It was doing well for 2 years, never bloomed but kept growing. Then the leaves started turn yellow then brown then died. It has always done that but the pace increased. I got a bag of container media (not dirt) and repotted the plant into a 5 gallon bucket. I cut all the dead stalks.
Looked the plant up on the internet and it said the leaves were getting too much sunlight. So I set it in the middle of the room. All the windows are shaded. Now the leaves are turning faster, yellow then brown and now the edges look like I burned them with a lighter.
Is the plant dying? Can it be saved?

Grandpa, you need to put the plant in a room that gets a lot of INDIRECT sunlight. It needs to be well lit, but where the rays of the sun aren't penetrating the window and hitting the plant. Bathrooms usually have this set up.

Also, you need to keep the root ball compact. So if you had it in a smaller bucket before replanting, you need to put it back, or into a planter one size larger than the original.

You also need to wipe down the leaves every few days with a damp cloth. This will remove dust, grime, etc. and allow the leaves to soak up more sunlight.

My little garden was pretty bad this year too. Made lots of tomatoes early as well as green and red bell peppers. After the first bout with aphids on my cukes, those never really recovered and produced. It's too bad too since last year I put up 16 qts of pickles and this year 0. The vines all look good and green still and are still growing but not producing any blooms. Some of the tomatoe plants are still green but no blooms. Bell peppers aren't doing anything. Even my jalapeno plants are doing very little. Was hoping to keep everything alive in hopes that things will take off in the fall. Or, maybe I should just pull them out and replant for the fall. Fall is usually excellent for tomatoes.

Yep. I usually have an amazing fall tomato growing season. I hate to go through all that work again, but it looks like I will have to.

Planted my fall tomatoes over the weekend. Hope they will survive this brutal heat.

Give your salsa time to mature before opening a jar. I leave mine in the pantry for 6 months to a year before opening. Allowing all the herbs and peppers time to blend together makes a world of difference.

Does anyone know what would strip the leaves off my sweet potato vines? I have about 15 sweet potato vines in my various flower beds and something is stripping the leaves off. I had two plants that were fine when I left for Waco a little after 12:00 this afternoon. When I returned home at 2:30, the plants were stripped. I have 6 more plants in this flowerbed and don't want to lose them. Whatever did it also stripped the leaves in my triangle garden a couple of days ago and some potted vines last week. Any ideas? Will Sevin dust take care of these critters? I'm not sure, but I think this pest has also hit a couple of my rose bushes? I have about 25 of those and don't care to have them stripped.

Deer or rabbits?

We have both, but this would be the first time they've ever done this.

Food is scarce. Everything is burned up. Not much vegetation for them to eat.

Wow. I guess I need to watch for them. My yard is very green and we have a lot of plants around. Anyway to keep them away from the plants they haven't hit?

A 10' fence around your yard. There is not much that they won't eat if they are starving.

Why is the skin on my squash hard on 1/2 of the ones I pick?

Not enough water or they have been ready for harvesting too long...Squash bugs can also have this affect as they drain the moisture from the vegetable.