Squash Vine Borers - know how to get rid of 'em?

[Quill]

Preferrably organically, but at this point all bets are off. Someone told me Beneficial Nematodes, but when I looked up info on them, it mentioned nothing at all about BN having an impact on Vine Borers. Every year, my squash dies slow death due to these pests and by August, they are everywhere!

[Renee in NC]

Honestly? We just hoped to get LOTS of squash, etc. before they took over in July.....

[Pongo]

I am sure you know they drop to the soil too. So If you keep planting in the same spot,even if you use floating row covers they can come up from the soil. Before you plant, till up the soil and look for them and squash them.

I wipe off the stems every couple of days and spray them with an organic insecticidal soap weekly. I use floating row covers till the second week of July and then take them off (egg laying season is over by then). It seems to work because last year my neighbor lost all his to vine borers and mine did great:). There is only about 40 feet between our two gardens.

 

You could use Nema-Ject, I haven't had to do that yet.

[Guest Virginia Dawn]

I've been looking up ways to combat this too.

 

Here are some things I found you can try:

 

1. Like drama Queen says, plant early and reap as much as possible before they get et.

2. Heap dirt over the vines as they grow so they put down more roots and increase the chance of lasting longer

3. Put tin foil down under the vines. I think this is supposed to confuse the youngsters who will be dropping down from eggs.

4. Pick off and kill insects found on the vines, leaves, and fruit. Daily.

5. Inspect under leaves daily and clean off any eggs found.

6. Turn over the soil in your garden two or three times after growing season and before next planting season.

Or

7. Don't plant any summer squash for 2 years so that any larva in the ground don't have anything to eat and reproduce in your garden.

8. Plant butternut squash. It is hardly ever affected by squash borers.

 

I'm going to try some of these this year. If it doesn't work, I'm going two years without summer squash plants. :-(

[LibraryLover]

You've gotten some good ideas, so I'll leave it. Suffice to say I hate those creatures. They are 100% destructive. There is no hope once they take root, so to speak.

 

I am not doing zuke or summer squash this year. Those borers are nasty and I want them to die die die! I am letting my chickens in the beds where I grew squashes last year. I hope they eat every dang bit of them. I'll let you know how that works.

 

What I am doing is planting pumpkin & butternut, plus crossing my fingers for this season.

[Quill]

Thanks for those ideas. Virginia Dawn, the problem with not planting squash is that if they lack squash, they aren't that picky - they will go attack my cucumbers, too. :glare:

 

I do usually manage to harvest some before the plants start going south, but still...:banghead:

[LibraryLover]

Thanks for those ideas. Virginia Dawn, the problem with not planting squash is that if they lack squash, they aren't that picky - they will go attack my cucumbers, too. :glare:

 

I do usually manage to harvest some before the plants start going south, but still...:banghead:

 

Please, don't say such things! I've always had great cucumber production, even in those years I've gotten just one or two zukes or summer squash per plant. Gah. Fingers in ears "lalalalalalalala!"

 

My broilers & hens are doing awesome, however. They love the tainted dirt!

[Kathleen in VA]

I must be losing my mind. Squash Vine Borers looked an awful lot like Susan Wise Bauer.:D

[Quill]

I am letting my chickens in the beds where I grew squashes last year. I hope they eat every dang bit of them. I'll let you know how that works.

 

 

There's an idea...yet another reason for me to want chickens!

 

Squash Vine Borers looked an awful lot like Susan Wise Bauer.

 

:lol: I've done that before with some post titles here!

[Doran]

...I haven't seen mentioned is succession planting. Start fresh squash plants a few weeks after your first planting is in the ground so that you'll have new life to put in when the older ones are gone. That plus floating row covers might just get you through.

 

Nasty critters, those! :glare: