Bugged by Squash Bugs
My zucchini plant was taken out by squash bugs a couple of weeks ago, just when it looked as if I was going to have a bumper crop.
Its demise was swift.
I drove past my little garden plot (in a vacant lot in our neighborhood) and noticed that one of the zuke plants looked super-wilted, although I had just watered the night before. I got a text from my friend who also has some crops on the vacant lot, alerting me that both plants looked like the heat might be getting to them or something.
With the high 100-degree temps, I thought they might need more water. After I started watering, I notice a bunch of little bugs were crawling around on the stems and leaves. I then remembered a conversation with a friend about squash bugs, and she had shown me some of their eggs laid on the underside of one of her 
plants. I began looking under my leaves, and sure enough I found a few areas full of eggs. UGH!!
Squash bugs basically suck the liquid out of the plants. Pretty crazy how these little critters destroyed a great big plant. And there were likely starting in on the other one. I got busy and started squishing squash bugs. It wasn’t pretty, but anything to protect my zucchini, right? I killed about 25 that way.
My friend, Corrinne, has taken USU’s Master Gardener course. As she recommended, I scraped off the eggs from under the leaves. I thought I had saved my second plant, but the next day it, too, was wilted. I cut off all the limp parts of the plant and tossed them. There were just a few little healthy-looking leaves left. I gave them a light spray of water mixed with a little Dawn dish soap, as Jeff, another fellow gardener, recommended. 
(RECIPE HERE) They look like they’re bouncing back, and who knows, I might get some zucchini out of them before the end of the season. However, I’m still finding an occasional squash bug when I water.
Thanks to my friends and gardening websites, I’ve learned more about dealing with squash bugs. Maybe too late for this season, but I’ll be prepared next year!