Squash Borer - for the Gardeners

[Bpreynolds2]

Though I’ve grown a few healthy tomatoes and herbs around our home, this is the first time I’ve attempted a small garden at our new home.  At previous homes I always tried to have a very small vegetable garden and it always generally went well except...for the squash borers.  Being at the new home I had/have high hopes and I’ve been trying to keep an eye out for the moths, eggs, or sass anywhere that are the tell tell signs.  I have about 4 zucchini planted and they are booming, really booming but today I noticed at the base of one of them, the hardening and rot starting that I vaguely recall from previous infestations.  This being said, I may just be overreacting a bit.  Here are a couple pics of the base/root stem.  Thoughts? 

[radguzzi]

Those are nefarious little buggers...  In that they have already moved in you will need to just cull out the bad actors.  There are precautions out there on the interweb to perform prior to planting.

We also use marigolds alongside the tomato plants to prevent general pests but I do not think that hey can do anything bout the borers. 

A friend of ours just laughs at us because we raise some of our food, she says that the effort does not equal the results. She just has not tried our

"Home Grown Tomatoes" -

Only two things that money can't buy, true love and home grown tomatoes - Guy Clark

Best,
Rob

[Turin]

We have tomato horn worms. big bastards. we hunt them at night with a black light and gloves.


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[jrt]

A black light?  Do they light up?  That' really interesting.  They aren't dangerous, so I don't see why you want gloves (other than they spit on you).

If you have chickens-  tomato horn worms are like the world's tastiest cake.  I've seen ours fight over them. 

[Turin]

If you've ever grabbed one with a bare hand and had him hold on to your index finger for dear life, you'd wear gloves too.

[Lannis]

Squash borers are a nightmare for a gardener, because once in the garden, they will destroy any vine plant - cucumbers, watermelons, zucchini, squash, cantaloupes, pumpkins ....

There's a lot of misconceptions about them, but the fact is that the adult is an orange "moth" that actually looks and flies like a small wasp.   If you put a bright yellow bowl of water with a few drops of soap in it in your garden, you will catch a bunch of them and see what they look like.

They lay eggs in little patches of gold-colored tiny clusters on the underside of the leaves of the maturing plants.  "Sevin" spray will not kill these egg clusters, unfortunately, but you can rub them off if you find them.

When the eggs hatch, the larvae crawl down the stems to the ground and burrow into the stems of the plants, and eat the inside of the stem until the plant is dead.   IF you find a place where they have burrowed in, before they've killed the plant, you can cut out the worm with a knife, bury the cut place under soil, and see if it will come back.

I've had no luck with any of that.   So this year I planted all my cucurbits and vines in another spot about 1/4 away from the old garden, and let the larvae in the current garden die out, and see if that works.   Won't know for a while; it's a couple weeks before they become active, but I'm already catching the adults in the old spot ....

Lannis

[DonT]

 I have a "tent" over the squash plants.  It is supposed to keep the bugs from laying eggs under the leaves.  The tent gets removed when the plants flower, which should be in the next two weeks.  Don't know if it will work.  We also added diatomaceous earth at the base of the plants.  That is supposed to act like broken glass, and discourage the bugs from coming close.  In past years, we just get as many squash as possible, and pull the plants when they are infected and discard elsewhere.  The only thing that really worked was 2 years in a row with 2 week stretches of below zero weather in the winter.

[Bpreynolds2]

Thanks for the replies.  I have not had much luck at previous locations with performing surgery on them, the plants just die mostly.  I’m hoping that what I’m seeing here in the pics posted are just hard roots, maybe a little dry.  The plants have not begun to wilt nor have I seen the sawdust kind of sass...yet.  All 3 other zucchini nearby seem mostly okay for the moment.  Lannis, I have heard about the bowl and I might try that just to check for presence since I haven’t been able to spot any of them on the leaves nor eggs under...again, yet.  They are surely one of the most hated small garden pests out there.  At previous locations I‘ve watched my whole stunningly gorgeous squash crop collapse with them.  At different homes I tried different places in the yard, all to no luck.  I remain hopeful about the new house. 

[Lannis]

At previous locations I‘ve watched my whole stunningly gorgeous squash crop collapse with them.  At different homes I tried different places in the yard, all to no luck.  I remain hopeful about the new house.

I have a sort of unique situation.   Down below my house on the bank of the river, there's a flat piece of land which all the old folks told me was the spot where Mr. Howerton back 100 years ago used to grow the best watermelons in the county.   

So last winter I plowed it up, tilled it down this spring, fenced it for deer, laid down weed cloth, and planted all my vine plants there.   If the borers find it, I suppose I'm doomed .... 

In my garden here by the house, the rabbits have eaten every single strawberry that ripened, despite plenty of "rabbit repellent".   Several have paid the ultimate 1070 fps 40-grain price, and maybe I can continue until success ... 

Lannis

[Bpreynolds2]

I have a sort of unique situation.   Down below my house on the bank of the river, there's a flat piece of land which all the old folks told me was the spot where Mr. Howerton back 100 years ago used to grow the best watermelons in the county.   

So last winter I plowed it up, tilled it down this spring, fenced it for deer, laid down weed cloth, and planted all my vine plants there.   If the borers find it, I suppose I'm doomed .... 

In my garden here by the house, the rabbits have eaten every single strawberry that ripened, despite plenty of "rabbit repellent".   Several have paid the ultimate 1070 fps 40-grain price, and maybe I can continue until success ... 

Lannis

Not on purpose but I’ve never grown anything the rabbits like; however, I have done some Bill Murray Caddyshack work with squirrels at previous home where we had a massive 6’ in diameter oak right in the backyard that housed about 8-12 of the varmints.  Finally found the only thing that seemed to work were building kind of makeshift chicken wire cages for the plants.

[ampm7]

Back when we first purchased our 15 acre nursery on the island of Moloka'i we decided to plant a 1/2 acre vegetable garden as we already had a lot of papayas growing (great) and over 60 mango trees (all the varieties) but as I was walking amongst the trees I noticed what looked like a small-1/2 inch- bee. It was laying eggs in the fruit and vegetables, particularly the squash which would look all right on the outside but you would pick up and it would just go...POOF! It even laid eggs in the Habanero peppers! It turns out it was the Asian fruit fly. A dastardly pest. So, we got together with the local pest specialist and he suggested a pheremone in a coffee can with water mixed in and a small hole in the top for the pests to enter. We must of had more than 50 1 gal sized coffee cans spread all over the place. You wouldn't believe how many we would get every day. That, plus pulling the fruit a little before they could penetrate the outer skin of the fruit helped tremendously. If that pest ever got here to California, it would be curtains!

[Chuck in Indiana]

In my garden here by the house, the rabbits have eaten every single

Dorcia puts plastic forks tines up  around plants she doesn't want eaten. Ok.. I hate to say this after laughing at her, but it works.. 

[Bpreynolds2]

Dorcia puts plastic forks tines up  around plants she doesn't want eaten. Ok.. I hate to say this after laughing at her, but it works.. 

I think there are a whole lot of inventive great ideas out there that folks come up with on their own - and sounds like she found one for sure.  This being said, I have tried some with absolutely no luck whatsoever.  Once, I read that if you sprayed your tomatoes with vinegar and cayenne pepper it would ward off the squirrels.  Well, I must have had some real connoisseurs in my backyard cause those little turds acted like it was salad dressing and ate even more!!

[Guzzistajohn]

WOW we don't have all that vermin here, just those damn Japanese beetles. Sevin spray makes them drop dead. My 'maters, squash, green beans and onions and peppers are lookin' good!

Can't wait to have a big pot of Green beans MMMMmmmmm

[Aaron D.]

I had a rabbit in the garden a few weeks ago. Delicious!

[Guzzistajohn]

Hmmmm, don't really have a rabbit issue <shrug>

[larrys]

In my garden here by the house, the rabbits have eaten every single strawberry that ripened, despite plenty of "rabbit repellent".   Several have paid the ultimate 1070 fps 40-grain price, and maybe I can continue until success ... 
Lannis

Dress 'em and freeze 'em til you have enough for hasenpfeffer... Goes great with fresh garden veggies.
Be well,
Larry

[Lannis]

Dress 'em and freeze 'em til you have enough for hasenpfeffer... Goes great with fresh garden veggies.
Be well,
Larry

I'll be honest ... I'll kill, dress, butcher, and freeze deer and squirrel, so I'm not particularly squeamish about blood, entrails, and cutting up animals, but I find that many of the wild rabbits around here are riddled with parasites, and often have ugly internal and external tumors.   You find some of that with any wild animal that doesn't visit the veterinarian, but I've found enough of it in wild rabbits to put me off....

Lannis

[Guzzistajohn]

I used to hunt with beagles as a teenager we'd see that now and then, but not often. Probably cleaned a couple a hundred. Good eating! My buddy's dad had some really good dogs, we did most of our hunting right by the truck. The sound is fantastic!

[Bpreynolds2]

Updating the thread here. 
Hate these bastards.
All 4 zucchini I planted which blossomed into gorgeous things, now more rotten than a politician.
I watched the plants religiously, never saw a single moth.  Never saw any sawdust nor leaf damage until it was too late.  Pulled up and tossed out all 4 plants today; eaten up with them.    
Not a total loss as we harvested maybe 10-15 nice ones that were immediately used in recipes, but...
I’ve now planted and had these damn bugs at 4 differently locations in Louisville over the last 12 years.  I’ve never NOT had them here in this town.  I give up.  Next year I’ll go to a different squash that is not as susceptible to them.
At least the rest of the small garden seems to be booming, getting lots of delicious tomatoes (Guy Clark would want to live here), green peppers, basil, parsley, thyme, and rosemary. 

[Lannis]

Updating the thread here. 
Hate these bastards.
All 4 zucchini I planted which blossomed into gorgeous things, now more rotten than a politician.
I watched the plants religiously, never saw a single moth.  Never saw any sawdust nor leaf damage until it was too late.  Pulled up and tossed out all 4 plants today; eaten up with them.    
Not a total loss as we harvested maybe 10-15 nice ones that were immediately used in recipes, but...
I’ve now planted and had these damn bugs at 4 differently locations in Louisville over the last 12 years.  I’ve never NOT had them here in this town.  I give up.  Next year I’ll go to a different squash that is not as susceptible to them.
At least the rest of the small garden seems to be booming, getting lots of delicious tomatoes (Guy Clark would want to live here), green peppers, basil, parsley, thyme, and rosemary.

Butternut squash does not get borers ... so you can try those, although it's not really the same as yellow crookneck squash and zucchinis.

As I mentioned, I moved mine far far from the main garden, and the borers have not found them ... producing like mad, no egg cases on the leaves, and no dying plants.   Not everyone can do that, and it's a bit inconvenient, so I'll do it again next year and see if I can keep foxing them .... !

Lannis

[LowRyter]

I've lost 3 or 4 tomatoes to worms or caterpillars.   

The other day I went to mow and smelled something dead.  I looked around for squirrel, bird or rodent, Bev found a rotten tomato. 

[Bpreynolds2]

I've lost 3 or 4 tomatoes to worms or caterpillars.   

The other day I went to mow and smelled something dead.  I looked around for squirrel, bird or rodent, Bev found a rotten tomato.

For the time being my tomatoes are doing well.  We’ve had A LOT of heat and regular rain so far this Summer here in KY. 

[GeorgiaGuzzi]

We planted marigolds between our veggies, and we put up a birdhouse in our garden in March. A family of titmouse moved in and it turns out they did great at insect control. We could watch the dad dart down into the veggie garden, come back up and go feed the mom and young ones with his “catch”. Our squash and zucchini are doing great. And we’ve only found one hornworm on the tomatoes.

[Lannis]

We planted marigolds between our veggies, and we put up a birdhouse in our garden in March. A family of titmouse moved in and it turns out they did great at insect control. We could watch the dad dart down into the veggie garden, come back up and go feed the mom and young ones with his “catch”. Our squash and zucchini are doing great. And we’ve only found one hornworm on the tomatoes.

I've heard of the marigold thing, and I'll probably try it next year.   Between the bird feeders around the house and garden, and a 30' x 10' wildflower patch I put in at one end of the garden, I have plenty of bug-eating birds, hummingbirds, and pollinators flitting about. 

They don't get the Japanese beetles or the tomato cutworms, though.   And some sort of bird (as I mentioned) was getting more blueberries than I was, but it's too hard to figure out which birds to ... control ... without getting the beneficial ones, so I covered them up.

Lannis

[JJ]

A black light?  Do they light up?  That' really interesting.  They aren't dangerous, so I don't see why you want gloves (other than they spit on you).

If you have chickens-  tomato horn worms are like the world's tastiest cake.  I've seen ours fight over them.

Yes...just like the nasty little bark scorpions!! 

We have several black lights around the house for this purpose!!

[betres]

Planting your summer squash during the first two weeks of July will often avoid the egg laying portion of the cycle of the adult vine borer. Then set up an exchange with your gardening neighbors, they give you summer squash in June and July and you supply them in late summer and early fall.  Won't work with plants with a very long growing season such as melons I'd assume.

[LowRyter]

marigolds and bird feeders here.  also have that plastic mesh fence up.

[DonT]

The tent I put up early in the season seems to have worked.  Very few squash bugs this year.  They were all over the last few years.  We're in a Community Garden & I was the only one who covered the squash - which looks fine in all the other plots so far.  Maybe its the virus?

[larrys]

Mrs. larrys' tomato plants are looking good! She's vigilant about the tomato cutworms. I'll tell her about the black light...
Larry