Rising pumpkins is a rewarding challenge in the summertime and fall backyard. Pumpkins are each great decorative fall decorations and scrumptious squash. Relying on the range you select, some are tastier or prettier than others.
Whether or not you’re rising them for the entrance porch, to carve with the youngsters, or to bake in a pie, they aren’t with out pests. A number of varieties of frequent backyard pests are keen on pumpkins and different varieties of squash.
To mitigate the injury pests could cause to your crop, there are some things you are able to do. Correct care is of utmost significance to develop a plant that may tolerate a little bit of stress. Pumpkins love vitamins and dislike soggy soil. Resting your fruits on straw or cardboard is one other nice approach to shield your pumpkins.
Let’s check out among the commonest pests to go to the pumpkin patch. A few of them are the identical previous offenders we see all 12 months, and others are extra distinctive. One factor is for positive: all of them hurt your fairly crops, so we need to eliminate them as quick as doable.
Squash Bugs
Squash bugs are on the prime of the record as a result of they’re one of the vital troublesome pumpkin pests. These members of the stink bug household are sap suckers that may deplete your crops shortly. They overwinter in particles and hatch in spring, however they’ll stick round nicely into the autumn.
As a result of they feed closely and reproduce shortly, these are additional harmful. They will devastate a squash plant when you don’t deal with for them, so monitoring and early intervention are essential.
Adults look very similar to different stink bugs. They’re proper round or barely over a half inch lengthy. They’re flat and shield-shaped and brownish grey in colour. Nymphs are usually gentle inexperienced, however may also be grey, with black legs. Eggs are bronze and laid in tight clusters on the undersides of leaves.
Squash bugs reside and overwinter in yard particles, so hold it cleaned up and much from the pumpkin patch. Rotating your squash crops is a good suggestion as nicely. You need to use floating row covers to stop adults from laying eggs, and examine for eggs commonly.
Encourage pure predators like birds and useful bugs. Foraging chickens are nice at eliminating these pumpkin pests. Entice boards are an efficient approach to entice them in a single day, after which you possibly can acquire and destroy them within the morning.
Test the undersides of leaves for eggs and destroy them if you discover them. You possibly can merely scrape them off and smash them. Handpicking works for adults and nymphs if you see them. Drop them in a bucket of soapy water.
You possibly can goal the nymphs with natural sprays like neem oil or pyrethrin-based sprays. Use this one sparingly, as it could possibly additionally hurt useful bugs which might be essential to the backyard.
Squash Vine Borers
Squash vine borers are one other exceptionally damaging pumpkin pest. The place squash bugs are sap-suckers, vine borers are extra harmful. They tunnel by way of vines, slicing off water and nutrient circulation. They will kill your pumpkin crops outright by inflicting vine demise.
Grownup vine borers are moths and are a few half inch lengthy. They’ve a black physique with orange markings and resemble wasps. They’ve two units of wings. The entrance wings are metallic inexperienced, and the again wings are clear.
Squash vine borers lay single eggs reasonably than clusters, to allow them to be straightforward to overlook. They’re small, oval, and reddish-brown. You’ll discover them close to the bottom of crops.
The larvae are the damaging stage. These white, wrinkled caterpillars have brown heads and are about an inch lengthy at maturity. These reside contained in the stems, out of view. Search for holes on the base of stems with their sawdust-like frass across the entry space; that is the clearest early warning signal.
As soon as the larvae get contained in the stems, they’re troublesome to take care of, so stopping them earlier than they get to that stage is useful. The technique is to observe early and stop them as a lot as doable.
Floating row covers are useful to maintain adults from laying eggs in your pumpkin vines. As soon as your crops flower, take away the row cowl for pollinators to do their work. You can too wrap the bottom of stems with foil or material to dam egg-laying.
Crop rotation, after all, is an effective prevention observe. In the event you keep in mind to verify every day, you’ll typically be capable to discover the eggs on the base of vines and leaf stalks.
As soon as they’re contained in the stems, it’s troublesome to deal with these pests. Take away any egg plenty as you find them. Sprays gained’t attain them, so that you’ll have to make use of mechanical strategies. Search for the entry gap the place the larva entered.
Make a clear reduce alongside the size of the stem. You need to use tweezers or a skinny wire to both take away or kill the larva. After you take away the offender, bury that portion of the stem to guard it.
Aphids
Nearly each gardener is acquainted with aphids, and they’re by no means a welcome sight. This pest could cause severe issues in your pumpkin patch if left unchecked. They pierce the leaves and stems with their mouths and suck sap, depleting the plant of water and vitamins.
Aphids additionally depart behind a sticky, candy excrement that makes a superb host for black sooty mould. This interferes with photosynthesis and impacts the general well being of the plant.
Aphids are seen and slow-moving, soft-bodied bugs. They’re small, however often feed in teams, so they’re straightforward to establish. The adults are small, about 1/16 of an inch lengthy, and pear-shaped. Their our bodies are mushy, and they are often yellow, inexperienced, brown, black, or pink.
You’ll discover them in teams, generally on stems or the undersides of leaves. They’ve small black legs and lengthy antennae relative to their physique measurement.
Search for curling or deformed new progress, as that is their most popular foliage for feeding on. Tender tissues are their favourite. You may additionally see them on blossoms.
It’s troublesome to stop them altogether. I’ve by no means had an aphid-free backyard. You can also make your crops extra resistant by decreasing stress. Give them the fitting vitamins and water commonly. This manner, if aphids do pop up, the injury is minimal and your crops will simply get better. Simply examine commonly so that you simply catch them early on.
Aphids have plenty of pure predators. In the event you present nectar crops, you’ll have a superb probability of attracting ladybugs, lace wings, and predatory wasps. These are nice controls.
You possibly can spray them off or wipe them off with an alcohol soaked cotton ball. Row covers assist to stop them, and lots of crops act as a repellent. Take into consideration planting repellent companions like garlic, onions, and chives.
Cutworms
Cutworms are a sneaky, early-season pumpkin pest. They’re the caterpillar stage of a number of species of moth, they usually reduce down seedlings, seemingly in a single day. They are going to chew by way of the tender stems of your younger crops and trigger them to fall over.
Cutworms can take down an entire row of seedlings in a short while. For bigger crops, they’re much less severe, however they like tender progress. They’re extra prone to feed on new foliage and buds on mature crops.
Adults are brownish-gray moths that lay eggs at night time on weeds or within the soil close to younger crops. The larvae are fats, grey, clean caterpillars that curl right into a C form when disturbed.
Cutworm moths like to put their eggs on weeds and grasses. In the event you hold weeds and particles to a minimal, that goes a good distance. Plant collars are useful, and diatomaceous earth sprinkled across the base can be an efficient deterrent.
Eradicating cutworms is about catching them whereas they’re energetic. Exit at nightfall or daybreak with a flashlight, and you might even see them on stems or on the base of pumpkin seedlings. In the event you discover injury from these pests, you possibly can dig across the stem in the course of the day and pull them out of the soil. Drop them in soapy water to kill them.
Disturbing the soil on the whole is efficient, as that’s the place they spend their days. Evenly cultivating the soil exposes them to predators. They’ve loads of pure predators within the backyard.
Cucumber Beetles
Cucumber beetles are a small however extremely harmful pumpkin pest. They not solely feed on the crops, however may transmit illnesses. One severe illness they transmit is bacterial wilt. They will kill seedlings, however probably the most severe problem is the bacterial wilt.
Cucumber beetles are small bugs. There are two major varieties to maintain a watch out for. The striped cucumber beetle is about 1/4 inch lengthy and yellow with three black stripes. The stripes run lengthwise.
The second sort of this pumpkin pest is the noticed cucumber beetle. These are the identical measurement and yellow as nicely. As an alternative of stripes, they’ve 12 black spots on their wings. They’re most energetic throughout heat climate.
Cucumber beetles favor to feed on younger pumpkin crops. You possibly can keep away from a few of their injury by transplanting older crops. These can even face up to any feeding higher than younger sprouts. Row covers are additionally a superb preventative motion whereas your crops are younger.
Mulching round your crops makes it tougher for beetles to seek out the vines. Crop rotation additionally acts as a deterrent. These beetles have pure predators like birds, soldier beetles, and floor beetles. Encourage these with dill, fennel, and candy alyssum.
Eradicating these pumpkin pests is hard, as they’re good at hiding. Early within the morning, they transfer slowly and are simpler to knock off right into a bowl of soapy water. Examine the flowers, as it is a frequent place to cover.
Yellow sticky traps are a terrific useful resource. Place these across the backside of the plant. Beetles are extremely drawn to the colour yellow and can follow the traps. Nevertheless, different useful bugs can get caught in these.
Neem oil is an effective deterrent, so you possibly can spray it in your pumpkin crops. Ensure that to dilute correctly, otherwise you’ll threat burning the foliage. Insecticidal cleaning soap is efficient for larvae, however much less so for adults.
Pickleworms
Pickleworms are severe pumpkin pests that present up late within the season. They’re particular to the Southeastern U.S. These moth larvae tunnel into flowers, stems, and even fruits, ruining pumpkins earlier than you understand they’re there.
These pests bore into blossoms, which reduces pollination. They stunt progress by boring into vines. Probably the most harmful injury they trigger is when the larvae bore into pumpkin rinds. They depart messy holes and open the fruit to rot and infections.
The grownup kind is a small, yellowish-brown moth with clear wings. They’re nocturnal and lay eggs on buds, flowers, and younger fruits. These eggs are tiny, white, and troublesome to see. They are often single or laid in teams. The larvae are greenish with black spots and develop to about one inch at maturity. The larvae are probably the most damaging stage.
Keep away from late plantings to keep away from these pests. They like younger fruits, so early planted pumpkins are much less prone to be a goal. Floating row covers are a superb protectant, particularly at night time when the moths are energetic.
Neem oil spray might be an efficient deterrent, although it’s not efficient in a while. Preserve an in depth eye out for the holes they depart and take away and destroy affected tissue.
As soon as they transfer in, it’s troublesome to eradicate pickleworms. In the event you see their holes and excrement, take away the affected foliage or fruits immediately and destroy them. Take away pumpkins with entry holes as they’re unlikely to get better.
Generally you possibly can take away these manually, similarly to vine borers. It’s hardly ever sensible, nonetheless. Encourage pure predators like birds and wasps to assist management these pests. At all times hold the world round your pumpkin vines away from particles.
Whiteflies
Whiteflies are considerably much less severe pumpkin pests, however in giant numbers, they are often harmful. These sap sucking family of aphids reproduce shortly. A big colony might be problematic. They will weaken crops and likewise unfold illnesses.
The eggs are nearly invisible. They’re generally beneath leaves in neat circles or arcs. The nymphs are much like scale bugs. They’re small, pale inexperienced, and follow the undersides of leaves.
The adults are a lot simpler to establish. They’re tiny, white, mothlike bugs. They are going to flutter round in a cloud if you disturb the plant they’re feeding on.
Typically, good sanitation is the perfect prevention. Cleansing up particles, eradicating weeds, and rotating crops will assist stop them to a level. Floating row covers are additionally efficient at deterring the adults.
Whiteflies have loads of pure predators, so attracting useful bugs is efficient. Ladybugs, lacewings, and parasitic wasps are all predators of whiteflies. Plant issues like dill, fennel, cosmos, and different nectar-rich flowers close by.
I discover yellow sticky traps very efficient with whiteflies. They’re drawn to yellow, and since they’re so tiny, they stick simply. You can too spray neem oil or insecticidal oil if it’s worthwhile to.