OK I have Squash Vine Borers!!!

I cracked open three squash vines and one cucumber and found squash vine borers. I ended up pitching three of the plants. It looks like two other squash plants are infected but not ready to die quite yet. They have lost their fruit and are not producing any female blossoms. Is it too late to inject Bt into the stems? Is that the best treatment or should I inject something else. Has anyone ever injected to kill vine borers? I have not experienced this problem before. Please advise.

I feel bad for ya... Nightshade in th egarden foes forum will be able to help ya...

Drew

There is a thread on her about that. Thought I bumped it up last week. Will try again...

Here is a link, called "Last years problems" No wonder it is so hard to find...

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/371126/

I feel for you too. My guess is that it is NOT too late. And plan on using radish next year to deter the moth that lays those. I haven't had a single one of those moths anywhere near my squash. I planted the radish first, so they had begun to go to see shortly after the squash was up. Row covers are good too.



This message was edited Jun 23, 2005 12:22 AM

That stinks, Fool. I'm very nervous about that happening here. I'm just hoping all the little parasitic wasps all of the garden are doing something to control the borers.

Does ANYONE have a photo of the borer eggs?

I wonder what would happen if one sprayed squash plants with a radish tea of sorts. I've heard the garlic spray is helpful in deterring the flying borer, and I'll try that tonight...

Zeppy,

The borer eggs are so small that there is no way for my camera to show them.

Think of them as being half the size of a pin head and caramel brown.

The moth will sort of "glue" them to the stems and leaves. Some references say that the moth will lay them near the soil surface, but my experience has been that they will lay them wherever they take the notion. Near the soil, on the stem, on the leaf, on the stem that holds the leaf, on the blossoms etc etc.

I have a terrible case of them again this year. I am going to have to go off the organic routine to control them from now on.

I have used Bt extensively as a spray as well as an injection into the stems but with very limited results. I have already pulled out 8 of my bushes this year. Fortunately I planted extras as well as some varieties that were supposed to be more resistant.

I despise these little beasties.

Aubrey

I injected some seven in them two days ago. I will let you know if they like it or not.

SQUASH VINE BORERS>>> in past years I have had success by splitting the main stalk near the soil level, removing/killing the grub (IF I could locate it) and then MOUNDING SOIL up over the wound and keeping it moist. The plants survived & produced more fruit. Just a suggestion...
good luck, all!
LD

I have taken the syringe and needle and just punctured the stem every half inch or so from the ground up to about 9 inches.

I figure that if I can skewer the little beastie I can kill him even if I don't inject any Bt.

My injection killed on plant and cured another plant. I think I injected way too much seven in the one that died. I injected quite a bit less in the one that lived.

I am not sure that I, personally, me, would want to eat a squash from a plant that had been injected with Sevin. Just my opinion. Sprayed with Sevin is another matter, but injected..........

From what it looks like, it may never have any squash anyway. I don't see any female blossoms at all.

I've had squash plants bloom from June to September and produce an amazing harvest, but it take determination and a "no fear" approach to pesticides. First, I need to make a small disclaimer that I am a Master Gardener and this is NOT what we would first offer as advice if you called our hotline. :)

Bugstop (by Spectracide) http://www.spectracide.com/ProductCategories/OutdoorInsecticide/BugStopMulti/
The container may look a little different as I think they've repackaged it, but you'll get the idea.

Spray the plant - stems, leaves and all. Don't be bashful about it either. From time to time, the leaves will turn yellow and/or get ratty. Remove them. Use a knife and make a downward cut at an angle so that water isn't likely to enter the opening. Dispose of the leaves away from the garden area. Every couple of days, check the plant. If you see a bug, spray again (may need to spray every week). If you see leaves that need to be removed, cut them off. Continue this until you pass out from exhaustion, eat more squash than you ever have before or make your neighbors so jealous of your gardening skill that they threaten to move.

ta daaaaa

A word of caution; Any insecticide that will kill the borer (contact) will kill bees. Do your spraying in the late afterrnoon after the blossoms close. New ones will open next day, so the bees will be safe. BUT DON'T Spray, when bees are working the blossoms.

Farmerdill is very correct about that.

My neighbors two houses up as well as the ones across the street did not plant gardens this year due to declining health. They were not organic gardeners, I am.

I can tell you first hand that I have a ton of bees in my garden this year compared to virtually none for the last five years. I am absolutely convinced that it is due to the fact that these other folks are not spraying.

Amen. I try to keep pesticides to a minimum also. I have not sprayed my garden with the exception of putting Seven at the base of my tomatillos and injecting my squash. I was 100% organic until the last few weeks. Most of the time I just pull bugs off of my plants and squash them. To my knowledge, Seven is the weakest thing that will kill flea beetles. Flea beetles love my tomatillos. I don't have any pets either.

That is the key. Use pesticides only when necessary. AND read the directions. The "organic" insecticides will also kill bees which are also insects. You just have to use a short life insecticide and work around their schedule. If you are not familiar with IPM (Integrated Pest Management) it would great to learn about it if you use any type of pesticide.

I soak my seed in kerosine overnight before I plant, - it keeps the borers from infesting the plants, until late in the season or sometimes at all.

Oh boyoboyoboyoboy! Now, there's an easy sounding solution that I surely would never have come up with on my own! I can't wait to try this remedy. Next year, we will have summer squash!! Heck, I may even plant some next week.... Thanks, Michael!

I haven't seen a single bee this year. Neighbors less than 1/2 mile away destroyed a large hive in their trees, because another neighbor said they were African Killer Bees. They likely weren't, but it was in the local paper and all. I called the county agent, and he said he would do an article about them to keep people from panicking and killing all the rest of the bees...

That's scary, having no bees. I'm watching them line up -- no joke -- for my squash and cuke blossoms. They're very orderly!

If you try the Kerosine soaking of seed thing, --be sure to get the fuel grade, --[NOT de-odorized, from the lamp oil shelf at the store]

OK, thanks, Michael! You caught me just as I was preparing to use some no-odor stuff we use for our fireplace starter stone! My beans are looking ratty, and germination was poor, so I'm thinking of trying some squash in that bed as well as the beans. I don't think it's too late for squash... They won't have as much time to produce, but I should still get something.

Critter, Don't forget the companion flowers! Marigolds, cosmos, and nasturtiums would be a lovely and useful combo for that bed HINT HINT....

Yes, I am still sick over the no-bee thing...

I've got marigolds going out there already, and I'll sow some nasturtiums, but I didn't realize either one would help against squash borers.... Last year, my squash hills were out in the orchard and quite surrounded by cosmos & marigolds, and the borers pretty well exploded the vines. BTW, I've decided against sowing cosmos, as it gets 4 or 5 feet tall for me and makes my baby fruit trees look pretty silly.

I'm sorry to hear your neighborhood did that bee hysteria thing. Ugh. The bees have been working the lavender along the driveway -- all day, every day, there must be upwards of 100 happy, drunken bees out there. Fun to see!

please, send me some bees!!!

Guess they will go on the list of critters to raise ASAP...

well, I don't know if they would help against the vine borers, but would with other pests. The only thing I know for borers is to let radish go to seed. A diakon radish (try tokinashI) can be summer sown...

Saw a borer today and couldn't catch her. Aghhh. I let the chickens into the garden in hopes that they can help, even though I know it's unlikely. But everything in the garden is so enormous, I figured they can't hurt much at this point with their scratching.

Someone else posted abou t this not long ago, it ws mentioned , I think if you use dust like 7 dust on the top leaves and maybe around the roots that keeps the moths off that lay those eggs that develop into the squash vine borers, I did this s tarting in spring, I always loose my squash to the borers, and I never lost one this year, I never put it on the blooms or inside the plant just on the top layer of leaves and down by the ground where the plant comes out of th ground, I know it's too late for you to do that, you might also like organic gardening as well, I just hate it when this happens though, thought i'd take more drastic measures this year. And it's worked so far.

hope you find the answer to your question.

Critter, my squash are surrounded by nasturtium, cosmos and marigold, and I didn't see that borer shying away from them at all. Unfortunately.

yeah, I think it's going to take more than companion planting to do the trick....

but the flowers are pretty, so I'll keep planting them for looks and for the other help they may give!

reread the CP thread, borers are repelled by radsh going to seed, ythe flowers you mentioned are to repel the squash bug :-)

Plant yourself some Zucchini Rampicante.

It is a vining variety so it can be trellised.

It produces like crazy, tastes fantastic, and the borers leave it alone.

Costata Romanesco and Tonda Scuro di Piacenza are good choices too. The borers will get them, but they are vigorous enough to keep producing for a long time after infection.

Good to know! I've got Costata Romanesco. It sure is producing. Between that and the crookneck I'll be making squash fritters all summer. Unless the borers get me...

I do have radish going to seed by the squash. I also scatter spare seedheads over the squash plants. I have seen almost no squash bugs, though, so maybe the companion planting's helping with those...

Borage is GREAT for attracting bees. And if you have a few plants that flower the first year, you'll have lots o'volunteers every year afterwards.

I left my healthy (chest-high) Delicata squash, Jarrahdale and a hybrid pumpkins for a week. I found - and destroyed - a few eggs the day before I left (fairly thorough inspection, given the amount of foliage I was up against.)

Came home 7 days later to find the squash vine borers had done their dirty deed and the squash bugs are in nymph stage. Argh. I spent several hours today cutting away infected stems, slicing into suspect stems, killing the grubby things and mounding the soil up over the plants wherever a node appears - hopefully I can outrace the critters, but I need to get some Sevin spray ASAP. Leaves and stems are in the to-be-burned pile.

I am probably going to plant the Zucchini Rampicante that mastergardener suggested. I have also been reading about other disease resistant squash.

All the squash bushes came out yesterday.

The only ones remaining are the Zucchini Rampicante.

If I go missing it is because the squash vines ate my house.