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Controlling Squash Pests, Encouraging Pollinators: Langston University Extension Research NATIVE TO THE AMERICAS, THE SQUASH FAMILY INCLUDES BOTH SUMMER VARIETIES, SUCH AS ZUCCHINI AND YELLOW SQUASH, AND WINTER VARIETIES, SUCH AS BUTTERNUT AND SPAGHETTI SQUASHES, PUMPKINS, AND GOURDS. SOFT-SKINNED SUMMER SQUASH TYPICALLY MATURE IN A MATTER OF WEEKS, WHILE THE HARDER-SKINNED WINTER VARIETIES DEVELOP MORE SLOWLY AND CAN BE STORED FOR SEVERAL MONTHS AFTER AUTUMN HARVEST.
G
iven these diverse characteristics, squash varieties can be planted and harvested six months of the year. So it’s no wonder that many Oklahoma farmers cultivate the popular vegetable to supply local farmers markets and food processing plants — and to generate significant income.
reducing the quantity of fruit produced and the farmer’s potential income. The second risk is somewhat more ‘indirect.’ When insecticides are used to control pests, pollinators can also be killed. The outcome is the same — less fruit and lower income for the farmer.”
The squash bug provides a good illustration of the pest problem. The bug overwinters as an adult; then, in early spring, it f lies into newly planted crops to feed and to lay eggs on the underside of the plant’s leaves, hidden from casual view. Often, infestation is only discovered on close inspection, when the farmer lifts a leaf and reveals masses of eggs or hatched nymphs, by which time it may be too late. While eggs and nymphs are developing unseen, the adults have been feeding by sucking sap from the plants, damaging vines and reducing their ability to produce fruit. Several insecticides are approved to combat the squash bug, but adults are “The first risk,” Payton explained, difficult to control, and applica“is that insect pests, particuJim Shrefler, OSU Extension Area Horticulture Specialist, tion timing is critical. If timing larly the squash bug and squash and Dr. Tracey Payton, LU Horticulturalist, plan the placeis off, the crucial pollinators can vine borer, can cause substantial, ment of row covers on the test plot. Shrefler secured the research grant and has been doing squash bug/row cover be harmed. Once plants begin direct damage to squash plants, There are, however, problems that affect squash crops and impact the producers, and School of Agriculture and Applied Sciences (SAAS) horticulturalist Dr. Tracey Payton is at work solving one of the most significant. Her research, funded by an Oklahoma Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Block Grant and a Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education grant in cooperation with Oklahoma State University, focuses on addressing two important risk factors involving two quite different groups of insects — pests and pollinators.
research for many years.
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LANGSTON UNIVERSITY
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