Squash vine borer (Melitta curcurbitae) is a yard pest that destroys squash crops and is kind of not potential to stop as quickly because it has gotten inside a squash vine, nevertheless there are good, pure gardening practices chances are you’ll undertake to forestall this pest from ever turning into a problem.

The title squash vine borer applies to every the larvae that feed on squash crops and the species’ grownup stage, a day-flying black and orange clearwing moth. The moth lays flat, oval-shaped brown eggs on the bottom of crops on the stems or leaves. When the eggs hatch each week to 10 days later, the larvae bore into stems and proceed to work their methodology by means of the crops, hollowing out stems and vines as they eat. They impact every bush-type and sprawling squash crops, so vine-less crops aren’t protected against the vine borer.

In case your squash crops are yellowing and wilting, they could possibly be affected by squash vine borer. 

Confirm the stems near the underside of the plant for small holes and frass, which seems like sawdust. These are indicators that squash vine borer larvae — white caterpillars, as a lot as an inch prolonged, with legs and black heads — are already contained within the plant. 

Squash Vine Borer Prevention By way of Plant Different

Not all squash crops are equally liable to squash vine borer. Squash vine borers wish to give attention to Cucurbita maxima (like Hubbard squash) and Cucurbita pepo (like acorn squash, zucchini and pumpkins) nevertheless not usually are found on Cucurbita moschata (like butternut squash.) 

Cucurbita moschata is far much less affected because of it has dense vines that borers have trouble penetrating. In case you occur to make a level of choosing to plant squash varieties which could be a lot much less engaging to squash vine borer, your yard is extra more likely to maintain borer-free. Nevertheless you don’t must stop planting the alternative squash that you just wish to develop and eat — you merely must take precautions.

Squash vine borers may even impact melons and cucumbers — these are every throughout the Cucurbitaceae family, like squash — nevertheless that’s unusual.

Planting squash varieties that aren’t as liable to squash vine borer is a straightforward strategy of prevention.

Squash Vine Borer Prevention By way of Timing

Determining when squash vine borers are full of life in your space is the first step. Throughout the North, squash vine borer moths are laying eggs in late June and early July. Throughout the South, they emerge in May and there could also be as a lot as two generations per 12 months and moths would possibly proceed to place eggs by means of mid-August. The West Coast is least impacted by squash vine borers, the place they’re uncommon.

Throughout the South the place winters are light, plant squash as early as doable (as shortly as a result of the soil warms to 60° Fahrenheit) so it is potential you may harvest sooner than squash vine borer is full of life — or at least sooner than borers kill the crops. Northerners can wait until late July to plant squash, after the borers have come and gone.

Squash Vine Borer Prevention By way of Crop Rotation

In case your yard had a squash vine borer draw back the season sooner than, chances are high excessive that there are cocoons in your soil that may emerge as vine borer moths merely as your squash crops are beginning to take off (till you timed your planting in any other case). 

Planting a particular sort of crop the place you planted squash the 12 months sooner than will deprive vine borers of their host plant, and they will switch on out of your yard. The subsequent 12 months, squash vine borers ought to nonetheless uncover your squash crops, nevertheless at least you haven’t made it easy for them. 

Squash Vine Borer Prevention By way of Obstacles 

A floating row cowl positioned over your squash seedlings will cease squash vine borers from laying their eggs in your yard. It’s a straightforward, low-cost restore, nevertheless keep in mind that row cowl could even cease pollinators from reaching the crops. (If the crops aren’t pollinated, they will not produce fruit.) Be certain you are taking away the row cowl as quickly because the crops begin to flower to allow entry to pollinating bugs.

Alternatively, chances are you’ll replicate the pollination course of by hand-pollinating. First, decide a female flower to pollinate. It ought to have a small embryonic fruit between the flower and the plant stem. This embryonic fruit desires pollen with the intention to develop and mature. Subsequent, resolve a male flower — chances are you’ll inform it is male because of there’ll seemingly be nothing between the flower and the stem — and peel once more the petals to reveal the pollen-covered anther. Brush the anther throughout the stigma of the female flower, after which shut the flower with a clothespin to allow the pollination course of to complete. 

One different approach is to take a small, delicate painter’s brush and dab the comb onto the anther to collect among the many pollen, after which frivolously “paint” the pollen onto the stigma of the female flower. 

Floating row cowl provides a barrier to forestall the squash vine borer moth and completely different flying pests from getting shut ample to place eggs on plant foliage.

One different barrier approach is wrapping the stems of rising squash crops with aluminum foil. Solely the first inch or two above the soil line should be wrapped. This may stop the adults from laying eggs on the plant or, at least, stop the hatched larvae from moving into the plant. Every 10 days, take away the foil and wrap the stems as soon as extra so the stems have room for continued progress. 

Defending the precept stem of the plant with mulch could even deter the moths from laying their eggs.

Squash Vine Borer Prevention By way of Lure Crops

But yet one more approach chances are you’ll make use of is to plant lure crops: crops that you just’re ready to sacrifice that operate decoys. Lure crops entice pests — diverting them away from the crops that you just’re trying to protect. 

To decide on an environment friendly lure crop, uncover out which crops a pest loves best. Throughout the case of squash vine borers, Blue Hubbard squash, Magda squash and acorn squash are good selections. Sow or transplant one amongst these varieties into your yard two weeks sooner than planting the crops that you just intend to develop on your self. 

Space the lure crop and the true crop about 10 toes apart from each other, give or take two toes. If all goes in accordance with plan, the pests will objective the lure crops sooner than they get your hands on the true crops, which in a best-case scenario are squash varieties that they uncover a lot much less fascinating for egg laying.

Lure crops are moreover environment friendly devices for monitoring and detection. When you uncover eggs or damage in your lure crops, to raise up your yard’s defenses and be additional vigilant. You might destroy eggs in your lure crops as you uncover them, nevertheless do it’s important to miss any, it’s not an enormous deal within the occasion that they hatch and the larvae destroy the lure crop. That’s what the lure crop is there for.

Detect Squash Vine Borer Moths with Pheromone Traps

Squash vine borer moth pheromone traps are good devices to help detect — nevertheless not administration — the presence of squash vine borers. The traps use a pheromone lure that pulls male squash vine borer moths nevertheless not the females. That’s good because of gardeners truly don’t must entice egg-laying females to their gardens. However, when the males are present, it’s a sign that the females must be in town too.

Cling a lure merely sooner than squash vine borers are anticipated to achieve in your house, and confirm them daily for any catches. Whenever you start seeing moths caught throughout the lure, it’s time to look at your crops for eggs and, for individuals who haven’t completed so already, this could possibly be an excellent time to put up row cowl as an exclusion strategy of administration.

The first time you uncover a trapped moth, file the date. When the next rising season comes spherical, you’ll have an appropriate considered when squash vine borers will current up, give or take each week. Your particular person recorded date will seemingly be additional reliable than what you may discover in books or on-line because of as a consequence of native climate change, some pests are rising ahead of ever sooner than.

The lures have a lifespan of a month or a month and a half, counting on the mannequin, so if you happen to put out a lure, set a reminder in your phone to take the lure down or change the lure as quickly because the time has elapsed. You possibly can need just one lure a 12 months for early detection, though for individuals who keep in a warmth native climate the place two generations of squash vine borers occur yearly, it’s an excellent suggestion to change an expired lure so the lure stays environment friendly all summer time season. 

Simple, environment friendly paper traps combine lures with sticky paper to ensnare moths. If the sticky paper turns into lined in bugs or grime, it shouldn’t be environment friendly, so the whole lure should be modified.

There are plastic, bucket-type traps accessible that use a lure and an insecticide barely than sticky paper. These value larger than sticky traps nevertheless is also value the extra expense in a dusty yard the place sticky paper shortly turns into too dirty to be environment friendly.

Remember the fact that these traps aren’t an alternative choice to administration methods. The traps would possibly kill many male moths in your yard, nevertheless all it takes is one female moth to place eggs for a squash plant to fulfill its end.

Pheremone traps entice male squash vine borer moths, nevertheless not females, which is good because of the very last item you want is to attract egg-laying females to your yard. The traps are an excellent detection software program nevertheless not environment friendly at controlling squash vine borers. ({photograph}: Amy Prentice)

What to Do to Save a Plant Already Affected by Squash Vine Borer

In case you occur to detect squash vine borer early on, you must nonetheless be able to save the plant. 

Not like completely different pests that lay eggs in tight clusters, squash vine borer moths unfold out eggs, making them extra sturdy with the intention to spot and take away. Look at the stems and leaf stalks near the underside of the crops for brown oval eggs which could be “glued” on, resolve them off and eliminate them.

One different good piece of advice is to wipe down the stems with a moist cloth just a few cases each week to remove any eggs you couldn‘t merely spot. That’s reported to be environment friendly as any chemical administration approach.

On account of it takes squash vine borers some time to make their methodology by means of a stem or vine (consuming plant tissue as they go) you would possibly be capable to kill borers sooner than they’ve gotten too far. A thin wire with a sharpened tip could also be inserted from the underside of the plant up the stems to kill borers. Then, mound soil over the underside of the plant to cowl up the damage attributable to every the borers’ entry elements and the wire.

Instead of blindly using a wire inside a stem, it is advisable to use a single-edged razor blade or a utility or Exacto knife, slice into the stem just a few inches above the entry hole to seek for and take away the white larvae.

The larvae bore into stems and proceed to work their methodology by means of the crops, hollowing out stems and vines as they eat. Given ample time, squash vine borers can switch a variety of toes by means of vines.

Alternatively, it is advisable to use Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt, a natural administration utilized in pure gardening. Bt is a micro organism that may solely harm caterpillars (moth and butterfly larvae) so it is protected to utilize spherical people, pets and completely different bugs — nevertheless take care when making use of near milkweed or completely different butterfly host crops. However, Bt sprayed on the floor of the plant acquired’t stop borers on the inside.

Use a syringe to inject liquid Bt contained within the plant stems between 1 and a few inches above the soil line. Adjust to the producer’s instructions for diluting Bt focus, then use merely 1cc per stem or vine. 

Injecting Bt may also be an environment friendly preventative measure for squash vine borer. Repeat the tactic every week until the specter of squash vine borer has handed.

As quickly as a squash vine borer infestation has gotten very far — borers, given ample time, can switch a variety of toes by means of vines — the borers cannot be killed with out killing the plant throughout the course of. If the plant has stopped producing, it’s time to remove the vines and throw them throughout the trash, borers and all. 

Administration Squash Vine Borers with Helpful Nematodes 

In case you occur to grew squash in your yard over the past rising season, overwintering squash vine borer pupae is also throughout the soil, able to emerge as moths that may shortly breed and produce the next period. The good news is chances are you’ll enlist helpful nematodes to destroy the pupae sooner than they are going to mature. Like using Bt, making use of helpful nematodes is a sort of natural administration that is authorised in pure gardening.

There are larger than 25,000 recognized species of nematodes, just a few of which might be harmful for human effectively being, livestock or crops, though there are only a few nematode species which could be marketed available on the market as a consequence of their potential to manage pests. For squash vine borer administration, seek for a product that options Heterorhabditis bacteriophora, an entomopathogenic nematode species. (Proper now, NemaSeek Hb by Arbico Organics is the one provide of Heterorhabditis bacteriophora that is obtainable to prospects.)

Helpful nematodes in soil get your hands on pupae and uncover their methodology contained within the pupae’s our our bodies. As quickly as inside a pupa, a nematode releases a micro organism that kills its host. The nematode then reproduces, and its offspring subsists off the lifeless pupa until there could also be nothing left to eat, at which stage they get your hands on additional pupae. The nematodes will repeat this course of until there are no pupae left.

NemaSeek Hb has a shelf lifetime of 14 days when refrigerated, though it should be utilized instantly because of nematodes reside creatures that thrive in soil, not the fridge. And the whole container should be used the similar day it is first opened. The producer moreover advises solely making use of early throughout the morning or predusk when soil temperatures are above 42°F.

Use a hose-end sprayer or pump sprayer to make use of the nematodes on to moistened soil, though in case you’ve got neither, it is advisable to use a watering can. Proceed to water the realm every three to 4 days. Two nematode features are actually helpful, each week to 10 days apart, and far more features is also required for a excessive infestation.

If borers are already present inside squash crops that you just must rescue, nematodes could also be injected into the vines using a syringe, similar to how Bt could also be injected into vines. The nematodes will get your hands on and destroy the borer larvae the similar methodology they destroy borer pupae.

As a facet revenue, Heterorhabditis bacteriophora could even administration completely different borers along with asparagus beetles, berry root weevils, billbugs, black vine weevils, carrot weevils, chafers, Colorado potato beetles, corn rootworms, observed cucumber beetles, flea beetles, Japanese beetles, leafminers, May/June bugs, sweet potato weevils, ticks and additional pests.

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Hyperlinks & Property

Episode 008: Pure Pest Administration with Jeff Gillman

Episode 050: Pure Pest Administration: Helpful Bugs And Previous

Episode 144: Understanding Nematodes: Microscopic Worms, Pal or Foe of Your Yard

Episode 195: Determining and Controlling Yard Pests Organically

Episode 219: Troublesome Yard Pests: Pure Administration Strategies That Work

joegardener weblog: Squash Bug Prevention & Administration

joegardener weblog: Japanese Beetle Prevention & Administration

joegardener weblog: How Do I Develop Winter Squash?

joegardener weblog: How Do I Develop Summer time season Squash?

joegardener free helpful useful resource: 10 Frequent & Damaging Yard Pests: Prevention & Administration

joegardener On-line Gardening Academy™: Three widespread applications on gardening fundamentals; managing pests, illnesses & weeds; and seed starting!

joegardener On-line Gardening Academy Grasp Pests, Illnesses & Weeds

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Rising a Greener World® 

GGW Episode 723: Pure Pest and Sickness Administration – Greener Choices to Frequent Gardening Challenges

Floating row cowl 

Liquid Bt

Bt syringe

NemaSeek Hb by Arbico Organics

Pest Wizard Squash Vine Borer Lure Tools

Bucket-Type Squash Vine Borer Lure

Hose-end sprayer 

Pump sprayer

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