Squash Vine Borers. Dang!

[SarahLadd]

Hi everyone,

I have myself an Aristocrat zucchini that's become infested with squash vine borers. I have done my best to perform surgery, and at this point it becomes a waiting game to see if the plant will survive. But, I have a few questions, if someone might be able to answer.

Is this it? Are there going to be more? Do I need to look for eggs, or larva, for the rest of the year? What must I do now to prevent more of them from damaging my plant?

The internet recommends I do not plant in the same spot next year. What is the point of planting my zucchini in a different place next year, if the pupa will emerge as moths with wings that can simply fly to the other side of the yard and do this again? Must I plant no squashes next year?

Does the aluminum foil REALLY work...?

Thanks guys.

 

[gooseapplefarms]

Assuming you're trying to not use pesticides, down here they peak around mid june, and they make pheromone traps to catch them. Though, the traps are used to assay how many are in the field, as an indication for when to apply pesticides (because pesticides are not cheap). The traps alone might be enough to keep a home garden under control, I haven't tried them.

Vine borers killed all my summer squash and zucchini plants this year. From what I've read, the best solution if you want to have squash all summer is to pull the infected plants, kill the larva, and plant new transplants.
As far as planting them in a new spot, I haven't had luck with this as my garden space is limited and they don't have to go far.

 

[SmiYa0126]

I would check for eggs, vine borers are relentless. I always chuckle at those crazy recommendations. I would plant more than you need knowing you'll lose a plant or two.

I haven't tried aluminum foil. I just pick off eggs and do the surgery to pull out the worms.

 

[SarahLadd]

Assuming you're trying to not use pesticides, down here they peak around mid june, and they make pheromone traps to catch them. Though, the traps are used to assay how many are in the field, as an indication for when to apply pesticides (because pesticides are not cheap). The traps alone might be enough to keep a home garden under control, I haven't tried them.

Vine borers killed all my summer squash and zucchini plants this year. From what I've read, the best solution if you want to have squash all summer is to pull the infected plants, kill the larva, and plant new transplants.
As far as planting them in a new spot, I haven't had luck with this as my garden space is limited and they don't have to go far.

I thought these traps only caught the male moth. The female moth lays the eggs and doesn't get lured by the trap. The trap just tells you they're active and you can do things like put row covers on so the females can't lay their eggs on your stuff.

 

[SarahLadd]

I would check for eggs, vine borers are relentless. I always chuckle at those crazy recommendations. I would plant more than you need knowing you'll lose a plant or two.

I haven't tried aluminum foil. I just pick off eggs and do the surgery to pull out the worms.

Where do they put these eggs?? I am looking everywhere.

 

[gooseapplefarms]

I thought these traps only caught the male moth. The female moth lays the eggs and doesn't get lured by the trap. The trap just tells you they're active and you can do things like put row covers on so the females can't lay their eggs on your stuff.

That could be the case, I'm not sure, as I said, I haven't tried it. Though, if you catch the males before they breed, this would make some kind of dent in the population, I think.

 

[SmiYa0126]

Where do they put these eggs?? I am looking everywhere.

At the base, they're coppery in color.

 

[Acre4Me]

Eggs are hard to see in my experience.

1. We used rowcovers. We got 10’ long, 1/2” wire conduit and a conduit bender. Bent wide/flat “U” shapes. This is what held up bug “netting” ( get netting - it’s like fine mesh screen, or like tulle but UV treated). We also used large binder clips to clip to the conduit. We used rocks, wood, dirt to hold down edges. Water flows through. We bought 8 or 10’ wide x 20 or 30’ long bug netting. No SVB damage on those plants, which included pumpkins and zucchini, and yellow squash. Do not net an area that held squash last year- the SVB will emerge under the netting.

2. Plant a “trap” crop. The SVB will go for those preferentially and generally leave other things alone. Hubbard squash is said to be an SVB Favorite.

3. Know that there are 4 species of squash. SVB really love one species the most. See my other post in this forum on squash recently posted bc specific species info there.

 

[Iluveggers]

Eggs are hard to see in my experience.

1. We used rowcovers. We got 10’ long, 1/2” wire conduit and a conduit bender. Bent wide/flat “U” shapes. This is what held up bug “netting” ( get netting - it’s like fine mesh screen, or like tulle but UV treated). We also used large binder clips to clip to the conduit. We used rocks, wood, dirt to hold down edges. Water flows through. We bought 8 or 10’ wide x 20 or 30’ long bug netting. No SVB damage on those plants, which included pumpkins and zucchini, and yellow squash. Do not net an area that held squash last year- the SVB will emerge under the netting.

2. Plant a “trap” crop. The SVB will go for those preferentially and generally leave other things alone. Hubbard squash is said to be an SVB Favorite.

3. Know that there are 4 species of squash. SVB really love one species the most. See my other post in this forum on squash recently posted bc specific species info there.

All this. Row cover SAVED me this year. I kept them covered until I saw more females than I could hand pollinate myself. Butternut are generally unaffected, and I grew a Latino (Zucchini) Squash this year who got hit with SVB after I removed row cover, I could not find the worm, and I am still getting 3 zucchini a week off of that plant. I am solely planting that variety of summer squash next year due to its ability to withstand SVB attacks. Last year they all died (I didn’t cover them), except the Latino thst gave me about 5 total (but SVB got to them much earlier).

 

[SarahLadd]

Checked my plant this morning, 24 hours post surgery to remove the grub things. It looks like any fruits an inch in size have turned yellow. No leaves have yellowed or wilted and it seems to have adjusted the leaves toward the sunshine (I had to move the vines and surgery left them a little tilted). None of the bigger fruits 2 inches long or bigger look like they are suffering, yet. What might I expect to see as time goes on?