Simple discoveries excite me! For many years to combat squash bugs I’d spray pyrethrum at the crack of dawn and go down the rows squishing the individual bugs. What I found this season to deal with the squash bugs is to do so at night. During the day they tend to want to hide from the sun so they hide on the under sides of the leaves making it quite the chore to turn the leaves to find them. I have found that by doing the search and destroy campaign at night with a good head lamp they are much more visible on the stems and tops of the leaves, and it seems the light ‘freezes’ them because they don’t run away either. This is a HUGE advantage for me since I am tending about 140-150 summer squash plants this year. Haven’t had to spray pyrethrum yet, though I do foliar feed.
Thanks so much for the tip. I only grow stuff to be sure that I know what pesticide or chemical I may be eating, and I prefer to have none, so this is really a great tip for me.