I have a horrible time with borers in my cukes and summer squash every year. For a few years I've been wanting to try a product offered by Gardens Alive-injectable nematodes:
http://www.gardensalive.com/product.asp?pn=2877
I ordered some today to keep on hand as a last resort. You're supposed to inject the nematode solution into the opening created by the borer and then the nematodes are supposed to kill the borer, you then cover the affected stem with dirt and supposedly it keeps growing just like nothing ever happened!? I look at this stuff every year but have never tried it. Has anyone here tried it? The Rodale Color Handbook of Garden Insects (by Anna Carr. It's pretty old-1979) says to slit the stem and kill the borer, then cover the vine with soil-I have tried this method with absolutely no success, I use a square foot gardening growing method and have had trouble with barriers and fertilization of flowers-besides, I thought I read somewhere that the borers overwinter in the ground anyway-if this is the case, the barrier would keep new moths out but wouldn't the over wintereing ones be trapped inside the barrier?
Anyway, I would really appreciate any suggestions . . .
Thanks!
Deb
Squash Vine Borers-Injectable Nematodes???
Deb:
We did the injectable stuff from gardens alive last year. expensive, but seemed to work pretty well, we got some pumpkins and squash through the season, though the squash bugs is another story! We're going to skip them this year though...too much of a battle...maybe next we'll pick it up again.
Miles
It does get frustrating-I grew up in the west where it's almost impossible to kill a squash plant once it gets going. I haven't even tried zucchini or cucumbers for the past few years but I'm ready to give it another go . . .
I've never found cutting and removing the grub to be helpful. Last year I used silver reflective plastic mulch, planted garlic along the squash rows, and put nasturtiums there as well. I did get more zucchini than I've had in years, but the squash bugs eventually took over. Still, I rated it a success. I've looked at the injectable stuff too but decided not to bother. We really love zucchini, though, so it's frustrating.
Growing the gourd-type squashes with solid stems does help with the borers, but not the bugs. We've been successful with zuchetta rampicante, or whatever it is, but then the bugs found us the second or third year....
Are the garlic and nasturtiums known to repel the vine borers?
Supposedly yes. Nasturtiums are considered to be good at repelling a number of pests. See #5 here:
http://articles.directorym.net/15_reasons_you_should_grow_nasturtiums-a944864.html
Also here:
http://washington.tennessee.edu/pubs/Washington/companion-plantingcornell.pdf
where it notes that radishes are supposed to repel squash vine borers while nasturtiums repel squash bugs. I've tried radishes before without a whole lot of success, but I'm going to stick some in my squash rows anyway just in case.
Thanks!