Squash vine borers

I have squash vine borers already in my yellow squash, zucchini and pumpkins. What have folks done that works? I have put yellow bowls and cups full of water near the plants to trick the "mother" moth into drowning herself before she can lay more eggs. I have wrapped foil around some of the vines near the ground but some are impossible to get to. I search out the tiny worms and smash them. Anything else that works?

I recently saw the P Allen Smith episode that suggested using collars from aluminum foil for the squash seedlings. I thought that would do the trick! I should wrap them right away before I have the same problem and can't reach them!
Good luck!

This message was edited May 27, 2010 12:45 PM

You might check some of the older posts from a week ago as there was a pretty good discussion on your problem. Good luck.

I am in the midst of a second wave of SVB attacks. They infected several of my plants around late April/ early May and I lost some of them. Others are still hanging on, including this zucchini, despite obvious SVB damage at the base of the plant.

I had not detected any more SVB eggs in the last few weeks until today...there were loads of them on this plant, maybe 30. I even saw a moth flying around my yard around 10:30am this morning but failed to kill it. I don't understand why there was an intermittent period of SVB inactivity, but thankfully, some plants are still producing. This one is about 3' tall, 3' wide.

John & Bro. Jim,
How often do you need to water zuchini squash? I have one plant growing in a 24" conversion ePlanter that I retrofitted with a built in reservoir that holds about one gallon of water. I know the plant can draw it up from the bottom, but I've been watering from the top almost daily 'cause it just looks so dry all the time.

Perhaps I should put a layer of leaves on top as mulch to keep it more moist? LMK.

Thanks!

Linda

I deep water mine every other day. I imagine the pot dries faster than the beds. I'd scratch down about 2 inchs and see what it looked like that deep.

Honestly, if you've already got SVBs you're fighting a losing war. You can slice the stem vertically and dig out the worm and then tie it back together with pantyhose. You can spray with Bt, and you can inject the Bt into the plant, but frankly, I'd just pull the plants out.

Where do these SVBs come from. Is it a Moth, that lays eggs?

Yes. It's a beautiful red and black moth and she lays eggs that are brown and about the size of a pinhead. When they hatch, the bore into the stem of the vine and start chowing down.