HELP - BUG IDENTIFICATION QUESTION

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locakelly Phoenix, AZ(Zone 9a) Mar 11, 2009

Hello everyone. I have a problem. My Royal Burgundy bush beans sprouted great
and all of a sudden they looked, well, dead. I pulled them up and there were
little tiny white worms in them and the seeds looked all mushy. Ditto with my
summer squash and a couple of my bok choy plants. Looking at pests I would think
they are squash vine borers, but would they affect the beans and bok choy as
well? My zucchini looks healthy. What exactly are these little suckers? I
squished all the ones I could find when I dug out the plants. What should I do?
I would prefer an organic means if possible. Can I replant or are they in the
soil? I have raised beds with a mix of compost, vermiculite and peat and this is
the first crop in these beds.

Any chance these suckers will bother my tomatoes? Any help would be most
appreciated!!

Thanks - Kelly

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Stephen_Albert Kenwood, CA Mar 11, 2009

Wireworms will attack the seeds and seedlings of beans, potatoes, beets, cabbage, carrots, corn, lettuce, onions, and turnips-- but they tend to be light brown to dark brown colored to about 1 inch and can be hard shelled. They usually show up where the soil is poorly drained. Crush them and aerate the soil; regular cultivation will disturb their life cycle.

Squash vine borers are white with a bron head and small brown legs to one-inch-long.

Cutworms are soft-bodied larvae usually covered with bristles; they coil when disturbed. Cultivate lightly to disturb its resting place; place a collar around seedlings.

Post #6251382
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locakelly Phoenix, AZ(Zone 9a) Mar 11, 2009

Thank you, Stephen_Albert!!

I thought SVBs or cutworms. My former Master Gardener friend thinks they may be white grubs. They are the larvae of the june beetle and they eat roots and they are one of the pests common to Arizona.
The Agricultural Extension here used to recommend Diazinon but that's not organic nor is it allowed for home use anymore. In doing some research we found one possible organic means of control to be Milky Spore. Anyone ever used it?


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