judylynn1949
Junior Member
Posts: 24
Zone:: 6b7a
Favorite Vegetable:: Zucchini, Butternut Squash, Asparagus
Joined: February 2020
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Post by judylynn1949 on Feb 7, 2022 12:42:32 GMT -5
Since I learned to garden in Central California I am totally in the dark here
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Post by brownrexx on Feb 7, 2022 13:26:13 GMT -5
I am in PA but it should be a similar growing season. I always have good production with Burpee's Butterbush. I like it because it is a bush type and does not take up so much room. This is one of the so called Winter Squash so I plant in late May after the ground is warm and it grows all summer for harvest in the fall. They store really well in my cool basement.
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Post by octave1 on Feb 7, 2022 14:12:46 GMT -5
The main difference is that you probably never encountered the Squash Vine Borer if you lived in coastal CA: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squash_vine_borerHopefully it will not be much of a problem with Butternut squash, although the SVB will try to get the worm inside the stem. The smaller the stem in diameter, the less likely the plant will suffer/die from SVB.
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judylynn1949
Junior Member
Posts: 24
Zone:: 6b7a
Favorite Vegetable:: Zucchini, Butternut Squash, Asparagus
Joined: February 2020
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Post by judylynn1949 on Feb 7, 2022 14:40:01 GMT -5
I had those in CA also(Vine Borers)
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Post by brownrexx on Feb 7, 2022 17:56:55 GMT -5
I did not realize that those evil SVB's lived in CA.
Luckily they do not usually infect my winter squash. Summer squash is another story!
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Post by pepperhead212 on Feb 7, 2022 20:32:37 GMT -5
Hopefully you won't have the SVB in your new location, judylynn1949. Are you planning on growing a large row of butternuts, with large vines? If so, my favorite variety I have found is Polaris - a hybrid I get from Pinetree, and I get 7 or 8 per plant, while many other varieties I'd only get 2 fruits on large plants. They also keep forever in my basement I still have 2 from 2020 in the basement! If you are growing a smaller area, the Butterbush mentioned above would be better, plus, the only time I grew that, it was much earlier, which may be better for your shorter growing season now.
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judylynn1949
Junior Member
Posts: 24
Zone:: 6b7a
Favorite Vegetable:: Zucchini, Butternut Squash, Asparagus
Joined: February 2020
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Post by judylynn1949 on Feb 7, 2022 20:38:42 GMT -5
If I started the plants in pots and transplanted them?? do you think that would work???
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Post by pepperhead212 on Feb 7, 2022 20:48:52 GMT -5
I always start my seeds in Jiffy pellets - one of the few things I use them for. It doesn't really save a lot of time - I just wait until they have maybe 2 sets of true leaves, and by this time they will be starting to vine, and many roots will be visible! I don't think they would do that well in a regular seedling pot. Maybe someone else can speak from experience.
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judylynn1949
Junior Member
Posts: 24
Zone:: 6b7a
Favorite Vegetable:: Zucchini, Butternut Squash, Asparagus
Joined: February 2020
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Post by judylynn1949 on Feb 7, 2022 20:53:30 GMT -5
do you think a double layer mini hoophouse might be better(not disturbing the roots) and I wanted to ask ...... do we have Squash Bugs here?
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Post by pepperhead212 on Feb 7, 2022 21:07:11 GMT -5
You'll have to ask some local gardeners, or the local county extension agency, to find out if there are squash bugs. And I have no idea if that double layer (what material?) hoop house would work - that's a trial and error thing, unless you find someone in a similar area that did it.
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Post by brownrexx on Feb 8, 2022 8:36:55 GMT -5
If I started the plants in pots and transplanted them?? do you think that would work??? I have often wondered the same thing but since squash seeds germinate so well in warm garden soil, starting them indoors does not gain a lot of growing time. I started a zucchini indoors last year and I harvested squash maybe a week earlier. It was not a big gain. Yes, we do have squash bugs here and they will infest butternut if you do not keep ahead of them. I inspect the leaves for the very noticeable eggs and remove them as I see them but I always get some and I smash them with my gloved fingers. I garden organically so no sprays but I always get plenty of squash by being vigilant.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Feb 8, 2022 11:49:54 GMT -5
I'm lucky - squash bugs are one of the few bugs I don't get!
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Post by octave1 on Feb 8, 2022 12:37:54 GMT -5
Squash bugs can be somehow controlled with daily watering. They don't like getting wet and crawl away from the plant as soon as water touches them. That way they are easy to pick and eliminate. If you happen to have a wet season there won't be very many Squash bugs infesting your plants.
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Post by brownrexx on Feb 8, 2022 14:11:19 GMT -5
octave1, is correct. I sometimes water my squash and watch for the squash bugs to crawl up at the crown. I crush them between my fingers (gloved)
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Feb 8, 2022 18:32:00 GMT -5
Huh, maybe that is why I rarely have problems with them. (SVBs are terrible here, though.)
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Post by mgulfcoastguy on Feb 9, 2022 19:49:58 GMT -5
If you see a red winged moth, kill it. Those are the adults who lay SVB eggs. I used to call them Satans Vile Brethren. Somewhere on here we have squash specific threads. I'll look and see if I can relocate them.
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Post by mgulfcoastguy on Feb 9, 2022 19:59:10 GMT -5
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judylynn1949
Junior Member
Posts: 24
Zone:: 6b7a
Favorite Vegetable:: Zucchini, Butternut Squash, Asparagus
Joined: February 2020
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Post by judylynn1949 on Feb 9, 2022 20:04:11 GMT -5
Thank you
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judylynn1949
Junior Member
Posts: 24
Zone:: 6b7a
Favorite Vegetable:: Zucchini, Butternut Squash, Asparagus
Joined: February 2020
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Post by judylynn1949 on Feb 9, 2022 20:07:59 GMT -5
Reading it now
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Post by bluelacedredhead on Feb 14, 2022 9:28:11 GMT -5
judylynn1949 , Waste of time to start squash plants indoors, IMO. We lived in Zone 4B for 15 years and I grew several varieties of winter squash. If I started them indoors and transplanted, the Starlings would rip them out of the ground. I would wait until the ground warmed up in June to direct seed and almost always had a successful crop even though we had our first frost around mid September. If necessary, I would pick most of them but occasionally I used Remay frost blankets to protect them at night. Here in Zone 6B on Lake Ontario, I have started winter squash as late as July 11th. We moved that week and I wasted no time putting the garden in. Again, that was direct seeded. Squash bugs were never much of a problem for me here however, SVB's are as mgulfcoastguy , stated in another thread, the work of Satan. You can try Remay row covers to keep them from laying eggs in the stem of the squash or use resistant varieties.
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judylynn1949
Junior Member
Posts: 24
Zone:: 6b7a
Favorite Vegetable:: Zucchini, Butternut Squash, Asparagus
Joined: February 2020
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Post by judylynn1949 on Feb 14, 2022 10:48:04 GMT -5
Thank you that is a really big help I have bookmarked this post
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stone
Pro Member
Posts: 170
Zone:: 8
Favorite Vegetable:: Bambi
Joined: December 2011
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Post by stone on Feb 17, 2022 9:41:01 GMT -5
SVB are not going to attack a solid vine squash plant...
Squash bugs usually just nibble the leaves, and it takes a real infestation to seriously harm the plant... luckily the chickens eat them... If the squash bugs get to be too much... I pull entire vine and toss to chickens... they eat bugs and leaves.
Of greater concern is the cucumber worm... The moth lays eggs on the unopened blossom... If you check the unopened blossoms for holes, sometimes you can perform surgery and remove the worms before they get into the fruit. The chickens eat those too, and any green fruit that you didn't get to in time...
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Post by brownrexx on Feb 17, 2022 9:50:58 GMT -5
SVB are not going to attack a solid vine squash plant... I have had SVB get into the squash fruit. It is not all that common but I usually get about one per year. I don't think that we have cucumber worms here in PA. At least I have never seen or heard of any.
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Post by octave1 on Feb 17, 2022 10:13:35 GMT -5
SVB gets inside the hollow stem of the leaves, especially those growing near the base of the plant.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Feb 18, 2022 9:06:25 GMT -5
I have seen SVBs attack a solid-vine squash plant - I saw them in a Seminole Pumpkin, a C. moschata variety. But they didn't kill it, and it kept on growing. The cucumber worms, a.k.a. pickle worms, are a big problem in most years, but for me they don't usually appear until July or so. By that time I have already harvested lots of cukes and made lots of pickles. So if the pickle worms get bad I just destroy the vines. Squash bugs have yet to be a problem for me...just watch, I'll start getting them now...
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Post by brownrexx on Feb 18, 2022 10:09:56 GMT -5
Last year I had an SVB larva under the skin of a spaghetti squash. It had entered where the squash contacted the soil. These guys just don't give up. I hate them! octave1, is correct though. Whenever I find them (not very often) on butternut squash, they are usually at a leaf stem right above a squash. Sometimes the first leaf can be almost on top of the squash and the SVB gets in there.
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