Squash bugs and svb beware-your days are numbered

drthor,

How do you do the hand pollinating? Do you use a small paint brush or some other method? Have you done this in past years and can you tell any difference in the number of squash you harvested? I'm going to start doing this.

Tell us your method of finding the squash vine borer, what you look far etc.

It seems as if you are very diligent about inspecting and caring for your squash plants and that is what it takes to have a good harvest.

Have you tried using a small vacuum to remove squash bugs, at least in the small stage? I also wonder if you can remove the squash bug or squash vine borer eggs this way.

There was a picture of a mature and larval SVB, around here somewhere. I haven't seen any damage from SVBs this year at all. I have put tulle over the plants but when it blows off I don't rush to put it back on.

I have hand pollinated some but not all and I'm getting tons of Squash. I hand pollinate it by removing a male flower, then remove it petals and move it from female flower to female flower.

Will a Dirt Devil work on sucking up the bugs? I'm getting a Stinkbug nymph and teenager population in my tomato jungle...

I have heard that they do, but haven't tried it. Then you'd have to empty it, though!

hrp50,
so far this year all the female flowers I had in the plants made a fruit.
I just pick a male flower, remove the petals and I put it inside the female flower and I leave it there.
In this way I will remember the next day that I did pollinate that blossom already.

So far I didn't have too many female flowers ... a lot of male flowers which I fry in the weekend and they are just amazing.
I think I rather eat the flowers than the fruits.

I never had squash bugs in my plants, but I saw the eggs on the plants at NHG.

The SVB looks like a red wasp. It flies really fast and it is impossible to catch unless you are fast like the "karate kid" boy.
The eggs are very small and red/brow and it will lay the eggs everywhere, especially under the leaf, around the stems and in the very bottom of the plant.

You just need one of these eggs to hatch and that's it !

I have not seen it yet this year. I think because of the cooler weather.
When somebody in TX says that they are harvesting tons of zucchini = no SVB active yet = hard to believe without pictures to proof that ... sorry

Good luck to you!

My coworker told me Friday they are harvesting tons of zucchinis...I simply chose to believe him...and then I asked him to bring me any of his excess...

GG, does your coworker use chemicals? They would probably be a lot more effective against these pests than organic methods.

I do wonder how the lovely organic zucchini I buy in the supermarket is produced!

greenhouse_galI don't think the SVB is evrywhere.
Some areas have more and some less ... where I live is just deadly ...

I'm having trouble examining my squash leaves because even though I only have six plants in a 5' x 5' raised bed, the plants are so big and so thick with leaves that it's possible to examine only the top growth and I suspect the eggs, bugs or nymphs would be on the lower leaves. I can't even find where the bases of the plants are without accidently breaking off a limb (?) or two. Would the plants be better off and easier to examine if I selectively removed some of the large leaves or but not too many as to damage the plants?

If all or even some of you who hand pollinate have 100% success like drthor, my next project will be to search to find if it's possible to increase the % of female blossoms produced and how to get female blossoms earlier in the season to beat the appearance of the squash bug and the squash vine borer. I have noticed that so far most of the squash blossoms on my plants are male although I do have three or four small zucchinis so there must have been female blossoms at some point

hrp50, that's the point at which my prevention program breaks down too. No way can I see or treat all the leaves and their undersides once the plants get bigger. A friend suggested putting in fewer plants, well-spaced, so that it's easier to monitor what's happening on the leaves, so that's what I did this year. The plants are just beginning so only time will tell if that helps. I've also got nasturtiums, radishes and petunias sharing the same row.

greenhouse_girl,
I would like to space my squash farther apart and give them the room they need so that I could get to them better. When we were planting the squash transplants and they were small my wife asked me why I was planting so few plants in the bed and even I thought maybe one more wouldn't be too many. Now I'm glad I only planted six and it probably should have been five. This is what it looked like then.

That looks good. Mine are spaced a little farther apart than that, but I used to plant several in a cluster and then space them about the way yours are now; it was impossible to see what was going on with the leaves and stems!

I wouldn't have thought to do this except that a friend who manages to harvest zucchini with organic practices says that she has success this way.

I noticed SVBs for the first time today, but they have been there for a while judging by the damage done. They are hard to treat with any type of pesticide bc they spend most of there time protected in the plant. They seem to favor the Yellow Crookneck. Maybe bc the other plants are so dense.

I have been harvesting a lot of squash I could take a pic if nobody believes me but DG has never been that way, in the past. Besides I could have just bought them. I never knew what a SVB was until I moved to TX so either you believe me, or you don't. There have got to be more important issues in the world. Lol

I do have to say that the tulle seems to work and I wish I'd been more vigilant with it. I've found squash bugs and their small, reddish eggs on the underside of some leaves. They don't seem to do near the damage as SVBs and are easier to control.

Aromatic herbs and flowers help to confuse some pests, or lure them away from veggies. I have yarrow that I plan to use this year, and nasturtium. Sunflowers are already planted in the bales with the corn, squash, and beans. The corn is about an inch high, now. You can even sprinkle things like dried mint and other fragrant herbs around to serve as deterrants. The Listadia de Gandia eggplant I put outside in the ground is already getting holes in the leaves so I might use some food grade Diatomaceous Earth on them. I did see tiny grasshopper things on some of the leaves. They could be the culprit. My one squash I set out has overcome the adjustment to the sun and is doing well, so far. The new squash is coming up, with some already getting their true leaves on the old barley bales, but I need to replant Nasturtium among them, as it doesn't look like it's going to sprout.

Ok. Squash leaves die as the plant vines along. Just remove the lower leaves til you have visibility to see the plants. Some plants if large enough survive the svb but only if that blasted moth is spotted and drawn to other traps. like yellow plates and vaseline tar pits. Squash are temp and light sensitive.

My plants are/where pretty big. I thought the SVB mite no longer be able to bother them. But more larva just fit in one space. The adults don't even look like moths. Yuck

1lisac, at least you got some squash before the critters hit. The last few years I've gotten one or none from a whole row of plants. You could try planting things like zucchetta rampicante or lagenaria, which don't have the hollow stems that SVBs need, but when I switched to them the squash bugs took over instead. Very depressing!

greenhouse_gal
How was the flavor and production of the two varieties you mentioned. At least by planting them you only have to fight one pest and not two. I always comsidered squash bugs easier to detect and deal with than the vine borer. Planting varieties without the hollow stem is one of the suggested ways of overcoming the squash vine borer but I just couldn't get them planted this year.

This message was edited Jun 12, 2013 5:47 AM

hrp50, when I grew zucchetta rampicante successfully I always liked the flavor, and it was very productive. It's a mild squash and it performs well in all the usual squash recipes. This is my first year for lagenaria.

I stopped having serious issues with SVBs when I used the silver plastic mulch, but then the squash bugs took over. My chickens love them but I can't allow them in my garden because they ruin my rows and paths. As I said, I've even tried growing parthenogenic varieties under tents, but the squash bugs still find them and with the tents it's hard to tend the plants and to monitor.

Tatume Squash....

What about Tatume squash? I've tried that, too.

I did grow Tatume Squash last year and it was attach by the SVB while I was on a trip.
I am growing it again this year. The good thing about this variety is that grows very long horizontal branches and the plant tries to make a root every 2 leaves. That's why if the SVB attacks one section, you can always cut it off and the rest of the plant will grow,
I will watch it closer this year. I really loved the round shape of its fruits.
Picture from last August.

I remember that I liked the taste, too.

I will keep up the fight but the zuchetta rambicante is the mainstay of my garden and the only bad pest I have with it is the blister beetle and it too has some rooting along the main vine very productive and good enough flavor..I use it in breads,pickles,and casseroles

Like most gardeners, I too have a problem with squash bugs and borers. However, as a gardener dedicated to raising the Brix (nutritional value) in my vegetables, I note that the healthier the plant (shown by higher Brix), the less it is bothered by bugs. In fact if the plants are really healthy, bugs leave them alone altogether. (Do an internet search on Brix for more information.)

Raising the Brix is easier said than done, though.

I'm in year 4 of building better soil in what had been lawn sloping down to the creek for many years, but nowhere near my goal. Of course, some of that is due to starting new planting areas each year. Older planting areas are showing signs of improvement and I had a longer growth season last year of summer squash, but we are a quick-fix society and generally unwilling to work on gradually building great soil.

I need to send soil samples to AgLabs (http://www.aglabs.com/) as they are the leader in help to build biologically active soil. Unfortunately, I can either pay for tests, or I can buy groceries; I cannot do both on my limited income.

I just read a post concerning aphids. Someone is using Vicks Vaporub on the stems of their roses, and they claim it got rid of aphids. Why couldn't one do that with other pests? It stops ants, who get stuck in it, plus the smell would be enough to confuse any bug.

I just got through spraying every plant in the house for spider mites. I used Neem oil, eucalyptus oil, dish soap, and water in a spray bottle. My poor little Listadia de Gandia's were completely infested, and I had thought the lower leaf drop was just normal, but nope, it was spider mites. Webs all over the stems and leaves and getting onto other plants as well. They had a super highway built - not kidding, I watched them move along the web...thousands of them. I may just bathe them in a sink full of the solution and move 'em outside. I hope it works. Will spray again in three days, and then again in 10. I have DE but not sure if it will work on spider mites. The big Romano bean plant that was climbing to the ceiling had them all over it, too. Now I suspect that's why the avocado lost its leaves. I sprayed them, too. I hate spider mites.

I'd hate spider mites in my house even more, LOL!

I harvested ONE zucchini today and I pollinated two more.
Lots of flowers.
Saturday I will take my zucchini flowers to a cooking class at Le Cordon Bleu.
Chef is going to teach me different ways to cook these flowers.

I normally make a batter with: 2 eggs, 1 cup of flour, 2/3 cup of white wine and 1tsp of baking soda.
Mix everything and let it seat for few hours in the fridge.
Dip the Zucchini flowers in this batter and fry. Salt to taste.

drthor,
I guess your recipe would also work for frying okra so I could keep my son happy? I can picture his face if I offered him fried zucchini blossoms. He likes when I dip okra in either tempura batter or batter made with Jiffy cornbread mix but I hate the frying process and it is so unhealthy. Even though his 19 year old younger sister just had to have her gall bladder removed, he thinks he can eat all of the fried foods he wants with no consequences.

I always used masa harina with a tiny bit of flour on my frying okra - seasoned to taste- I preferred the masa to the white flour and didnt care if it fell off in the oil- fried potatoes behind the okra and squash and that cleaned up the oil. It also satisfied the younger dau on the crunchiness. Would use oleomargarine to fry in sometimes but had to be careful on not burning it...

Neem works great on Spider Mites. They are usually a big problem here but it's rained just enough to keep them away. For the moment anyway. They usually get on my beans and cukes first, I've been watering with sprinklers and that seems to have helped. I know it's not recommended but if it's not one thing it's another.

The squash bugs are really bad and the SVBs haven't gotten my other squash plants, yet. Yes, vining squash root as they go along which helps with the SVB larva but in the end they are just gross. I grow pumpkins and other winter squash, vining makes a huge difference. When is SVB season anyway?

Hrp50-I don't fry anything or eat anything fried. I just can't add all that fat. To me that's the whole point of growing veggies. Maybe THAT is why I have squash in my fridge. Lol The squash flowers don't taste too bad raw. I have found if I pick the squash really small I can eat it raw and it tastes ok.

Heavens! Raw crookneck and raw zukes are always part of salads..I try not to fry in animal grease, not as picky about veggie oils. my cholesterol just seems to have its own agenda irregardless of my efforts, Will be home by weekend. sigh. Cant wait to see how the garden is doing...

Duck fat is supposed to be as healthy as olive oil - just sayin'!

It's just one of my "things". I won't add fat to veggies except in extremely small amounts. It just seems like a oxymoron to me. BUT I know that is ME. Lol

My kids are used to everything plain too. I was so mad when one of my younger son's friends family introduced him to sugar on blackberries. He'd always eaten them just fine without it. This family obviously doesn't need any more calories in their diet.

Regarding squash, I picked more today. Zukes, crookneck, and white scallop. I lost 2 plants to SVBs. The others seem to be rebounding.

Yes, I can grow zucchini this year!
The plants grew so well under the organdy fabric: I harvested both flowers and fruits.
The only problem of using the organdy fabric or any fabric is that the max width is 55". As you can see on picture #4, my fabric was not large enough.
I decided to make an investment on a Agribon+ AG-15 - 118" x 50' from Johnny's.
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/p-5455-agribon-ag-15-118-x-50.aspx
It arrived yesterday (this company is so efficient) and I was so impressed.
This cover is so light and very wide, just perfect for my new zucchini garden.
I cannot believe I wasted all of these years without this material !!
I did secure the fabric with clips on the back and with a rock in the front.
In the morning I just need to remove the rock to inspect the plants. Harvest the flowers and pollinate the female ones. It is so easy.

I will keep posting on my progress.

So far 10 for me and 0 to the SVB.

I believe my bolt of tulle is 108" wide. Double-sided tape down the middle, or a quick stitch on the machine = 216" wide = 18' wide...

Hum ... that it is a very unusual size for fabric, but good for you.
The only problem with the tulle is that the SVB could lay on top of a leaf/steam that is close to the fabric, it still will be able to lay and egg through the holes.

Could you post some pictures?

My tulle is the same size as yours GG. I guess the SVB could lay eggs but when the plants were small the high sides on the raised bed kept the tulle above the plants and as the plants grow the tulle sets on the leaves, when it's not being blown around, that's not where they lay the eggs. I wasn't vigulent enough with the tulle but so far it seems like any easy inexpensive way that really seems to works. Everybody that has used it has had great results.

For some reason where the plants are packed in tight (my zukes) I haven't had any issues with the SVB, that might be a couincidendense.