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Post by Deleted on May 25, 2012 4:50:39 GMT -5
Since this is squash season again I would like to know what others do to combat the squash borer? Seems they are the worst thing that can happen to my squash! Any suggestions please? thanks Errol
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Post by Deleted on May 25, 2012 12:30:02 GMT -5
Hi Errol,Im in T.N. I grow up my squash but dont plant it out till late in the season,end of june or round about then ,we have a bad time with those here. Im also growing my squash in straw bales this year,not that thats going to help but it did save me digging.
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izzy
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Post by izzy on May 25, 2012 12:46:09 GMT -5
Errol,
I have contemplated almost every conceivable plot against those "evil doers". From pheromones to nematodes, companion planting, drowning them in bright yellow bowels filled with water to mimic blooms, powdered BT on the vines to liquid BT injected into the vines, and alternative variety plantings. Finally this year, I came to the conclusion that the only effective way to deal with them is total exclusion. For my most cherished squash, I built a screened in enclosure, and have watched as svb bounce off the screen again and again trying to get to the plants. Of course, not everyone will insist on growing zucchini and maxima squash in a region world-renowned as a habitat for squash vine borers. They do the sensible thing: grow moschata squash. I, too, have a few moschata, but in some cases, there just is no suitable substitute. Then you go to extremes!
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littleminnie
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Post by littleminnie on May 25, 2012 21:42:35 GMT -5
I keep mine covered with row cover until the last possible day and usually they are gone by then. I grew some extra early zucs last year that kept getting uncovered and those got SVB. I hadn't seen them in years. So this year I have my early zucs tightly covered.
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Post by paulf on May 26, 2012 18:06:45 GMT -5
This may be heresy with some groups, but I Sevin the heck out of them.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2012 5:23:23 GMT -5
thanks everyone for the advise and suggestions
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billh
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Post by billh on Dec 28, 2013 17:32:33 GMT -5
This may be heresy with some groups, but I Sevin the heck out of them. Yep thats the ticket. I like the liquid seven
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Post by daylilydude on Dec 28, 2013 17:45:01 GMT -5
Hmmm... time for me to do some research on these buggers! I may be way off base, but don't they bore into the stem of the plant at ground level?? Glad to see you back in the forums billh we have been missing you in here.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Dec 28, 2013 21:08:39 GMT -5
Starting back in the 80s, when these things began wiping my non-moschata squash out, I began trying EVERYTHING that I would read that would supposedly kill them, but no luck. A few things would help briefly, but nothing would give me more than a few squash, before the plants would begin to wilt, due to the tunnels from the borers. Insecticides, such as sevin, and organic ones, that can be used up to the day harvest, do little, since the adults can come the day after, lay eggs, and they hatch and burrow in before the next application, and the only insecticide that will work is one of those systemic insecticiides, which most of us would not want in our food.
I am going to try something this year - I am going to grow 2 pathenocarpic zucchini in an Earthbox, which will be totally enclosed in a covering of ultralight agribon. I have tried covering rows, with no success, even 10 years after growing any squash, so they were still in the soil. This way, there should be no way for them to get in. I'll post my results this summer.
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billh
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Post by billh on Dec 28, 2013 21:11:48 GMT -5
Thanks DLD, glad to be back. I think your right about them boring in at the base. I still spray them though, for no other reason than to make me feel better
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Post by bestofour on Jan 30, 2014 21:34:16 GMT -5
Year before last my squash plants were devastated by squash bugs. I went manic and powdered, sprayed, squashed, Neemed, soaped; all to no avail. So last year, in an attempt to get my plants off the ground, I planted 14 straight neck squash seeds in 14 straw bales and had enough squash to feed an army all summer. The bugs did eventually find the plants but it was easier to handle them with the plants off the ground. I just looked every morning and squashed the ones I found. I read that since the squash borer gets into the bottom of the stem to put aluminum foil or a toilet paper roll in the dirt when the stem is new to keep the borer from getting into the stem. I used the foil and it or something worked. I sprayed Seven directly on the bugs and they seem to enjoy drinking it.
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stone
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Post by stone on Jul 27, 2015 13:53:56 GMT -5
I'm not so sure about SVB only boring in at the base...
I'm seeing a ton of caterpillars boring into unopened blooms...
And.. My pumpkins are full of worms...
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jul 27, 2015 16:11:07 GMT -5
I'm not so sure about SVB only boring in at the base... I'm seeing a ton of caterpillars boring into unopened blooms... And.. My pumpkins are full of worms... I've had SVBs enter through unopened blossoms as well as leaf and flower stems. I've picked eggs off those locations as well. The ones in my yard will enter ANY part of the plant. They do go straight for the main stem once inside. However, I consider that to be a good thing when I see it. If I find the hole before the borer reaches the main stem, I can just pluck off the leaf or flower stem and squash them inside it. The main stem remains unharmed so the plant keeps on growing. Pickle worms on the unopened blooms and on the fruit are another matter, though...when they arrive they tend to invade in such hordes that every cucumber and squash in the garden is ruined.
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Post by bluelacedredhead on Jul 30, 2015 18:39:13 GMT -5
Lost a Chersonskaya today to SVB. I don't grow c. maxima much anymore due to lack of space and the SVB. But just had to have these, so I put in 3 plants. One down, two to go. Got decent sized squash on all three. Hopefully, they ripen.
I usually put DE around the vine but this one was so entwined with a pole bean tower and a zucchini that I couldn't get at it. Oh well.
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Post by bestofour on May 18, 2016 8:55:46 GMT -5
I'm trying a different plan this year. I read that squash borers don't like peppermint so I've planted peppermint in each straw bale right along with the squash seeds. Dill does NOT work.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on May 19, 2016 9:50:13 GMT -5
I hope you'll let us know how that works.
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Post by bestofour on May 20, 2016 22:41:25 GMT -5
I'll keep you posted. Sure hope it works.
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Post by pepperhead212 on May 20, 2016 23:16:40 GMT -5
I'm trying a different plan this year. I read that squash borers don't like peppermint so I've planted peppermint in each straw bale right along with the squash seeds. Dill does NOT work. That was one of the many things I tried, to no avail. Dill was another one I tried. Something that worked better, but still gave way to them, was radishes - they supposedly don't like the leaves. I planted a large amount of the kind grown for leaves, then planted the squash seeds right in the middle of the patch. I got about 6 or 7 squash per plant, until I saw signs of SVBs.
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Post by bestofour on May 21, 2016 21:47:03 GMT -5
Oh no pepperhead. I read it on the internet and you can't be saying everything on the internet isn't true. I tried dill too. One year I wrapped the seedling stems in aluminum foil. One year I put empty toilet paper rolls over each seedling. One year I sprayed a squash bug with enough liquid seven to drown a goat only to watch it walk away.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on May 25, 2016 10:09:55 GMT -5
I've tried surrounding my squash plants with radishes, too. It didn't work for me, either. I was sad to hear that the peppermint also failed for you, Dave. Dratted SVBs...if I could figure out the space for it (because the vines are huge), I'd grow zucchino rampicante / trombocino squash. Supposedly it makes good eating as a summer squash and tolerates SVBs since it's a C. moschata cultivar.
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swamper
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Post by swamper on May 26, 2016 20:59:29 GMT -5
Plant nasturtiums all around the squashes, works great for me. similar leaf shape and flower color...
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Post by bestofour on May 26, 2016 22:50:43 GMT -5
Laura, I looked up that type of squash and boy do the vines get gigantic.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on May 28, 2016 12:01:08 GMT -5
Plant nasturtiums all around the squashes, works great for me. similar leaf shape and flower color... Do you normally have a big problem with SVBs? They are just rampant here, and there are several generations per year because of the long growing season. Nasturtiums are pretty, but they do not like the Florida heat. Come June or July they get ratty and die. But if they are an effective SVB deterrent, that could buy me a month or so of harvest time. (Normally I lose my squash plants to SVBs in late May.)
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Post by bestofour on May 30, 2016 9:09:44 GMT -5
I had one really bad year due to SVB but usually it's not too bad. I haven't tried nasturtiums but I'll give that a try too.
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Post by brownrexx on May 30, 2016 10:27:57 GMT -5
SVB are my worst pest and I have given up on repellants, companion plants, foil collars, etc because none of it really works. The only thing that does work for me is succession planting every 4 weeks or so. That way when the first plants get infected and die then the second crop is almost ready to produce. Yes, my plants still get infected by SVB but they take 4-6 weeks to kill the plant so I get a harvest from the first plants, they dies, I harvest from the 2nd crop of plants and then they die too. I don't usually plant a 3rd crop but we always have plenty of zucchini and we love them.
Last year I planted Green Tiger zucchini and even though the plants had SVB larvae in them, they didn't die. I couldn't believe it and I don't know if this will happen again this year or if was related to something else like weather or soil conditions but I already planted Green Tiger again this year.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on May 31, 2016 8:50:17 GMT -5
That's an interesting thought. SVBs do have generations; they are not a constant pest, so succession planting makes sense. Can't believe I never thought of it. How much time do you allow between plantings? 4-6 weeks?
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Post by brownrexx on May 31, 2016 9:15:46 GMT -5
How much time do you allow between plantings? 4-6 weeks
Yes 4-6 weeks but I am in the northeast so it may be different for Florida. I can only get 2 crops of squash per year here. A third crop usually gets Powdery Mildew in the heat and humidity of August.
The plants don't die as soon as the SVB eggs are laid. It usually takes several weeks and during that time I get to harvest squash. Then when the first crop dies, the second crop is producing.
If I see signs of that dreaded fass (SVB poop) coming out of a squash stem I will inject it with a syringe of bt. The brand name of the product that I use is Thuricide and that will kill the larva. I inject it above where the fass is coming out and let if flow down the inside of the hollow stem and hopefully contact the larva.
I am an organic gardener so no non-organic pesticides are used in my garden. I figure that if I am going to eat veggies with pesticide residue then I may as well shop in the grocery store!
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