Hi, All...
And a special wave to MaryE...nice to bump into ya! Hope all is well out your way!
As for Neem, be especially careful when using it, especially on squash and other cucurbits with the beautiful yellow and BIG flowers as they tend to be ones that attract bees for their pollination needs. Neem is highly toxic to bees and I'm sure we're all familiar with the bee loss these days; efforts should be made to work with and protect any bee species, placing their importance on as high a scale as you possibly can.
Pick your proper time for using Neem, preferably during times of zero bee activity (very early mornings or very late evenings). Or reserve it for plants that aren't as attractive to bees.
As for squash bugs themselves, I've often posted to hose the plants down so the bugs will come to the top of the plants to "dry out", then zap them with a soap spray (Safer's) mixed with a little rubbing alcohol. It will zap quite a few of them completely, stun some of them (pick them up while still stunned) and often-times the alcohol will zap the eggs to the point of not hatching. I wish there was an easier way to deal with squash bugs. I think they are the absolute hardest pests to get rid of using ecologically-friendly methods.
Wishing you a bumper crop of squash, MaryE! Hope to get those dangblamed critters.
Shoe (ahhh, stir-fried squash with sweet onions! squash casserole with cheese and bread crumbs on top! batter-fried squash, served with a Southern accent and a glass of sweet tea! ....
