Is This A Squash Vine Borer?

I have seen several of these bugs flying around.  I don’t think that they are squash vine borers – the wings look different from other squash vine borers I have smashed in the past. (I also don’t know what that green think is in the top right corner on that marigold bud.)

I had massive summer squash die off, but I don’t think it was from squash vine borers, but it could have been. I don’t know what to think. Next spring I will have to keep better tract of the stems of my squash. I use BT and inject it into the base of my squash stems with a syringe until it squirts back out. If it leaks out of the stem somewhere along the bottom, then it is probably leaking out of a borer hole.

Zucchini Appears To Be Recovering From Squash Vine Borers

Several posts ago I showed a picture of a zucchini plant that was wilting probably because of the evil squash vine borer.  I have treated all sizeable summer squash plants numerous times with in-stem injections of BT.  These 2 zuchs look like they recovered enough and are trying to regrow.  They should have an excellent root structure to build on.  Look at those new leaves !  The old, dead yellow leaf stems are still visible.  (The white powder at the stem is diacatamous earth to try to cut down on the excessive pill bug population – it seems to be working).

And:

What could have been, look at this beautiful zucchini. Absolutely wonderful. I don’t expect the damaged plants to attain such stature, but I do expect production out of them.  (You can see the 2nd above damaged plant off to the bottom right side, by the Marigold).

Squash Vine Borer

I was walking along my squash row, looking at the plants as I walked along.  Then – there it was – a squash vine borer fly just there on the leaf.  I put my gloves on and picked it up – took it to the greenhouse and put it in a plastic zip bag.

This is the top side:

This is its underside:

I mixed up a fresh batch of BT worm killer and injected the stems of all of my decent sized summer squash.  The SVB is a moth and when I was trying to pick it up with my gloves, some of the glittery wing covering that moths have rubbed off on the leaves.

These evil little bugs have already claimed the lives of 2 of my large zucchini plants.  Constant vigilance is needed since it seems that they are a constant pest during the summer here in the hot south.

The Dreaded, Evil Squash Vine Borer?

Always on the lookout for signs of the evil squash vine borer, I think that I found a sign today.  This 8 Ball zucchini was wilting in the middle of the day and the other squashes were fine.

(Sorry for the blurry pic.)

So, I went on the offensive.  I got out my BT worm killer and mixed up about half a cup. I use 10cc of BT mixed with 4 oz of water – I mix it in an old 8 oz water bottle so that it is easy to measure, just fill it up half way with water. Also, this is enough of the mix to do the job for a few days.

I use a syringe, a 1″, 22 gauge needle – the fattest and shortest needle I could find – to inject the BT into the base of the squash stem.  I inject in 2 places along the first 4 or so inches of the stem.   If the needle gets plugged with stem material, just push down on the plunger until it clears the needle.  I hadn’t noticed any of the wet sawdust looking stuff the borers push out of their hole, but when I squirted the BT into some of the stems, it did squirt out of the bottom of the stem. I went ahead and injected all of the sizeable summer squash plants as a preventative. It does no harm if there are no borers. I will re-treat maybe a couple of times a week unless I see problems and need to take stronger action.

This zuke perked up in the evening shade. The smaller center leaves never wilted, so hopefully I treated the plant in time. These hybrid 8 Ball zukes are the strongest squash plants that I currently have growing. They sprout faster and grow faster and larger than the Obsidian zuke and the 2 yellow squash types that I have also planted.

The Evil Squash Vine Borer Strikes Again, And Again, And Again

Originally published Summer 2011

This vile little garden monster has killed my 2nd Cocozella zuke. It is probably beyond saving, but I will leave it in the ground until there is no hope.  The inside of the main stem has been thoroughly drenched in BT.

Each year, the worst pest seems to be different. Last year I was overwhelmed with squash bugs, but I went on a serious killing spree in the late summer because I didn’t want the zillion squash bugs overwintering. It paid off. However, this year, the SVB is the main problem. I just didn’t go on a
good enough offensive attack against them – because I hadn’t experienced such an assault from them and just didn’t consider that I could have had such serious losses so early from them.

This year, BT and a syringe are my garden buddies. Every couple of days I need to soak the inside of the
squash vines with BT. It will be devastating to loose any more vines to this evil menace.

Lemon Squash With Fruit

Originally published Summer 2011

Lemon squash is probably the most unique squash that I have grown.  It is a summer squash, but it grows a thick, long, hollow stem.  At about 4 weeks, it is about 4 feet long.  At each leaf junction, it puts out a useless, miniature tendril and several yellow, BB sized fruit which slowly grow to maturity – but not necessarily in the order they appear on the vine.

This vine is growing in amongst other summer squash so a pic of it’s full length is not possible.  This section of the vine is about 15 inches long – the total vine is almost 4 feet!

Since I am having so much trouble with the evil squash vine borer this year, I just injected 3 shots of BT into the stem near the base. This is just in case there is a SVB living in the stem – which there might be because when I stuck the top of the vine with the needle and shot the BT in, some squirted out of the bottom of the vine.  Chances it was a SVB hole in the un-visible bottom of the vine.

To use BT, I mix about 10cc/1ml of it in a small 8oz water bottle and add 4 oz of water.  If I did my math correctly, this is the proper dose.  I then use a 3 ml syringe with a  1″,20 gauge needle and fill up up and shoot the full dose into the stem – I am doing this in about 3 locations along the first 6 or so inches of the stem.  If there is a crack in the stem, which there frequently is, I just stick the needle into that crack.  Sometimes the needle gets filled with squash stem and I have to pull it out and press hard to clear the needle, then stick back into the same needle hole and squirt.  I’ve been hit hard by the evil SVB this year so I am doing serious preventive care.

Upper Ground Sweet Potato Winter Squash

Originally published Summer 2011

Upper ground sweet potato winter squash is c. moschata, so I should not have to be worried about the evil squash vine borer.  I decided to grow them in a mound on the ground.  All 4 seeds sprouted, so I have 4 plants currently growing.  The vines are supposed to grow 20′, so I am wondering where they will grow to.  I initially tried to train them around the mound, but they simply must be allowed to spread out farther.  Also, they tend to branch out from leaf junctions.  I am allowing some of the branches to grow down the rows where I have my 3 raised cattle panels that are hosts to other winter squash.

You can see some of the sticks that I use to try to guide the growth direction of the vines.  Different squash have different looking leaves – variations in the leaf patterns.  You can see the distinct white-sploch pattern on the leaves.

I haven’t noticed any fruit yet, but there are lots of male buds.  I see a bit fewer squash bugs around these squash.  Different varieties of squash have different amounts of pests.  What does that tell us?  That not all squash taste the same to squash bugs.  The one variety of squash in my garden this year that I haven’t seen any squash bug or it’s eggs on this year is the Seminole punpkin.  The seed catalog said this heirloom variety was not too susceptible to pests, and it appears to be so.   If this continues, and the Seminole pumpkin is a good winter squash, it may be my primary squash next year.

The Evil, Dreaded Squash Vine Borer

Originally published June 2011

The evil, dreaded squash vine borer has been busy in my squash patch.

I killed this one:

I found this zuke plant this morning – yesterday it looked just fine, but today it is near dead. I am sure it won’t survive.

A few days ago I found this acorn winter squash with it’s leaves limp. It also was just fine the day before. It has held on for a few days. Because acorn squash is not c. moschata, it is susceptible to the evil SVB.

Since it appears the evil SVB is at work in my garden, I went on a pre-emptive strike against them. I mixed up a cup of BT worm killer and went around injecting a syringe or 2 full into the stem of each of my summer squashes and into the acorn squash. This spring I tried to keep an eye out for the SVB’s red eggs at the base of the stems, but never saw any. I also kept an eye out for that wet saw-dusty stuff that they make as they eat out the inside of the vines – it is usually visible in a crack or hole in the stem. In the case of this zuke plant, it was always on the bottom of the stems, so I never saw any until I squirted the BT into the stems and saw it leak out the bottoms. Anyway, I have squirted the worm killer into stems and it should kill any borers. I’ll plan on making the injecting rounds every week. I don’t know what else could have weakened the acorn squash and caused the wilt. With the exception of the acorn squash and the one crensha, all of my winter squashes this year are c. moschata – because they have solid stems and thus not susceptible to the evil squash vine borer.  All summer squash, however are c. pepo and are very susceptible.

Waltham Butternuts – First Fruits are Setting

First Published June 2011

Waltham Butternut winter squash is an old faithful squash.  I only planted 5′ of Waltham this year because I planted 5 other cucurbit moschata winter squashes.  The Waltham has set it’s fruit first.  I have gotten to where about the only winter squash I will plant is cucurbit moschata, because they have a solid stem and thus not susceptible to squash vine borers.

Last season, the evil squash vine borer ravished my cucurbit maxima. After the damage was done I learned that I could kill the borer inside the stem by using s syringe and injecting BT worm killer into the vine. This year I will be ready to inject BT into the hollow stems of my summer squash which are almost entirely cucurbit pepo. Everyday I walk the rows and at each summer squash, including zucchini, I examine the base of the plant, looking for the borer’s red eggs and looking for the wet saw-dust-looking stuff they push out of their holes. Haven’t found any so this year.