Eggplant Killed by Vine Borer/Cutworm? PLEASE HELP!

Hi -

I woke up today to find one of my container-grown eggplants (Variety: "Rosa Bianca") completely wilted over. Just last night, all the plants were very robust and healthy. I am growing them in an Earthbox on my deck, and it's my first time using an EB. At first , I assumed there was a watering problem, but after a thorough check - everything is working as it should.

I did some reading today, and am convinced the plant was struck by the dreaded vine borer/cutworm. I removed that plant and discarded it. I noticed that it was brown and a little mushy near where the stem met the soiI. Is there anything I can do at this point to prevent the same thing happening to the other eggplant plants? Are there any organic methods of treating the existing plants and soil to avoid this problem in the future? Can I plant another starter plant in its place, or could the vine borers and the larvae be in the soil?

This is so sad and devastating. It is the first time in my life I've ever attempted to garden, so I've never dealt with this before.

R.I.P. Rosa Bianca # 1 :(

Thank you for any advice you have to share!

KnittyNatty38,
Are you sure it was a squash vine borer? I've not run across any talk of them attacking a woody stem plant like an eggplant. Did you see evidence of anything that looked like "sawdust" around the base of your plants? This is a telltale sign of a SVB.

You mention the stems were mushy and brown. Could you possibly have overwatered and set up some kind of rotting? I've grown eggplants before, and never encountered a SVB attacking them.

BTW, How big was your eggplant?

Linda

You did not state the maturity of the plant, The fungus Phytophthora capsici causes damping off in young plants. Southern blight (Sclerotium rolfsii ) is most prevalent on tomatoes but also attacks eggplants. Eggplants share animal, bacterial, and fungal problems. These are the two that attack at plants interface with the ground. While cutworms will cut down a young plant, it is a quick clean cut. No borers of any type that I am aware of bother eggplants. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pi045 http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/pp/notes/oldnotes/vg9.htm

I noticed you put this was your first time at gardening, please don't let this stop you or slow you down. I've been gardening my whole life (all most 47 yrs) and I still have challenges. Many of them self inflected. I also don't think a cutworm would be in an EB, my understanding is that the moth lays eggs in clumps of grass so cut warms would be found in, in ground gardens. Farmerdill knows what he's talking about.

Ditto what everyone above has mentioned. I've never seen evidence of SVB attacking eggplant, nor cutworms in a grow box. I'm more inclined to think along the lines of Farmerdill, stem rot and/or phytophora, etc.

As to your other questions, I'd go ahead and replace the plant and not worry about bugs in the soil, etc. However, if you used a soil that is holding too much water that might be contributing to your stem rot problem.

Shoe

Thank you so much to all those who have replied. I had been reading that it was possible for borers to affect eggplants...I had settled on this idea, as I didn't think there was any way there could be a problem with the watering (using an EB). Also, i had figured if it was soil borne, it would have affected the other eggplant in the box, and that one is just fine.

Whew...panic and anxiety of the newbie gardener :)

Thank you again!