Squash Vine Borer Prevention & Management
Squash vine borer (Melitta curcurbitae) is a backyard pest that destroys squash crops and is sort of not possible to cease as soon as it has gotten inside a squash vine, however there are good, natural gardening practices you may undertake to forestall this pest from ever turning into an issue.
The title squash vine borer applies to each 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 base of crops on the stems or leaves. When the eggs hatch every week to 10 days later, the larvae bore into stems and proceed to work their method by way of the crops, hollowing out stems and vines as they eat. They have an effect on each bush-type and sprawling squash crops, so vine-less crops aren’t protected from the vine borer.
Figuring out squash vine borer moths and understanding when they’re laying eggs in your area is an important step to prevention. (photograph: Amy Prentice)
In case your squash crops are yellowing and wilting, they could be affected by squash vine borer.
Verify the stems close to the bottom of the plant for small holes and frass, which appears like sawdust. These are indicators that squash vine borer larvae — white caterpillars, as much as an inch lengthy, with legs and black heads — are already contained in the plant.
Squash Vine Borer Prevention By means of Plant Alternative
Not all squash crops are equally prone to squash vine borer. Squash vine borers like to focus on Cucurbita maxima (like Hubbard squash) and Cucurbita pepo (like acorn squash, zucchini and pumpkins) however not often are discovered on Cucurbita moschata (like butternut squash.)
Cucurbita moschata is much less affected as a result of it has dense vines that borers have bother penetrating. If you happen to make a degree of selecting to plant squash varieties which can be much less enticing to squash vine borer, your backyard is more likely to keep borer-free. However you don’t have to cease planting the opposite squash that you simply like to develop and eat — you simply have to take precautions.
Squash vine borers can even have an effect on melons and cucumbers — these are each within the Cucurbitaceae household, like squash — however that is uncommon.
Planting squash varieties that aren’t as prone to squash vine borer is a simple technique of prevention.
Squash Vine Borer Prevention By means of Timing
Figuring out when squash vine borers are lively in your area is step one. Within the North, squash vine borer moths are laying eggs in late June and early July. Within the South, they emerge in Might and there may be as much as two generations per 12 months and moths might proceed to put eggs by way of mid-August. The West Coast is least impacted by squash vine borers, the place they’re unusual.
Within the South the place winters are gentle, plant squash as early as doable (as quickly because the soil warms to 60° Fahrenheit) so it’s possible you’ll harvest earlier than squash vine borer is lively — or no less than earlier than borers kill the crops. Northerners can wait till late July to plant squash, after the borers have come and gone.
Squash Vine Borer Prevention By means of Crop Rotation
In case your backyard had a squash vine borer downside the season earlier than, chances are high that there are cocoons in your soil that can emerge as vine borer moths simply as your squash crops are starting to take off (until you timed your planting otherwise).
Planting a special kind of crop the place you planted squash the 12 months earlier than will deprive vine borers of their host plant, and they’re going to transfer on out of your backyard. The next 12 months, squash vine borers should still discover your squash crops, however no less than you haven’t made it simple for them.
Squash Vine Borer Prevention By means of Obstacles
A floating row cowl positioned over your squash seedlings will stop squash vine borers from laying their eggs in your backyard. It is a easy, cheap repair, however bear in mind that row cowl may even stop pollinators from reaching the crops. (If the crops aren’t pollinated, they won’t produce fruit.) Be sure you take away the row cowl as soon as the crops start to flower to permit entry to pollinating bugs.
Alternatively, you may replicate the pollination course of by hand-pollinating. First, determine a feminine flower to pollinate. It should have a small embryonic fruit between the flower and the plant stem. This embryonic fruit wants pollen with the intention to develop and mature. Subsequent, decide a male flower — you may inform it’s male as a result of there will likely be nothing between the flower and the stem — and peel again the petals to disclose the pollen-covered anther. Brush the anther across the stigma of the feminine flower, after which shut the flower with a clothespin to permit the pollination course of to finish.
One other technique is to take a small, delicate painter’s brush and dab the comb onto the anther to gather among the pollen, after which frivolously “paint” the pollen onto the stigma of the feminine flower.
Floating row cowl supplies a barrier to forestall the squash vine borer moth and different flying pests from getting shut sufficient to put eggs on plant foliage.
One other barrier technique is wrapping the stems of rising squash crops with aluminum foil. Solely the primary inch or two above the soil line must be wrapped. This can cease the adults from laying eggs on the plant or, no less than, cease the hatched larvae from getting into the plant. Each 10 days, take away the foil and wrap the stems once more so the stems have room for continued progress.
Protecting the principle stem of the plant with mulch may even deter the moths from laying their eggs.
Squash Vine Borer Prevention By means of Lure Crops
Yet one more technique you may make use of is to plant lure crops: crops that you simply’re prepared to sacrifice that function decoys. Lure crops attract pests — diverting them away from the crops that you simply’re attempting to guard.
To choose an efficient lure crop, discover out which crops a pest loves greatest. Within the case of squash vine borers, Blue Hubbard squash, Magda squash and acorn squash are good choices. Sow or transplant one in all these varieties into your backyard two weeks earlier than planting the crops that you simply intend to develop for your self.
Area the lure crop and the true crop about 10 toes other than one another, give or take two toes. If all goes in accordance with plan, the pests will goal the lure crops earlier than they search out the true crops, which in a best-case situation are squash varieties that they discover much less interesting for egg laying.
Lure crops are additionally efficient instruments for monitoring and detection. Once you discover eggs or injury in your lure crops, to lift up your backyard’s defenses and be further vigilant. You may destroy eggs in your lure crops as you discover them, however do you have to miss any, it’s not a giant deal in the event 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 instruments to assist detect — however not management — the presence of squash vine borers. The traps use a pheromone lure that pulls male squash vine borer moths however not the females. That is good as a result of gardeners actually don’t need to entice egg-laying females to their gardens. Nevertheless, when the males are current, it’s an indication that the females have to be on the town too.
Cling a lure simply earlier than squash vine borers are anticipated to reach in your space, and verify them every day for any catches. When you begin seeing moths caught within the lure, it’s time to examine your crops for eggs and, for those who haven’t finished so already, this could be a good time to place up row cowl as an exclusion technique of management.
The primary time you discover a trapped moth, file the date. When the subsequent rising season comes round, you’ll have an correct thought of when squash vine borers will present up, give or take every week. Your individual recorded date will likely be extra dependable than what you’ll find in books or on-line as a result of as a consequence of local weather change, some pests are rising sooner than ever earlier than.
The lures have a lifespan of a month or a month and a half, relying on the model, so if you put out a lure, set a reminder in your telephone to take the lure down or exchange the lure as soon as the time has elapsed. You could want only one lure a 12 months for early detection, although for those who stay in a heat local weather the place two generations of squash vine borers happen yearly, it’s a good suggestion to exchange an expired lure so the lure stays efficient all summer season.
Easy, efficient paper traps mix lures with sticky paper to ensnare moths. If the sticky paper turns into lined in bugs or grime, it should not be efficient, so the entire lure must be changed.
There are plastic, bucket-type traps accessible that use a lure and an insecticide slightly than sticky paper. These price greater than sticky traps however could also be price the additional expense in a dusty backyard the place sticky paper shortly turns into too soiled to be efficient.
Keep in mind that these traps aren’t a substitute for management strategies. The traps might kill many male moths in your backyard, however all it takes is one feminine moth to put eggs for a squash plant to satisfy its finish.
Pheremone traps entice male squash vine borer moths, however not females, which is nice as a result of the very last thing you need is to draw egg-laying females to your backyard. The traps are a very good detection software however not efficient at controlling squash vine borers. (photograph: Amy Prentice)
What to Do to Save a Plant Already Affected by Squash Vine Borer
If you happen to detect squash vine borer early on, you should still be capable of save the plant.
Not like different pests that lay eggs in tight clusters, squash vine borer moths unfold out eggs, making them more durable so that you can spot and take away. Examine the stems and leaf stalks close to the bottom of the crops for brown oval eggs which can be “glued” on, decide them off and get rid of them.
One other good piece of recommendation is to wipe down the stems with a humid fabric a few instances every week to take away any eggs you couldn‘t simply spot. That is reported to be efficient as any chemical management technique.
As a result of it takes squash vine borers a while to make their method by way of a stem or vine (consuming plant tissue as they go) you might be able to kill borers earlier than they’ve gotten too far. A skinny wire with a sharpened tip may be inserted from the bottom of the plant up the stems to kill borers. Then, mound soil over the bottom of the plant to cowl up the injury attributable to each the borers’ entry factors and the wire.
As an alternative of blindly utilizing a wire inside a stem, you need to use a single-edged razor blade or a utility or Exacto knife, slice into the stem a few inches above the entry gap to search for and take away the white larvae.
The larvae bore into stems and proceed to work their method by way of the crops, hollowing out stems and vines as they eat. Given sufficient time, squash vine borers can transfer a number of toes by way of vines.
Alternatively, you need to use Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt, a organic management utilized in natural gardening. Bt is a micro organism that can solely hurt caterpillars (moth and butterfly larvae) so it’s protected to make use of round individuals, pets and different bugs — however take care when making use of close to milkweed or different butterfly host crops. Nevertheless, Bt sprayed on the surface of the plant received’t cease borers on the within.
Use a syringe to inject liquid Bt contained in the plant stems between 1 and a couple of inches above the soil line. Comply with the producer’s directions for diluting Bt focus, then use simply 1cc per stem or vine.
Injecting Bt can also be an efficient preventative measure for squash vine borer. Repeat the method each week till the specter of squash vine borer has handed.
As soon as a squash vine borer infestation has gotten very far — borers, given sufficient time, can transfer a number of toes by way of vines — the borers can’t be killed with out killing the plant within the course of. If the plant has stopped producing, it’s time to take away the vines and throw them within the trash, borers and all.
Management Squash Vine Borers with Useful Nematodes
If you happen to grew squash in your backyard over the last rising season, overwintering squash vine borer pupae could also be within the soil, ready to emerge as moths that can quickly breed and produce the subsequent era. The excellent news is you may enlist useful nematodes to destroy the pupae earlier than they will mature. Like utilizing Bt, making use of useful nematodes is a type of organic management that’s authorised in natural gardening.
There are greater than 25,000 identified species of nematodes, a few of that are dangerous for human well being, livestock or crops, although there are just a few nematode species which can be marketed on the market due to their potential to regulate pests. For squash vine borer management, search for a product that features Heterorhabditis bacteriophora, an entomopathogenic nematode species. (Right now, NemaSeek Hb by Arbico Organics is the one supply of Heterorhabditis bacteriophora that’s available to customers.)
Useful nematodes in soil search out pupae and discover their method contained in the pupae’s our bodies. As soon 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 till there may be nothing left to eat, at which level they search out extra pupae. The nematodes will repeat this course of till there aren’t any pupae left.
NemaSeek Hb has a shelf lifetime of 14 days when refrigerated, although it must be utilized immediately as a result of nematodes reside creatures that thrive in soil, not the fridge. And the complete container must be used the identical day it’s first opened. The producer additionally advises solely making use of early within the morning or predusk when soil temperatures are above 42°F.
Use a hose-end sprayer or pump sprayer to use the nematodes on to moistened soil, although in case you have neither, you need to use a watering can. Proceed to water the realm each three to 4 days. Two nematode functions are really useful, every week to 10 days aside, and much more functions could also be required for a extreme infestation.
If borers are already current inside squash crops that you simply need to rescue, nematodes may be injected into the vines utilizing a syringe, very similar to how Bt may be injected into vines. The nematodes will search out and destroy the borer larvae the identical method they destroy borer pupae.
As a aspect profit, Heterorhabditis bacteriophora may even management different borers in addition to asparagus beetles, berry root weevils, billbugs, black vine weevils, carrot weevils, chafers, Colorado potato beetles, corn rootworms, noticed cucumber beetles, flea beetles, Japanese beetles, leafminers, Might/June bugs, candy potato weevils, ticks and extra pests.
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Hyperlinks & Assets
Episode 008: Natural Pest Management with Jeff Gillman
Episode 050: Natural Pest Management: Useful Bugs And Past
Episode 144: Understanding Nematodes: Microscopic Worms, Pal or Foe of Your Backyard
Episode 195: Figuring out and Controlling Backyard Pests Organically
Episode 219: Troublesome Backyard Pests: Natural Management Methods That Work
joegardener weblog: Squash Bug Prevention & Management
joegardener weblog: Japanese Beetle Prevention & Management
joegardener weblog: How Do I Develop Winter Squash?
joegardener weblog: How Do I Develop Summer season Squash?
joegardener free useful resource: 10 Frequent & Damaging Backyard Pests: Prevention & Management
joegardener On-line Gardening Academy™: Three widespread programs on gardening fundamentals; managing pests, ailments & weeds; and seed beginning!
joegardener On-line Gardening Academy Grasp Pests, Ailments & Weeds
GGW Episode 723: Pure Pest and Illness Management – Greener Options to Frequent Gardening Challenges
NemaSeek Hb by Arbico Organics
Pest Wizard Squash Vine Borer Lure Equipment
Bucket-Kind Squash Vine Borer Lure
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Squash vine borer (Melitta curcurbitae) is a backyard pest that destroys squash crops and is sort of not possible to cease as soon as it has gotten inside a squash vine, however there are good, natural gardening practices you may undertake to forestall this pest from ever turning into an…