I was talking to the man at Morgan County Wholesale seed supply today and he told me of a sure fire way to rid yourself of squash bugs. They tried this last year in thier commercial vegetable garden and it really works. First, you begin your row with a sweet potato plant - then you plant 2 squash - then another sweet pot. - then 2 more squash and so on and so on. Always begin and end the row with the sweet. Spacing is about 5-10ft between rows.

The rows where he did not plant enough sweet potato plants had plenty of squash bugs. The rows with the sweets had no squash bugs. He learned about this method from another grower and has been very impressed with the results he has gotton. THis will not help the cucumber beetles.

He also said that planting squash around the corn field has worked to keep out he raccoons very very well at their farm. Good thing I really like squash eh?

Hope this helps you folks who have been so helpful to me.

-- Tiffani Cappello (cappello@alltel.net), March 03, 2001

Answers

Companion planting to the rescue again! This is great Lynn loves squash, hates sweet taters , while I love them in pie or with butter. This give me a perfect "Jack Sprat solution". Thanks.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), March 03, 2001.

Thanks for the tip Tiffani. I was horrified by all the squash bugs last year, especially on my pumpkins. I will definitely give this a try.

-- Barb (rosemontfarm1@aol.com), March 03, 2001.

I might try to start some sweet potato slips from one at the store this year, just to get some that won't die before I get them in the mail! Probably won't be the right variety for this area, but if they keep the squash bugs away, Hey, it will be worth it! Thanks for the tip, Tiffani! Jan

-- Jan in CO (Janice12@aol.com), March 03, 2001.

I'm game to try it....those squash bugs ate my Zuccini AND pumpkins last year. Has anyone tried growing sweet potatoes in Indiana? I like them baked with butter, salt and pepper!!!!

-- Leann Banta (thelionandlamb@hotmail.com), March 03, 2001.

Radishes do the same thing as the sweet potatoes...let them go to seed don't pick them (well you could pick some but not all)

-- grant (organicgrange@yahoo.com), March 03, 2001.

Are the squash bugs you speak of the little stink bugs that look like they wear a shield? This is what we have so many of, and they always eventually ruin my cucumbers, too. I will try sweet potatoes with all my vines!!!

-- Lela R. Picking (stllwtrs55@aol.com), March 04, 2001.

If you can't plant this way, just sprinkle food grade Diatomaceous Earth around the plants. No more bugs! You have to reapply after a rain.

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), March 05, 2001.

Sweet potatoes grow fine in southern Indiana -- south of Bloomington I know. Had a decent yield even in a dry year. I don't know what variety I planted -- it was whatever the local farmstore had in stock.

Sara in IN

-- urth (urthmomma@aol.com), March 05, 2001.

Thanks so much for the info on squash bugs, Tiffani. We have been fighting them for 3 years now. We had about decided not to raise any more pumpkins or zucchini. Now we will give it another try this year. I hate sweet potatoes, so it is a good thing my husband and part of our kids love them. I have started plants from store bought sweet potatoes many times. Always had good luck. I made a mistake this past year. (My husband still hasn't let me forget it!) I dug the sweet potatoes before we had a killing frost. They did not keep. I have had them keep all winter for the past 4 years. Digging too early is the only thing different I did. Does anyone know if digging sweet potatoes before the first killing frost makes them not keep or did I have some sort of virus or something in them? They dried and shriveled up. Winona in MO

-- Winona in MO (thompsonwin45@hotmail.com), March 05, 2001.

Winona, Did you cure your sweets? I always cure them behind my wood stove with a damp towel over them for 10-14 days before storeing them. I wrap them each individually in newspaper and store them in a bushel basket in my "root cellar". I always wait to the first killing frost to dig so I don't know what happens if you dont. How do you start plants from the store bought potatoes? I am dying to know.

-- Tiffani Cappello (cappello@alltel.net), March 05, 2001.

Tiffani- I look for a nice size sweet, one with no blemishes and lots of eyes. It has to fit in a pint jar. I poke 3 toothpicks evenly spaced around the middle of the sweet. Fill the jar with water. Put the sweet in the jar and sit on a window sill. It some times takes a month for little roots to begin showing up, but soon after they appear, little slips will come up on the top half of the sweet. Twist these off when they get the height you want (usually about5-7 inches for me) and place them in another pint jar of water. Don't submerge the leaf. Soon the slips you twisted off will be growing roots. The original sweet will grow many more times from the place where the slip was twisted off. I usually start my sweet potatoes in water the end of March. I plant the slips the end of May. Good luck and let me know if I can be of any more help to you. Winona in MO

-- Winona in MO (thompsonwin45@hotmail. com), March 05, 2001.

Winona - If you have a large sweet potato can you cut it into sections and then do the toothpick thing with each section, or will the sections rot? Thanks.

-- Barb (rosemontfarm1@aol.com), March 06, 2001.

Barb- I have never tried cutting a large sweet potato up. I just don't know if it would rot or not. I read somewhere that you could bury a whole sweet potato horizontally in a container with sand and potting soil and get slips from it. I tried it one year, but didn't have any luck. My sweet just rotted. I guess you could try cutting a large sweet up. You wouldn't be out much if it didn't work. I would start some whole ones though, just in case it doesn't work. If you try this, let me know how it turns out. Winona in MO

-- Winona in Mo (thompsonwin45@hotmail.com), March 06, 2001.

Thanks for the response Winona. My problem is that I only have one sweet potato left from last year's crop. It's a beauty though, and I would like to get a lot of slips from it. I think I'll just try rooting it whole, and not take any chances. (We got carried away with french fried sweet potatoes this winter, and before I knew it - EGADS - only one sweet left!)

-- Barb (rosemontfarm1@aol.com), March 06, 2001.

To take care of squash bugs, I found that planting the herb "Borage" keeps them away. I planted borage around my zucchini last year, and only found one squash bug all summer! The little blue flowers from the borage are edible and taste like cucumber. The borage gets big, so you don't have to plant very many.

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-- Fran Pike (www.homegardener@yahoo.com), April 23, 2002.

Would "regular" potatoes work?? We always plant several rows of red Pontiac potatoes and it would be great if that system worked with them! Not sure, but I don't think I can grow sweet potatoes here.

-- Marcia (HrMr@webtv.net), April 23, 2002.