So I noticed my yellow squash vine was struggling and I was not getting any female flowers and it was starting to lose leaves. I took a closer look and found a huge vine borer had made its way in to the vine and was chewing away at it. I should have gotten a picture but instead I just tossed it way over the hillside where hopefully it gets killed by something else or dies. It was a giant white larvae looking bug. I have never seen any bug so gross before. Ugh.
It was about 3 times the size of this one: http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/images/svblar2.jpg
Any other horror stories of catching these things in action? Anyway to prevent them from getting in to the vines?
Jake
Squash Vine borer raising hell..
Row covers until you see female flowers and injecting Bacillus thuringiensis into the stems when the plants are pollinating. The moths have certain peak laying times depending on zone. The eggs overwinter and larvae supposedly moves from leaf litter to plants but I've planted in fresh ground and still had problems. Maybe you could plant and row cover plants before your zone is at peak and then remove the covers afterward. You can learn to identify the moth and whack it but they are fast and persistent. It only takes one to ruin a small garden's worth. They will return to squash like birds to a feeder.
I use row covers and have less problem with them than when I didn't use covers. The moths are more active in the early morning and in the evening, just before dark, but like Laurel said, they're hard to catch. I had a problem in one area last year, replanted in a new area this year and found the SVB moths still searching the old area just in case the squash were still there, so definitely don't plant squash in the same area 2 years in a row. When I find them in the vines, I kill the larva before tossing the plant.
I saw a SVB swarming around my squash today about 11am. couldnt catch it. Row cover is good but these are showing up while females need to be pollinated. I will have to to cover and hand pollinate.
I am hoping my plant recovers. I think there was enough intact to still pass water and nutrients through. Time will tell. So the squash vine borer comes from a moth, I didn't know that. I guess just like those green cabbage worms come from a moth as well. moths!!
The SVB flies like a wasp. has narrow wings like a wasp, Red and Black in color. Body mostly Red .. Wings Black. They are the size of a Red Wasp
Ah I just found some pictures of the mature SVB. I will be on the lookout now.
Thanks!
I did a quick check to see what the adults look like and found this site. Its seems to have good, to the point, information.
http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/M1209.html
I have always had trouble with this pest.
Helen
I found this article and it makes so much sense - a multi-pronged approach to ridding your garden of SVB over time.
http://tomclothier.hort.net/page30.html
took a look at the photo of the larvae - they look like what I dug out from underneath a clump of weeds that grew next to my compost heap - there were about 25 of those white larval - looking things. But these were in the dirt, away from any crop (I saw them mid august after my garden was spent. I did NOT compost any of the vines, so I'm perplexed. I wonder if these things were indeed SVB larvae, and if they were - why were they right underneath a clump of weeds next to my compost, and if they were not, then what the heck were they?
thanks.
Maggots (fly larvae), grubs (beetle larvae) and worms/caterpillars (moth or butterfly larvae) can kinda look the same. Those larvae that you found in the soil were probably some kind of beetle grub. Some beetles eat rotting plant debris and hang out near or in compost piles. They may be ugly, but those were probably harmless and/or beneficials.
I recently attended a presentation about growing "Edible Ornamentals" and the presenter suggested planting a Bay Laurel tree. The tree produces the bay leaves used in soups and cooking. What made me sit up and pay closer attention was when she said that the dried, ground up leaves from the tree repel both the SVB and squash bugs when mixed with the soil in which you are planting squash seeds. Has anyone heard this and tried it and did it work? The tree can grow to up to 30' high so I was also wondering if it came in a dwarf version or you could keep it trimmed to shrub size?
Be wary of planting a bay leaf tree. I've heard it is H _ _ L to get rid of!
I've seen them much larger than 30 feet in FL, so I also advise caution. But, bay leaves do repel (or seem to) pests in my cabinets, so it's worth a try. I'm gonna put a sticky on my squash seed packets so I remember to add the leaves....
Thanks!
Steeped Bay Leaf tea with a touch of sugar is wonderful for upset stomachs!
I looove my BAY shrubs.
I am Italian and I must have bay leaves in my stocks and soup.
For this reason my two Bay shrubs are very very small ... I just keep plucking their leaves.
I'd love to find something to repel SVB !!!
I hope somebody will try it !