When I had a cucumber beetle infestation I posted here for advice. I did not want to use any chemicals in the garden, but I wanted those buggers gone. One person informed me of using a vacuum with a hose and suck the unwanted bugs off the plants. So I got out the 1 gallon shop-vac and sucked them right up. It worked like a dream... got rid of the unwanted pests and made more room for the bees.

Disposing of the beetles was another challenge since they loved to fly away when I opened the vacuum. The solution was an easy one tho. I made some soapy water and sucked it in the shop-vac after I was done collecting the bugs. This killed most of them, but the ones it did not kill made them slow way down and made them easy to dispose of.

This method was a great way I found out to stay organic and to keep the unwanted pests out.

Hope this helps..

Variation on the above ..... put a fistful or two of moth crystals (mothballs would work too, but are smellier) in the vac cannister before you start then vaccum those bugs away. The resulting mix will be dead bugs and no water mess in the cannister.

Sucking moth crystals into house vacuum bags to kill any fleas, larvae or eggs as they're vacuumed up without having to change the bag every time has worked for ages, great for households with dogs or indoor/outdoor cats.

Inside, some folks object to or are sensitive to the exhaust smell of mothballs, but it's a short lived issue and is not a problem outside.

I hope I remember this great advice should I need it.

I'm probably the only person on earth that doesn't have a shop vac but $20 at wally world should secure something adequate enough to do the job. And moth crystals can't be any worse than breathing in sevin dust. I wonder if putting them in the blender and dumping them back in the garden so their little friends can see their carcasses is overkill lol.

Thanks for taking the time to reply and for the great suggestions.

LOL aezarien! But you're not the only shop-vac deprived, I don't have one either! I have read here of folks using dust busters to suck up pesties - the moth crystal angle just eliminates the live creepy crawlies at the end of the misson. Whatever works! And yes, the blender idea is just a tad over the top! ;o)

Happy bug busting!

WOW...I wish I would have thought of that! And used it BEFORE I lost my zukes to squash bugs....that is such a great idea...I can image what muh neighbors will think of me vaccuming the plants outside....but I don't care...it's worth it, not to lose anymore plants!
Now I have stinkbugs on my blackeyed peas, so this is a really good idea!(which look exactly like the squash bug I might add!)
See this is why I love GW..lol.

Aezarien, sorry you are losing plants to those little critters, they are ALL over the place here too, I have never seen so many pill bugs at one time in one spot in my life. We also have an over population of earwigs, I had never seen them until this year, didn't know WHAT they were until I got a bug book at the library.

Good luck hon, you might want to try mixing up a soapy spray (to kill or deter them) or hot pepper spray or a garlic spray, just to change the scent of the plants? I don't know maybe the smell will drive them away.

:) Fran