**Farmer Shares ‘Brilliant’ One-Step Tip to Easily Remove Pest Eggs from Your Garden: ‘Works Like a Charm’**
“This is so much easier.”
A garden expert online is sharing a tip on how to protect your plants from pests, and it is as effective as it is simple. Using only one household item, gardeners can quickly remove squash bug eggs and protect produce.
**The Scoop**
The hack is simple, requiring only a piece of tape to remove squash bug egg clusters.
In a video from Sara on the farm on Instagram, she demonstrates the steps. First, wrap tape around a set of your fingers, sticky side out. Next, apply the sticky side of the tape to the egg clusters and pull it away to remove the potential pests.
Sara uses duct tape, but you can also find other non-plastic-based tapes, such as paper ones, to ensure you choose eco-friendly options.
Although part of the leaf might come off with the eggs while using a strong adhesive, Sara reassures us, “It’s just a little bit of damage, and way better than a bunch of squash bugs hatching.”
To prevent the bugs from hatching, you can squash the eggs manually. Alternatively, putting the eggs in soapy water will also work.
**How It’s Helping**
Tips like this make gardening easier and more effective, while also having a positive impact on the environment.
Growing your own food-producing plants has been shown to lead to healthier outcomes, both in diet and mental well-being. It also reduces the pollution that comes from shipping produce and harmful industrial-scale farming practices. Furthermore, it can save money on produce at the grocery store.
In this case, squash bugs are capable of killing plants that provide food. The ability to easily manage the squash bug population in a garden is invaluable for many gardeners.
For more tips like these, access The Cool Down’s Guide on home gardening.
**What Everyone’s Saying**
Users in the comments were excited about this new method and shared ideas of their own.
“Great tip, Sara, tape works like a charm!” wrote one user.
“This is so much easier,” said another. “It works great!”
Another added: “I love this tape idea, brilliant!”
One commenter highlighted another practice: “I like this idea. I used to cut the whole leaf off.”
Join our free newsletter for easy tips to save more, waste less, and help yourself while helping the planet.
