You covered quite a bit of various methods for combating the squash bores. Nice work! Much appreciated. Yours is the best over all I've read on the subject over the past few years.
It’s hard enough doing all the work preparing soil, planting , keeping weeds out, watering , feeding , then you’ve gotta be there constantly looking under every leaf for this blasted bugs eggs. I’ll stick to blueberry bushes. And buy squash at the store, I don’t eat squash that often anyways. I mostly give away my squash. I just use to love growing everything.
Great video, very informative! I garden in northern Utah and use two of the methods you’ve described: in spring I dig up the area where the squash plants grew and whether or not I see cocoons I leave the disturbed soil for a week so the birds can find them. Then I transplant all the volunteer onions around the young squash plants. Then for good measure I sprinkle dill seed around the base also. As the squash grows the furry dill weed and onions seem to disguise the smell and I rarely lose my plants.
Great suggestion!! Even with all the prevention I take, I've already lost 2 squash plants due to squash vine borer! I hate those things!! Now it's time, if not too late, to sprinkle a little dill seed and see if that helps! Thanks again!!
Good vid. Show the larvae in the stem and the moth itself for identification. The best results i had was putting my seedlings in a bed crowded w wild onions. This was due to being too busy to clear the onions. The squash did great, no borers. I attributed this to masking. So yes to the basil, marigolds, mint. The abslute nest comtrol I had was on the farm and raising turkeys in the garden. They will peck at anything that moves. Spit it out but its dead. It was fantastic. The turkey chicks will also kill flea beetles. It really happened. You havevto protect the chicks from hawks, dogs, fox, coyotes. Just release the chicks 2 hrs a day. Lure the chicks back into the tractor pen w some feed. Best life ever. 🌱
If I put a net mesh over my squash plant, will that keep the squash bugs away once I get rid of all the eggs or are they just going to come from the ground? I’d appreciate any help and or advise.
I have a "pet" chicken (separated from coop due to pecking order and emaciation). She is a master insect eater (except sow bugs) while I prepared the beds for planting. She did not miss any that I can tell. It's so fun to work as a team with my pestimator! I either point or say "chick chick" and she knows what to do like lightning. I bought BT and I will use DE when the earth is dry with companion plants and peppermint scent. I had no problems last year with butternut squash, but 1st time squash and pumpkins in new beds this year, so hopefully none in soil yet. Thanks for the video and everyone for the ideas. 😘
Excellent video. I think a great idea to cover a "surgical area" of the vine is to cut a paper tube, place it around the Vine, then fill with dirt. I have also taken floral tape and rewrapped my Vine closed, successfully!! Taking a straight coat-hanger wire and jabbing it up into the borer hole,once you find the hole ,will also help to jab kill the worm!
All great ideas!! I really like the ideas to cover the vine "wound" so to speak. Thank for the suggestions as I am sure to try that out!! Thanks for watching and giving great ideas!!
Very informative video. I have used several of the methods you described. Crop rotation, foil, panty hose, checking for eggs & frass several times a day, etc. Like you, I don't like using anything that will harm good bugs. By checking plants daily, I have successfully saved some by carefully digging the larvae out. If you're checking several times a day you can catch them when they're near the entry point & get them out. I had three larvae in the same spot one time! This was when I was only checking once a day. It's just my husband & I, so I only grow one zucchini plant & one yellow squash at a time. In addition to the vine borer, we have a terrible time each year with squash bugs, so this year I am growing them under heavy duty insect netting & I hand pollinate. Doesn't take long with two plants (best time is morning because the flowers close up in the afternoon & have faded by the next day) & we still get enough to share. We started growing our tomatoes & peppers under a high cover as well to keep moths from laying eggs on them & caterpillars eating our plants & burrowing into the fruit. They don't need pollination, so it works out well. Interesting thing happened this year. We planted our tomatoes & peppers in the raised bed where we grew squash last year. Two squash vine borer moths came out in that bed & because I had the cover on it, they couldn't escape. I sprayed them with water mixed with a teaspoon of sal suds & they died without doing any damage to my plants. Totally made covering my plants worth it. Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I wish you great success in your garden. 😊
It is really tough to totally eliminate the damage this grubs can do in a short time. I've got some squash that were attacked and i've killed them but in some squash I've had 5 or 6 each in a different joint going up the vine. It's crazy. Nevertheless, some are still going and next season I will be planting some more types less vulnerable to the squash vine borers. Happy Gardening!!!
Hello, sorry I don't know your name. I am Ross Murphy of Shawnee, Kansas, a gardener with much useful experience I manage a three-acre Community Garden and 15 to 18 families grow much of their fresh food here. First, the Roly-polies. Don't ever revile them; welcome them. They are extremely beneficial to your garden. They never eat any growing plant, what they do is consume garden wastes, even wood, digest it and return it to your garden as fertilizer. Their power and usefulness can hardly be imagined. Let me give you a good example. Some years ago, when my family were growing up here, we had a small family flock of hens, and a rooser, a real necessity. Neighbors wanted to buy eggs so gradually our flock grew to 250, plus 15 roosters. One day, I truck rolled by carrying ground up tree trunks and branches, probably ten tons of wood chips. I ran out and stopped the driver. He had to drive to Leavenworth to dump this in the landfill. I told him he could dump in my garden, which was like rubies or emeralds as he had a round trip of 70 miles. The next day he had an equal amount, two gigantic mounds of the wood. As our hens ran free-range, I put chicken wire fence around them Soon the first roly Polies arrived and went to work, eating the wood. The population grew to thousands, then probably to millions. They ate every day, all freezing winter too. At the end of two years the mounds of wood chips was reduced to three feet high of nitrogen, phosphorous and Potassium, the three elements of fertilizer. I didn't have to pay them anything. Now, that spring, I took down the chicken fence and let the chickens go at it. They like to scrape and scratch and they did this so they could feast on the roly-polies. This reduced my chicken feed costs greatly and the eggs were wonderful! They scattered that fertilizer over a huge area and I didn't have to pay them anything. That amount of very rich fertilizer would have cost me dearly at Home Depot, and the stuff at HD is 80 per cent filler. Next the squash vein maggot. The eggs are laid by a pretty dark fly, about half an inch. They have dark bodies and orange swept-back wings. They start in as soon as your squash, of whatever variety, first get their leaves. So you have to act quickly to stop them before they lay their tiny eggs. The eggs hatch and the larvae begin to chew their way into the stems, at ground level. They enter the stem when they are the size of fly maggots. At this time you can see their excreta at the bottom of the stem; it looks like fine sawdust. At this moment you have a chance to kill them, by taking a long needle and stabbing it around in the stem, killing some of them. This is only chancy though, so now I will tell you the exact, perfect, never fail way to destroy them. I am the man with THE PLAN I think I am the only person who knows this and now there will be ALL OF YOU. About 20 or so years ago, in the German state of Thuringia, was discovered an amazing thing: It was a bacteria, a microbe, that if it were eaten by a corn ear worm, for example, the bacteria, upon reaching the gut, starts to multiply, dividing and dividing again, you've seen movies of cell division before, I feel sure. They multiply so fast, with so many that the will burst the stomach of the worm grub and destroy it. What a brilliant discovery! Now you can buy it from any garden shop or hardware store, in powder or liquid form. I have used it for years and it is very effectived. So I bought some of the liquid and painted the stems of the squash plants so the larvae would eat it and die. This was only partly successful, because maybe the grub didn't eat it, or the rain washed it away. And then I had my serendipitous moment, my creative solution. Here it is: When the leaves start on your squash, go to your pharmacy and buy---I think it is size 50--hypodermic needle. The price is about fifty cents. Not the kind for injecting insulin, the needle won't push the watery powder through. With the larger needle you can suck up some of the BT, bacillus thuringiensis, in liquid form. Inject a small amount of the bacillus at the bottom of the stem of your plants. You only have to do this once; the bacillus will take up residency inside the stem. Now, when the grub eats his way into the stem, before her ever gets through into the interior, BT wiill overwhelm him and kill him ded, ded, ded. BT is harmless to people, and it will never move as high as the blossoms or the squash the plant produces.No aluminum foil, no panty hose, no band-aids or stretch adhesive needed at all. It is harmless to bees and other pollinators. I have had many careers in my lifetime: Newspaper Editor of a Hollywood weekly newspaper; computer diagnostician and repairman, in Los Angeles; electrical engineer in a great laboratory in Upstate New York, Inventor; one of the top IBM computer salesmen in America, professional, award-winning free--lance writer, business columnist for Washington Post/Newsweek for six years. I also invented a garden weeding tool now in use, not only in the US, but also in five foureign countries. You hold it in your hand and it kills weeds forever. I also invented a little circuit and some microprogramming that will make a gigantic computer system includiing all its outside devices, diagnose itself in less that half a minute. My invention is used in every pc computer system in the world, more that three billion, plus now in every cell phone. The royalties paid to IBM for the use of my circuit has earned three billion dollars for IBM. I wish I could continue to tell you about how to rid your garden of the Squash Stinkbug, but enough for now. Ross Murphy, Shawnee, Kansas, suprwedr@sbcglobal.net.
Thank you for this informative video. I am 81 and have always have a garden since childhood, so many years, but the last two years I have never seen so many squash bugs, stink bugs and the Squash borers! I am wondering why there are so many of these in the last few years everywhere! Maybe the powers-that-be are breeding these, turning these loose on society LOL
I've been researching this for a couple of days. This whole video seems incredibly rational and informative! I think it's the most comprehensive video I found so far. Thank you very much for a nice video.
Rachel on that 1870's Homestead shared that she's been using stretchy medical tape on her vines. So I did that and for weeks I had no problems. However, I'm realizing that it's not just the base roots that are at risk. I found frass on a different area, so now I'm treating with bt. Tried the flashlight. I do see through the vines pretty well, but identifying the grub is still a little tricky. This video was great though. Super informative! Thank you, Louisiana Simple Living! :)
Thank you Anna!! I had one winter squash vine that had 1 in the first 7 or 8 joints starting at the base. Two of the joints even had 2 borers in it. You just can't cover or wrap up all your plants, LOL! Again, thanks for commenting!!
I used this strategy this year and it saved a few of my pumpkin vines - bury the joints with compost and soil - enough so that it doesn’t wash away when watered - I dug a shallow trench where the vine path was - this will cause it to root all along the vine - thus when the svb eats the base of the vine (causing water not to be able to flow through the vine), the vine can still take up water via these roots along the vine - which are also closer to the winter squash.
*Great recommendations as well!* Planting pumpkins and some winter squash is a good strategy as they do root every 5 - 8 feet so even if the main root gets infected, the other rootings will keep the plant going. In fact, I have a Dickinsons pumpkin plant still going strong and producing and the original main root has long been destroyed and pulled up. I harvested a pumpkin a few days ago and have another 6 or 7 from earlier in the season. Thanks again for your suggestions as that's a great idea to help your plant survive the SVB's damage.
This is the BEST video I have ever watched for squash vine borer!!! Hands down! I am in zone 6 and we too have 2 generations of the culprit in our area. In years past I have taken a small magnified mirror and a knife out to the garden every morning to scrap the eggs off (tedious) but I still have several vines infected. Last year I gave in but am determined to overcome the dreaded worm/grub like varmint this year
Here in s.c. I add my fireplace and outside pit ashes and hardwood leaves as well as my compost and till it all in. So far so good. Crop rotation is essential.
I agree. Crop rotation is one of most important concepts with gardening. Unfortunately, that's hard to do as some people have a 4 x 5 bed or something like that. Nevertheless, it's something I do as well.
I had the most gorgeous spaghetti squash I have ever seen until the squash vine borer hit. I removed some, injected BT. I lost because there were borers up several feet...not just at the base.
Lake Charles resident here. The SVB has kicked my butt for a few years now. I have become quite the student of this pest. Anyway, this is something I’m trying out now that I started raising chickens - I let them scratch through my beds and soil pile during garden down time (especially Winter). They look for worms but hopefully are finding cocoons as well. I have found several myself while digging around and my chickens love to eat them.
I tried the SVB traps which is a sticky tent containing a lure. It works by luring the male to the female pheramone, then they get stuck to the tent. It caught a dozen in the first 24 hours. The problem is after a dozen got stuck, I had to change sticky tents, but did use the same lurs. I caught 2 dozen with a jar and lid while they were hanging out in the milkweed... that's 3 dozen caught in 24 hours! I removed a ton of eggs. Even after checking frequently, removing eggs, killing adults, they still got my plants in the end when we had record temps and it just got too hot to patrol.
That amazing that you were able to kill that many and that many were around your garden. I'll have to try out the Milkweed trick. If you can get them to the milkweed, it seems you had luck trapping them. Everything you said about the heat is so true. Everybody is struggling right now with the heat and getting out into your garden. I know I am!! Thanks again for the comments and Garden On!!
Thank you for this video. It covered a lot of issues. This is my first year with this pest and I am learning something every day. Really appreciate you sharing your experiences...
My 1st vine borer year! Have grown for years in Idaho no problem. I saw a picture of moth on TH-cam then the very next day saw 1 in my garden. A week later my spaghetti squash gone. I've killed 2 since and they have taken out 2 more squash.This is an exceptional good video. I am putting peppermint oil on cotton balls and placing near stem. This worked well for cabbage moths. The white moths would go all around the garden and not even try to land near my brassicas so I will do the same for the squash. I will also implement some of your suggestions. Thank you!
Thanks for the comments! This squash vine borers are really a pain and worth trying anything we can to stop them. I love the idea with the peppermint oil in cotton balls to prevent cabbage moths. I need to give that a try this Fall with my Brassicas! 😄
Hello sir. Thanks for the tips. I’m a rookie and never heard of these guys until one destroyed my squash last year! This year I’ll try some of these tips. Thanks a bunch!
The squash vine bore has destroyed all off my cucumber plants. I seen 3 squash vine bore moths around my zucchini and squash plants today. I am gonna try the method of injecting bt into my squash plants and zucchini plants tomorrow . They say do it every week. Yes spraying with bt works but I see where a squash vine bore has bored into one of my zucchini plants.
Those borers drive me crazy. I also live in south Louisiana and started my seeds indoors and planted in the ground at the beginning of March. I only got to harvest one zucchini and I’m left with 1 zucchini plant out of 3. Out of my summer squash plants I have 1 plant left out of 5. Now all of my female flowers are dying off before they get to open. Im guessing it’s from all the rain we have been getting. I check my plants daily and pick off and kill the eggs. Definitely going to try some of these methods for the vine borer prevention and check my soil once I pull the plants up. I did plant a few more squash plants about 2 weeks ago and maybe I’ll get a harvest before winter.
VERY VERY HELPFUL!! You really gave some GREAT well thought out advice and covered the topic fully. Everytime I look at my squash I find eggs and ALWAYS 2 mating squashbugs getting sick of it. Are they ever gonna take a break and come up for air? I have picked off SO MANY & killed in soapy water. Ugh! I am going out right now to inspect and then cover the squash stem with D.Earth and then foil it and hunt for vine borer eggs/moths/ 💩. Ech!😱 The squash pests are so voracious. Like what would they be eating, laying eggs on and mating on if they didn't have MY squash plants? 😮 Lol.😊
If they weren't in your squash plants, they for sure would be in mine, LOL! Hopefully, your preventive measures help you get a great harvest. Squash Vine Borers are such as pain but so are the squash stink bugs. They are getting on my tomatillos which really aggravates me as I only planted a few this year. Thanks for your comments. Let us know how your preventive measures worked!
We are getting hit badly now in SC.. It is war injecting bt and slicing into the vine. I am squishing them!!! I also set out yellow bowls too! Thanks for your informative video!! I even covered them in tulle but they still bore in.
They are truly a bug that is just difficult to overcome but together we've got to try. Squash is too good to let the Squash Vine Borer win. Thanks and sending prayers to SC to not get hit too hard by the squash vine borer!!
I had no idea that you could do all these things. My squash was decimated and that area became dead for 5 seasons. I have a volunteer crook neck start up this year, lots of blossoms but no mature fruit. I had to cover it with hard ware cloth due to rats and maybe that's why no fruit. I see no evidence of borer. I will remove the hardware cloth and place some sprigs of dead mint leaves at the base of each stem, spray with neem and keep looking. Thank you!😊
Good luck! These are all options that we can try. The SVB is truly a formidable foe. Hopefully, after not growing in the area that the SVB has moved on. They are still really bad around here but that's part of gardening I guess. Thanks for the comment and Garden On!!
Row cover didn’t help me this year. For my Connecticut Field Pumpkins, what did do the trick was burying/mulching the stem. The base of the plant is pretty much dead, but those advantageous roots are doing the job!! I had so many borer moths this year, southern New Hampshire.
Wow, sorry you are getting the SVB in New Hampshire!! The plant can be pretty resilient. My Dickenson's pumpkins do the same. They re-root along the vine and that really helps out. I do cover my stems with dirt as well. Unfortunately, with other squash plants, the SVB's just move up the vine and lay eggs at the branches above the roots!! Thanks for watching!!
What a fantastic, thoughtful, well-considered video! Great solid, practical information for gardeners in different situations. Thank you. I'm trying again this year but I'm putting everything in pots under row covers with the edges weighted down with lengths of EMT so the little buggers can't crawl underneath. I have not tried this, but I did see where someone suggested taking sewing pins and when you see frass, impale the stem at 1/4" intervals going through the center and alternating at right angles. The idea is you'll go through the grub and they can't progress up the vine and will die. The drawbacks I see are you could miss it, it could still do fatal damage while it's in place, and now you've got pins everywhere. It's not supposed to hurt the stem. But, combined with your flashlight idea, if you can pinpoint the location, it may be worth it if you don't want to do surgery. A last-ditch effort to be sure but if one does nothing the plant's a goner anyway. My concern with the lure is it will be like Japanese beetle traps-it will bring more in than would otherwise come to your yard in the first place and those that aren't trapped are free to do damage. To my mind, the best way to use a lure is to have it in someone else's yard who doesn't grow squash, preferably upwind, but they'd have to be a good friend or a kind soul.
LOL! I agree, I wonder if my upwind neighbor would mind if I put some Squash Vine Borer traps in there yard. I love it! Keeping the buggers out from the plants using a row cover is the only sure way to avoid crippling actions by the SVB, but then you still need to pollinate them yourself potentially. The other method, and I'm going to put a video out in tonight or tomorrow is to plant different plants than our traditional summer squash. They need to be from the Cucurbita Moschata family. This includes cultivars like the Butternut, Tromboncino, Calabaza, Cushaw, and Dickenson's and Long Island Cheese Pumpkins, among others. Even though the SVB may hit the original root, they re-root every so often so they should survive. They have tougher vines so it is somewhat resistant to the SVB as it is. Thanks for you comment and let me know how successful you are in avoiding our SVB enemies.
@@LouisianaSimpleLiving Thank you for that list. I have trellises so Tromboncino would work and I have some of the winter squash seeds. If you like butternut try honey nut-smaller, sweeter and they did escape damage. Looking forward to the video!
Thanks, I didn't go with Tromboncino but did some butternut, Dickinson's pumpkin, and Zucchino Rampicante that all are doing reasonably well. I will definately try the Honey nut!
Your description of "the battle against vine borer" was very complete and informative, but after three years of losing the battle, I gave up trying to raise zucchini and yellow crookneck last year and planted Trombocino squash which course you may wish to follow? Trombocino's immature fruit is almost as tasty as zucchini or crookneck, but its solid stem seems to resist borers. Even squash bugs don't seem to bother it. But watch out, the vines can quickly take over your garden so head them back. And avoid allowing the fruit to mature into giant butternut-like squash unless you have lots of storage space!
I have made a similar switch myself. I still have a few summer squash that I just getting a quick harvest as the squash vine borer is killing those plants. I do more butternut squash and I planted a tromocino this year and get a few already. I still like summer squash but these do pretty well as an alternative. You are right about storage space. Those tromboncini get huge and fast! Thanks for the suggestions!!
Oh No ! Yesterday I saw squash borers on my squash plant making babies! I’m in zone 9a. I immediately inspected for eggs and sprayed neem oil and covered with row cover. I plan to pollinate by hand my few squash plants. Thank you for creating this very informative video.👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
I have never had issues with the borers before this year and I happened to stumble across your video. It was 9 pm and I took my flashlight and headed out to the garden to preform surgeries... I know I lost one patty pan but if the Lord is willing I'll have saved countless others. Tomorrow I plan on checking all stems and getting super proactive! I do have marigolds, onions, basil, dill and catnip planted directly with my squash plants but I guess those didn't work for me this year. I also don't plant squashes near each other because of Powdery Mildew and squash bugs but this year has been quite rough and nothing I've done (so far) seems to deter these pests but I will be using some of the other techniques you've discussed. Thanks so much for the info!!!
PS I've also covered over different parts of the squash vines (the ones on the ground and not growing vertically) with soil to encourage multiple rooted sections so that if the borers get into one section hopefully I won't lose the entire plant. Winter squashes are really good at rooting in multiple locations 👍
The squash vine borer started hitting me about 4 or 5 years ago. I'm the same way with planting. My summer squash is not planted together to give them a better chance. I have various plants like marigold, onions, borage, etc., but I haven't found anything that works great. Your thought on covering up the vines on the ground is spot on. Even if the original base part of the plant gets hits hit hard, the remainder, since rooted, can continue on. Thanks for checking out the video!!
Just watched a video where the woman used cups (solo) at base. Another video, a man wrapped tin foil around the base. The cups were put on while plants were small. I've been tearing up basil leaves and spreading them under everything. Thank you for the information. Didn't know what they or eggs looked like yet, so will go hunting now.
I seen a video where the lady injected BT into the stem and she swears by it. Worth looking into. I’m trying it this season. Hopefully it works for me! Good luck!
Please let me know how well it works! This season I've killed a number of the squash vine borer moths as they've come in to place eggs with some pheromone traps. I've used pretty much all the tricks but I've had grubs, somethine more than one, in at least 8 or 9 joints in a gourd plant. It's just pretty incredible they can do so much harm. Nevertheless, I've cut them out with a knife and am hoping they will still make it. I'm just not sure squirting some BT from a proactive basis would work or not. Again, please let me know how you did with using BT injected into the plant.
Thank you! I hope I can get a handle on this! 😳 Last year was my first planting and I had no idea about this disaster! This year I planted carrots in that raised bed and have discovered that these things are what is leaving a casing behind. I saw one of these fly away to identify it. 💔 The war is on! My squash plants are just starting to get big enough to trellis. I tried to dig and search for the buggers but no success. Very hard to see what they crawl out of as it blends with the dirt!!! ...☹️and my back gave out. Great information!!! I needed to know how deep to look for them!!!
OMGosh!! We are also in southern Louisiana and just had to pull out our squash plants due to vine borers. Ugh soooo frustrating that in less than 24 hours the plant can get beyond repair. Oh well, we are getting ready for our "fall" garden and hoping to squeeze a tiny squash harvest in(mostly butternut and zucchini).....if the rain doesn't drain everything first.
My spring and summer garden is still doing okay but am really looking forward to the Fall garden. Thanks for checking out my channel and I will check yours out as well!! We can't ever get too many Louisiana people on TH-cam!! 😃
I'm in South LA too and stopped growing squash years ago after finding the ugly SVBs. However, after healthy vines started popping up in our community garden compost pile I thought I'd try again with a late season planting of 1 or 2 zucchinis and 1 or 2 winter squash. So far they've just poked up their heads but they're covered with netting and I'll do my best to keep that on as they grow! Both types are supposed to remain on the small side so 🤞
WOW I just lost 2 plants from these. They didn't even get to start growing any squash before they got taken out. Guess I need to replace my above ground garden's dirt
I am not sure that would work. You can sort through the dirt to look for the grubs but I'm sure some of them just happen to be flying through and find your squash. It had to have happened that way to begin with. They are tough and a formidable foe but keep gardening on!!!
This is an excellent video! My yellow neck squash are vertically grown on a wooden post. This year I planted 8 plants. I have lost 5. And 2 plants that 3/4 of the stem has been attacked, they nearly died, but have survived and producing fruits but at a much diminished scale. I don’t use any pesticides nor organic methods (because I do not want to hurt the bees) and I do check daily and I intervene daily also and I have to say those squash vine borers are my nemesis! Next year I will try to plant them earlier, cover them and use the marigolds or use one of the onion plants. Can I ask where did you get those yellow bowls? I will also try this technique going forward. Thank you for your very informative video.
I wrapped the base stems in pantyhose and aluminum foil strips and have actually watched the moth fly around and never land to lay eggs. I hope it's because she had no suitable place to lay her eggs. I have seen no borer damage as of yet. Keeping fingers crossed.
That does help, especially for those that try to land around the base!! My problem is the squash vine borers will lay an egg on each "joint" of my squash vine. I had 8 borer grubs in 8 different locations on one vine. Good luck and thanks for checking out the channel and video!!
I use a syringe to inject neem oil into the stems and even cut them out of my plants and then I wrap any spots I cut with plant tape. So far it seems to work.
No mint in the garden unless I’m a container and don’t let the roots grow through, it’s very invasive. We’ve seen them in South Carolina already and we found her eggs under leaves and on the stem under leaf and on the tendril that was wrapped around the stake. We cover ours with insect covers take off a while and put back on. We put them on in evenings bc of pickle worm moth. If I feel I need to pollinate then I do. We lost all our cucumbers and zucchini last year. It isn’t worth the risk to let them destroy our garden we work so hard for.
I agree with the Mint. I have mint and chocolate mint in separate containers, not in the raised beds. I agree!! Thanks for the suggestions. I've lost 2 summer squash thus far but most of my remaining butternut squash and some others are doing fine. I don't expect them to be hit too bad by the squash vine borers.
I normally do go with marigolds in the beds. I've never done Mint as it can spread and take over the garden space. I do have some in containers for that reason. Thanks for checking out Louisiana Simple Living!!
Those bugs are a huge problem in my garden. I have never successfully grown zucchini. I gave up on planting them actually. It was a scene like from a horror movie when I first discovered those white ugly things inside the stem when one of my plants died. I'm trying one more time this year. I have a beautiful plant in a grow bag. I applied some DE and hope for the best. I didn't know the details about the moths but now I know what to look for. This was very helpful. Thanks!
@@LouisianaSimpleLiving spoke too soon! I just went to check on my zucchini and it's full of holes and dirt. DE didn't help. It calls for surgery but it's dark already.
@@iwona4685 Oh no! I'm so sorry and I know just how frustrating that is. You might get them in the morning without them doing too much damage? Good luck.
I covered ALL my young plants under netting until they got to big. Then this week the vine boarders hit all my squashes. Zucchini, acorn, speg and Hubbard. Losing plnts little by little. Doing grub surgery morning and afternoon. Thing grow fast here but but bugs are a battle. Been hete q6 yrs, never had as many bug problems when I lived in West side Wa stste all but 16 yrs of my life. Moving to Oklahoma soon hope I have better luck there with my gardens. I am sure there are way less bugs. Probably shorter growing season though. I use only Neem, olive oil, squirt of dawn and water for insect spray. Just saw the month for the very first time ever 2 days ago.
Man, I feel for you! The Squash Vine Borer is a real pain in the behind. I started having trouble with them only in the last 3 or 4 years. Good luck to keep what you can going!!! Thanks for commenting too!!
Very good video! Wish I had found you earlier in the season! I will try done if your methods next garden season! NEW SUBSCRIBER HERE FROM SOUTH CAROKINA🌻
Awesome! Thank you! Thanks for subscribing and leaving comments. As I like to say, us Southern Gardeners need to work together to help out each other!!
And the rain down here 9b south of new Orleans..washes away the diatomaceous earth too fast. I have a row cover till i get flowers. And i keep the base of the plant wrapped the rest of the time. I have zucchini, yellow, and spaghetti squashes ..mini pumpkin..
I agree, I don't go to a surface application of anything, as we just have too much humidity and rain. Diatomaceous earth can also effect good bugs as well.
I feel your pain! Last year I did not plant any squash or zucchini. I gave up trying to beat those darn things. I tried everything and they still won. I ended up tearing them all out and didn’t plant any more. Too much stress!
I'm having some success with squash and pumpkins in the Cucurbita Moschata family. The SVB still winning some battles, especially with summer squash, but I hope to win the war!!!
Mint doesn’t deter them from my experience. I planted mint all around my squash plants, mint spreads everywhere and it’s in bushes all around, still get borers.
Finally, great info on this! I found one video where the guy injected BT into the plant I don’t know if I want to do that, I don’t want to be eating that. You definitely covered it all and even showed what they look like 😊 thanks so much!
Glad it was helpful! That's why I do this channel! It's my passion to grow my own organic fruits and vegetables and love helping other beautiful people, like you, do the same!!
Excellent information, clearly explained - thank you! I'm going to try wrapping the base of the plants with tulle - the cheap fabric that ballet tutus are made from, as a varied use of recommended by Robbie and Gary's YT channel'. Like tiny, fabric window screen, bugs and other predators are creeped-out when their feet or claws get caught in the web, so they go away! Where do they go? Away. BTW, tulle comes in many colors and can wrap fruits or vegetables or whole plants!
Very good video and you cover all bases with your info & tips/suggestions. I've not found ANYTHING that works to get rid of the squash vine borer. I am in coastal AL (zone 8b...almost 9) and up until the last two years have not had a problem with these evil creatures!! I have tried the foil, pantyhose, diatomaceous earth, BT on plant & injecting, keeping lower stems pruned, planting in a different location, and wood ash around the base of plant. Going to try Neem oil & Dr Bronners Liquid Castile Soap next, spray weekly or after a rain then dust on diatomaceous earth. I don't want to continue using diatomaceous earth as it kills beneficial bugs AND earthworms which HELP put nutrients in my soil. But I may have to resort to this practice IF IT WORKS in order to have my fav summer time veggie! I planted 12 plants EARLY this year (late February & covered if threat of frost) and got two harvests before the borers hit. I have fought & fought for over a month and FINALLY saved just 4 plants. I know my battle isn't over with the vine borer, but I have also discovered ANOTHER problem with grubs in the soil eating the root system away from the plant. I know I have picked out 2 dozen grubs from one container/tub my squash is planted in. I covered the plant back up with soil as it had just pulled out of the ground leaving root system in the dirt. I think it has re-rooted as the plant is now thriving and putting on new growth & blooms. I'm EXTREMELY careful trying NOT to use harmful pesticides as in my area, pollinators are almost non-existent now. I have had lots of squash start to grow but gets what looks like blossom end rot due to lack of pollination. I've been gardening for years (I'm 65 yrs old) and it seems I'm having to relearn ALL that used to work for successful harvests. Can't plant in full sun due to UV rays burning my plants up, strange bugs/diseases I've never seen before, CRAZY weather for the deep south and now flooding rains & these darned squash vine borers & grubs. I depend on my garden to supplement my social security income ESPECIALLY with the shortages & skyrocketing prices so if you learn of ANYTHING that works to solve this problem with vine borers, PLEASE make another video. I've subscribed to your channel as I appreciate the research you did to learn all about the borer, its habits/breeding, etc. Thank you for the time you spent gathering info & making this video for us fellow gardeners!!
Squash Vine Borers are an incredible bug is you think of it. I actually just killed over 40 that were in 2 winter squash plants. There was at least one and sometimes two grubs at each intersection. I also tried some butternut and other types of squash that supposedly they do not bother as well. Thus far, we are doing okay on them. Now, I've never had an issue with grubs eating the root system. I'd love a picture so I can know what you are thinking of.
@@LouisianaSimpleLiving I don't know how to post a picture here of the grubs. I have done some research and found that they are the larva of 3 different beetles. Japanese Beetle, June (Bug) Beetle & the European chafer (Northern & Southern). They are most known for destroying the grass in lawns but will also destroy/eat the roots of garden plants & fruits. They emerge in the spring from deeper in the soil and feed on root systems of grass or vegetation. They thrive in moist soils, the female has to have moist soil to lay her eggs and the larva must have it to stay alive. I have to garden mostly in containers (35 gallon tubs) & raised beds due to my heavy clay soil filled with iron rock. The tubs are where I had my squash plants and where I found the most grubs. BUT, I had one small inground bed I had planted some potatoes & carrots that a critter had destroyed uprooting everything. I knew it was hunting grub worms. We do have them here as we have many June bugs and I did see a Japanese Beetle earlier this spring but had no idea what it was because I had never seen one before. I saw a picture of one in my research to learn what that strange looking beetle was. I have two compost beds that I have found a few grubs in but would just pick them out, save them in a container & feed to my chickens. But lately some critter(s) have been uprooting my Jerusalem Artichokes, my newly planted blueberry bushes, strawberry bed so I must have a bigger problem than I thought with grub worms (that is what we call them here). I live in a very wooded, rural area (40 acres of mostly woods) so my garden area is amongst trees where I have filtered sun and some full sun during different times of the day. Lots of leaves which I normally use for mulching to help with weed control. We've also had a lot of rain the last couple of months, over 20 inches the last week alone so the soil has been SOAKED which has made June bug breeding primo PLUS giving the larva from previous yr(s) supreme thriving conditions. I've found that there are several remedies to get the grubs under control & to keep the beetles from hanging around to lay more eggs. Two of the ones I will try will be drenching the soil with BT, which is an organic treatment that will have to be done a couple of times during the lifecycle of the beetle/larva/grub. I use BT now but just in trying to control the squash vine borer. You must also spray the plants to keep the beetles from eating the leaves and keep them away to prevent more egg laying in the soil. With all the rain we have had, I've not sprayed as much as I would normally as you have to respray after every rain. I can't afford to buy that much BT (as it isn't that cheap this year as in the past) so I've saved the BT for injecting the stems of the squash for the borers. We had an unusually cool LONG spring (for our area) and very wet. We had our yearly rainfall by April this year, if that tells you anything about just how much rain we have had. The other treatment is using Diatomaceous Earth & work it into the soil, then wet it to get it down where the grubs are. In spring/summer they are 1-5 inches down but burrow deeper in the winter. They have a life cycle of 1-3 yrs, depending on the species of beetle laying the eggs that turn into the larva-grub. The other treatments are beneficial nematodes, Milky Spore bacteria & then your harsh pesticides, which I do NOT wish to use in my garden. You can also pick the grubs from the soil but that can be very time consuming as it must be done at least weekly. With the damage from the critters digging up areas of my garden I know I've got to get a hold of this infestation or they will just continue to multiply and I won't win this battle...now if the weather will just cooperate with my efforts...and we just entered Hurricane season so with our last couple of years of storms that either was a direct impact or remnants of a tropical system, I know what to expect this year as it is supposed to be another very active season. I can at least try to get control of the situation this year and hope for better gardening & harvests next year. Drenching the soil with BT will stop the grubs from eating and within 3 days they will die so that is the treatment I will try, which may solve some of the other bug problems I'm having. Thank you kindly for responding to my comment. You can look up "grubs" & gardening problems to read many articles & see many pictures of both the grubs & beetles that they come from & treatments available. Each beetle has their own season for breeding so to know when & how to treat (as well as keeping soil cultivated if gardening inground) you've got to know which beetle(s) you're dealing with. Mine are June Bugs & Japanese Beetles (as I mentioned seeing one earlier this spring). Tent worms, army worms, leaf footed bugs-1st time having them last year on ALL my fruit & veggies, stink bugs, kudzu bugs (ever heard of those??? they love green beans, butterpeas, butterbeans & kudzu which is infamous here in the deep south-look sort of like a mini stink bug but cluster on stems & beans by the 100's...the list is endless and growing every year.
Deep South Bama Grits, the grubs eating at your roots can be taken care of by something called "milky spore" -- it works on Japanese beetle grubs and I think it can work on June bugs, too. It's expensive, but absolutely took care of my grub problem. I had so many grubs!! I still find one here and there, but my plants have been doing pretty well except for downy mildew (i think) and definitely the squash vine borer. Also, I sprinkle the milky spore around my plants and water it into the ground. When the grub eats it, it dies quickly. There are a few videos out about milky spore. Hope it helps!
I know they're expensive, but beneficial nematodes have been the best remedy I've found for the worst soil-dwelling pests. Arbico Organics has different kinds for the various groups of pest and they have regular sales a few times a year. Worth saving up for but follow application directions closely so you don't waste your money.
Great video!. I had that happen for the first time this year in Northeast Ohio. Same deal, came home plant was wilted and was fine the day before. I had looked into squash pests before because I was growing zucchini and wanted to know what to look for early to prevent this. It killed the one plant but the other was fine so far but I did find the hole way up on the stem and saw the borer inside. So it had not been there long. I used a syringe meant to inject a turkey with butter or broth or whatever and used it to inject Monterey BT into the hole to start and an inch or two above and below the entry hole and it saved the plant. My first experience with a squash vine borer and this was year two of having a raised bed and gardening I'm a beginner. First year was a learning experience I had no idea what I was doing and that garden got attacked by everything and had to learn on the fly what to do to deal with everything and although it was frustrating it was a great experience as well and it's very enjoyable growing your own food.
You are absolutely right on the learning part. I'm always still learning something new as that's kind of what gardening is about. My first few years I never had problems with Squash Vine Borer then all of sudden they are here. It's crazy but that's also part of the fun and yes, it is enjoyable to grow your own food! Thanks for checking out the video!!
Thank you ,my plant was attacked, am going to pull my zucchini, and try and save the pumpkins, my first year planting pumpkins and zucchini and didn't know what to expect, now I have to choose what plant to grow,
I am frustrated too. I did the vine surgery last year, but no luck. The plant died. This year, I planted more plants. I am trying peppermint oil this year
I removed two with a crochet hook and tossed it to the garden toad! Lol hopefully the plant survives. Planted two new plants in case. I’m in the Houston area oh and thank you for all the information and tips!!
Ughhh first year gardening and growing Zucchini and Squash, had 2 of each they were pumping out fruit like crazy, giving it to everyone we could. I noticed the leaves yellowing and wilting some, just thought those were aging maybe, figured they needed pruning as they were huge, researched pruning and did that. More started wilting and yellowing, thinking now not enough water as it has been hot and dry for a while or I pruned to heavy. I've seen bugs around but did not know what they were, figured I needed them to pollinate, my plants look horrible now, came on YT to find out why, and I seem to have both these bastards, I've seen that moth flying around and I've also seen the squash bugs which I thought were stink bugs. Looks like the battle is on but I might be too late now for this year but I do not like losing lol. i still have some flowers growing so I am going to at least try.
Man, I sure know how frustrating that can be. Plant looks absolutely great and pumping out squash, and, like that, they are nearly dead. Keep the faith, try it again, and enjoy those flowers!!!
I had all my squash and zucchini plants killed not two times but 3 times, I planted seeds again around the first of August and there up around 3 inches, I had to cover the top of plants because the heat was so bad and I've been using 5 % seven dust to combat the worms that killed all my plants 3 times, I order the Bt yesterday, I'm in waiting now. I sure do want zucchini and squash, when I get that order I will also use it on my cucumbers plants and spray it on my tomato plants. this year has been the worst on my garden and all mine are containers, never a problem before. I live in the lower of North Alabama and for next year it will be fresh soil in clean containers. and will plant on a farm too.
Yes, it seems our pests are much worse than they were a few years ago. I didn't have squash vine borer 4 year ago. Now, every season, they are horrible. Nevertheless, we just got to hang in there and hope we get a few good seasons going forward. Keep gardening!!
I see these things all on my sunflowers 🌻 I haven't heard anyone mention that un all my research im in Southern Louisiana but I'm definitely ready for em
Thanks for sharing!! If you start some summer squash down here, I imagine you will eventually find the grubs getting into your squash as some point. Hence, the video giving ways you can attempt to deter them. Thanks for watching again!!
Also just fyi - svb attacked my Jack-B-Little & Sugar Pie pumpkins this year, but have totally ignored my 2 butternut squash plants. I hear that the svb prefers the other squashes to the bns. I’ve also read that they LOVE Blue Hubbard Squash and that planting a trap crop of those may keep them away from the other squashes. (But not sure my garden is big enough to keep the trap crop far enough away).
I had a couple NICE squash plants that got killed by these last year. This year I think I'm going to spray my plants with Spinosad soap two or three times a week, to make sure I kill any eggs or larvae that might be on the plant, from what I read this should work. And that stuff is cheap and available.
It is so frustrating to go out and see your beautiful squash plants dying. Its still freezing cold here in Iowa, but I'm so ready to get out in my garden and plant...I was born in Louisiana, and would love a trip down there just now. Thanks so much for your great ideas.
Yes, I truly despise the squash vine borer!! Wow, from LA to Iowa. I imagine it gets really cold there. Thanks for watching the channel and let's do what we can to fight the squash vine borer!! Keep gardening!
Hey there. This is my first year growing anything from seed, and I've had a fantastic success. I've dealt with cabbage worms and harvested a bit before giving up on that fight, I've dealt with the ants on my okra, and guess what I got a crash course on today? You guessed it. I live in austin Texas, so similar conditions as LA. (My mom lives on Toledo Bend Lake, there in Many, LA. So I am familiar with the climate) I lost 3 plants yesterday and 2 more today to these guys. I had no idea they were infected until it was far too late. I dissected my biggest baby after the stem broke clean off in my hand and found 5 of those things. Now, I didn't watch any videos before reacting, maybe I should have, but so far, we'll, I'll lose probably 2 more, but I'll keep the rest I bet. So what I did was gouged the pests out of the holes they made as best I could, and cut them away from the stakes I had them zip tied to. Lowered them slowly after one snapped off in my hand. Then I got really close to the stalks with my Sevin sprayer, and sprayed heavy, including inside the holes I had widened to kill the grub with my shears. Turns out i didn't kill them all, and the ones I had missed wanted out of there like I'd set them on fire. Ants rushed over and put them out of their misery before they also succumbed to the poison. 2 bugs, 1 spray. Now I know they needed to root again up higher on the plant to survive, so I went ahead and sealed up the stalk with pruning seal. That might turn out to be a mistake, if the roots can't grow through it. I won't know until I see. I mixed up a strong batch of miracle grow and gave each plant a nice scoop of the water mixture. I threw compost dirt around the bases, and cut back any flowers that were going to try and open this week. I also harvested EVERYTHING because I sprayed HEAVY. I'm not going to fight these things, I'll just kill them.
So I've been doing as you've advised... this was the first year ever that I've encountered this little mofos.... so now I check my plants everyday, morning and before sunset. Now I know what the eggs look like so it's easy to clean, plus all my plants are vertical so it's easier to go through the vines of the plants rather than have them growing on the ground. My question to you is... "What are the tiny greenish/yellowish looking egg like things on the back of my squash leaves?". I've been cleaning those off as well only because I'd rather be safe than sorry, but I'm afraid that maybe I should leave them, because they might be beneficial to the plant 🤷♀️.. I can't tell you how many leaves I had that were full of them. I thought it would just be easier to cut them and call it a day, but then my plant would be left with no leaves. What I've been looking for has been the reddish eggs that are in clusters, and some that are randomly laid throughout the plant... those I've been maintaining, I squish those suckers into non existence.
I'm not real sure what the tiny greenish/yellowish eggs are. But the reddish eggs in tight clusters are most likely the Squash Bug, and not the Squash Vine Borer. The Borer moth normally lays individual eggs but if multiple eggs in one location they are not all clustered tight together like the Squash Bug. Either way, if reddish eggs, you need to get them off. Thanks for watching!!
@@LouisianaSimpleLiving thank you. I did not explain it right, the greenish/yellowish eggs were not necessarily in tight clusters but individually throughout the leaf (bottom of the same leaf).. they kind of look like tiny blisters, once squished they released a liquid, that's why I thought they were eggs. Oh well, they're gone now.
I've used duct tape and masking tape to remove the squash bug eggs from the back of the leaves. That seems to work pretty well. I haven't tried it on the squash vine borer eggs yet, because the borers had already bored into my vines. I'm learning a lot this year. 1. Powdery mildew 2. Squash bugs 3. Squash vine borer Next year I'll be armed much better! 💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼
Great review. Learned about light exam after dark. I’m no longer intimidated by grubs in vine. Slice either side of frass and remove then let Mother Nature heal. Don’t have to bury. Wound will heal. Then I send the devils off to larvae heaven 🔨
Iam currently setting my liquid 7 to stream and precisely spraying around the bottom few inches of the stem of my yellow squash hopefully this works i might kill some lady bugs but probably wont hurt any pollinators since this area is also where the squash bugs like to hang out hopefully ill be killing 2 bugs with one stone .
I pray it works without killing any pollinators! The only issue is with any rain it will wash away. Then you will have to reapply. I choose to stay organic as we need to keep all the pollinators we can but we all got to do what we can to defeat those SVB's.
i have been a gardener for a few decades , i too from lousy-anna lol , i just had a thought instead of dirt how about wrapping some tape around the squash plant instead of packing with dirt ? once you get the grub out , i too have also just covered up the stem with soil once i remove the grub !
@@LouisianaSimpleLiving to be honest NO i just pack a lot of dirt almost a foot up from the damage !!! most of the time it will re-root but not always , it depends on how bad and damaged it has become !!!
Just found your video, very informative, I grew up in Massachusetts and always had a successful garden. Moved to North Carolina fifteen years ago, and my garden has deteriorated yearly until I gave up two years ago. I try to stay organic, but it’s been nearly impossible…so I’m trying again with containers, tulle, and hand pollination. Have you heard of neem soaking the soil? I’m thinking of trying that also. That’s again for a helpful video!
Thanks for sharing! No, I haven't heard of neem soaking the soil. I'm just not sure that would work as every time it rains it would reduce the amount of neem available? However, it's probably worth the try. Let me know how it turns out and it could be another tool in our belt to fight the SVB's.
You covered quite a bit of various methods for combating the squash bores. Nice work! Much appreciated. Yours is the best over all I've read on the subject over the past few years.
Thanks! Glad it was helpful!
It’s hard enough doing all the work preparing soil, planting , keeping weeds out, watering , feeding , then you’ve gotta be there constantly looking under every leaf for this blasted bugs eggs. I’ll stick to blueberry bushes. And buy squash at the store, I don’t eat squash that often anyways. I mostly give away my squash. I just use to love growing everything.
Great video, very informative!
I garden in northern Utah and use two of the methods you’ve described: in spring I dig up the area where the squash plants grew and whether or not I see cocoons I leave the disturbed soil for a week so the birds can find them. Then I transplant all the volunteer onions around the young squash plants. Then for good measure I sprinkle dill seed around the base also. As the squash grows the furry dill weed and onions seem to disguise the smell and I rarely lose my plants.
Great suggestion!! Even with all the prevention I take, I've already lost 2 squash plants due to squash vine borer! I hate those things!! Now it's time, if not too late, to sprinkle a little dill seed and see if that helps! Thanks again!!
Good vid. Show the larvae in the stem and the moth itself for identification. The best results i had was putting my seedlings in a bed crowded w wild onions. This was due to being too busy to clear the onions. The squash did great, no borers. I attributed this to masking. So yes to the basil, marigolds, mint. The abslute nest comtrol I had was on the farm and raising turkeys in the garden. They will peck at anything that moves. Spit it out but its dead. It was fantastic. The turkey chicks will also kill flea beetles. It really happened. You havevto protect the chicks from hawks, dogs, fox, coyotes. Just release the chicks 2 hrs a day. Lure the chicks back into the tractor pen w some feed. Best life ever. 🌱
I cover 6 plants with tulle. It's very cheap and effective. 6 plants give me all the squash I need and I have the time to hand pollinate my plants.
That's a great alternative if you don't mind pollinating them yourself. That for your suggestion and a great idea!!
I love hand pollinating ☺️
If I put a net mesh over my squash plant, will that keep the squash bugs away once I get rid of all the eggs or are they just going to come from the ground? I’d appreciate any help and or advise.
I bought the netting, but put it out to late. The struggle is real.
I have a "pet" chicken (separated from coop due to pecking order and emaciation). She is a master insect eater (except sow bugs) while I prepared the beds for planting. She did not miss any that I can tell. It's so fun to work as a team with my pestimator! I either point or say "chick chick" and she knows what to do like lightning. I bought BT and I will use DE when the earth is dry with companion plants and peppermint scent. I had no problems last year with butternut squash, but 1st time squash and pumpkins in new beds this year, so hopefully none in soil yet. Thanks for the video and everyone for the ideas. 😘
Thank you for commenting. I wish I had a "pet" chicken or any chickens at all, LOL. Thanks for your comments and garden on!!
Excellent video. I think a great idea to cover a "surgical area" of the vine is to cut a paper tube, place it around the Vine, then fill with dirt. I have also taken floral tape and rewrapped my Vine closed, successfully!!
Taking a straight coat-hanger wire and jabbing it up into the borer hole,once you find the hole ,will also help to jab kill the worm!
All great ideas!! I really like the ideas to cover the vine "wound" so to speak. Thank for the suggestions as I am sure to try that out!! Thanks for watching and giving great ideas!!
Very informative video. I have used several of the methods you described. Crop rotation, foil, panty hose, checking for eggs & frass several times a day, etc. Like you, I don't like using anything that will harm good bugs. By checking plants daily, I have successfully saved some by carefully digging the larvae out. If you're checking several times a day you can catch them when they're near the entry point & get them out. I had three larvae in the same spot one time! This was when I was only checking once a day.
It's just my husband & I, so I only grow one zucchini plant & one yellow squash at a time. In addition to the vine borer, we have a terrible time each year with squash bugs, so this year I am growing them under heavy duty insect netting & I hand pollinate. Doesn't take long with two plants (best time is morning because the flowers close up in the afternoon & have faded by the next day) & we still get enough to share.
We started growing our tomatoes & peppers under a high cover as well to keep moths from laying eggs on them & caterpillars eating our plants & burrowing into the fruit. They don't need pollination, so it works out well. Interesting thing happened this year. We planted our tomatoes & peppers in the raised bed where we grew squash last year. Two squash vine borer moths came out in that bed & because I had the cover on it, they couldn't escape. I sprayed them with water mixed with a teaspoon of sal suds & they died without doing any damage to my plants. Totally made covering my plants worth it.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I wish you great success in your garden. 😊
BTW, I just subscribed to your channel. 😊
It is really tough to totally eliminate the damage this grubs can do in a short time. I've got some squash that were attacked and i've killed them but in some squash I've had 5 or 6 each in a different joint going up the vine. It's crazy. Nevertheless, some are still going and next season I will be planting some more types less vulnerable to the squash vine borers. Happy Gardening!!!
Hello, sorry I don't know your name. I am Ross Murphy of Shawnee, Kansas, a gardener with
much useful experience I manage a three-acre Community Garden and 15 to 18 families grow
much of their fresh food here.
First, the Roly-polies. Don't ever revile them; welcome them. They are extremely beneficial to
your garden. They never eat any growing plant, what they do is consume garden wastes,
even wood, digest it and return it to your garden as fertilizer. Their power and usefulness
can hardly be imagined. Let me give you a good example. Some years ago, when
my family were growing up here, we had a small family flock of hens, and a rooser, a real
necessity. Neighbors wanted to buy eggs so gradually our flock grew to 250, plus 15
roosters.
One day, I truck rolled by carrying ground up tree trunks and branches, probably ten tons of
wood chips. I ran out and stopped the driver. He had to drive to Leavenworth to dump this
in the landfill. I told him he could dump in my garden, which was like rubies or emeralds
as he had a round trip of 70 miles. The next day he had an equal amount, two gigantic
mounds of the wood. As our hens ran free-range, I put chicken wire fence around them
Soon the first roly Polies arrived and went to work, eating the wood. The population grew
to thousands, then probably to millions. They ate every day, all freezing winter too. At the
end of two years the mounds of wood chips was reduced to three feet high of nitrogen,
phosphorous and Potassium, the three elements of fertilizer.
I didn't have to pay them anything. Now, that spring, I took down the chicken fence and
let the chickens go at it. They like to scrape and scratch and they did this so they could
feast on the roly-polies. This reduced my chicken feed costs greatly and the eggs were
wonderful! They scattered that fertilizer over a huge area and I didn't have to pay them
anything. That amount of very rich fertilizer would have cost me dearly at Home Depot, and
the stuff at HD is 80 per cent filler.
Next the squash vein maggot. The eggs are laid by a pretty dark fly, about half an inch.
They have dark bodies and orange swept-back wings. They start in as soon as your
squash, of whatever variety, first get their leaves. So you have to act quickly to stop them
before they lay their tiny eggs. The eggs hatch and the larvae begin to chew their way
into the stems, at ground level. They enter the stem when they are the size of fly maggots.
At this time you can see their excreta at the bottom of the stem; it looks like fine sawdust.
At this moment you have a chance to kill them, by taking a long needle and stabbing it
around in the stem, killing some of them. This is only chancy though, so now I will tell
you the exact, perfect, never fail way to destroy them.
I am the man with THE PLAN
I think I am the only person who knows this and now there will be ALL OF YOU. About 20 or
so years ago, in the German state of Thuringia, was discovered an amazing thing: It was a
bacteria, a microbe, that if it were eaten by a corn ear worm, for example, the bacteria, upon
reaching the gut, starts to multiply, dividing and dividing again, you've seen movies of cell
division before, I feel sure. They multiply so fast, with so many that the will burst the stomach
of the worm grub and destroy it.
What a brilliant discovery! Now you can buy it from any garden shop or hardware store, in
powder or liquid form. I have used it for years and it is very effectived. So I bought some of
the liquid and painted the stems of the squash plants so the larvae would eat it and die.
This was only partly successful, because maybe the grub didn't eat it, or the rain washed it
away.
And then I had my serendipitous moment, my creative solution. Here it is: When the leaves
start on your squash, go to your pharmacy and buy---I think it is size 50--hypodermic needle.
The price is about fifty cents. Not the kind for injecting insulin, the needle won't push the watery
powder through. With the larger needle you can suck up some of the BT, bacillus thuringiensis,
in liquid form. Inject a small amount of the bacillus at the bottom of the stem of your plants.
You only have to do this once; the bacillus will take up residency inside the stem. Now, when
the grub eats his way into the stem, before her ever gets through into the interior, BT wiill
overwhelm him and kill him ded, ded, ded.
BT is harmless to people, and it will never move as high as the blossoms or the squash the
plant produces.No aluminum foil, no panty hose, no band-aids or stretch adhesive needed
at all. It is harmless to bees and other pollinators.
I have had many careers in my lifetime: Newspaper Editor of a Hollywood weekly newspaper;
computer diagnostician and repairman, in Los Angeles; electrical engineer in a great laboratory
in Upstate New York, Inventor; one of the top IBM computer salesmen in America, professional,
award-winning free--lance writer, business columnist for Washington Post/Newsweek for six
years. I also invented a garden weeding tool now in use, not only in the US, but also in five
foureign countries. You hold it in your hand and it kills weeds forever.
I also invented a little circuit and some microprogramming that will make a gigantic computer
system includiing all its outside devices, diagnose itself in less that half a minute. My invention
is used in every pc computer system in the world, more that three billion, plus now in every cell
phone. The royalties paid to IBM for the use of my circuit has earned three billion dollars for IBM.
I wish I could continue to tell you about how to rid your garden of the Squash Stinkbug, but enough
for now. Ross Murphy, Shawnee, Kansas, suprwedr@sbcglobal.net.
Thanks for your comments!!
Thanks for the info
Thank you for this informative video. I am 81 and have always have a garden since childhood, so many years, but the last two years I have never seen so many squash bugs, stink bugs and the Squash borers! I am wondering why there are so many of these in the last few years everywhere! Maybe the powers-that-be are breeding these, turning these loose on society LOL
I've never seen them as bad as they are now as well. Sometimes, you've got to laugh to keep from crying, LOL! Thanks for the comment and garden on!!
I've been researching this for a couple of days. This whole video seems incredibly rational and informative! I think it's the most comprehensive video I found so far.
Thank you very much for a nice video.
Great! I'm so very glad you liked the video and the effort put into it!! Thanks from Louisiana Simple Living!!
Bump the algorithm up!
Wish it was as easy as it sounds!!
Rachel on that 1870's Homestead shared that she's been using stretchy medical tape on her vines. So I did that and for weeks I had no problems. However, I'm realizing that it's not just the base roots that are at risk. I found frass on a different area, so now I'm treating with bt. Tried the flashlight. I do see through the vines pretty well, but identifying the grub is still a little tricky. This video was great though. Super informative! Thank you, Louisiana Simple Living! :)
Thank you Anna!! I had one winter squash vine that had 1 in the first 7 or 8 joints starting at the base. Two of the joints even had 2 borers in it. You just can't cover or wrap up all your plants, LOL! Again, thanks for commenting!!
I used this strategy this year and it saved a few of my pumpkin vines - bury the joints with compost and soil - enough so that it doesn’t wash away when watered - I dug a shallow trench where the vine path was - this will cause it to root all along the vine - thus when the svb eats the base of the vine (causing water not to be able to flow through the vine), the vine can still take up water via these roots along the vine - which are also closer to the winter squash.
*Great recommendations as well!* Planting pumpkins and some winter squash is a good strategy as they do root every 5 - 8 feet so even if the main root gets infected, the other rootings will keep the plant going. In fact, I have a Dickinsons pumpkin plant still going strong and producing and the original main root has long been destroyed and pulled up. I harvested a pumpkin a few days ago and have another 6 or 7 from earlier in the season. Thanks again for your suggestions as that's a great idea to help your plant survive the SVB's damage.
This is the BEST video I have ever watched for squash vine borer!!! Hands down! I am in zone 6 and we too have 2 generations of the culprit in our area. In years past I have taken a small magnified mirror and a knife out to the garden every morning to scrap the eggs off (tedious) but I still have several vines infected. Last year I gave in but am determined to overcome the dreaded worm/grub like varmint this year
Thank you Maggie! I absolutely hate those squash vine borers!
Just decimated my first squash crop. Now worried for my other produce. Thanks for the video!
Luckily the squash borer grubs focus in on squash vines for the most part. Hopefully, your other produce will be fine.
Here in s.c. I add my fireplace and outside pit ashes and hardwood leaves as well as my compost and till it all in. So far so good. Crop rotation is essential.
I agree. Crop rotation is one of most important concepts with gardening. Unfortunately, that's hard to do as some people have a 4 x 5 bed or something like that. Nevertheless, it's something I do as well.
I had the most gorgeous spaghetti squash I have ever seen until the squash vine borer hit. I removed some, injected BT. I lost because there were borers up several feet...not just at the base.
Yeah, I've had upward of 5 or 6 at different joints in the vine. They do really suck!
Lake Charles resident here. The SVB has kicked my butt for a few years now. I have become quite the student of this pest. Anyway, this is something I’m trying out now that I started raising chickens - I let them scratch through my beds and soil pile during garden down time (especially Winter). They look for worms but hopefully are finding cocoons as well. I have found several myself while digging around and my chickens love to eat them.
Yes, that sounds like a great plan!! I just don't have chickens in my backyard so can't count on that, LOL!
I tried the SVB traps which is a sticky tent containing a lure. It works by luring the male to the female pheramone, then they get stuck to the tent. It caught a dozen in the first 24 hours. The problem is after a dozen got stuck, I had to change sticky tents, but did use the same lurs. I caught 2 dozen with a jar and lid while they were hanging out in the milkweed... that's 3 dozen caught in 24 hours! I removed a ton of eggs.
Even after checking frequently, removing eggs, killing adults, they still got my plants in the end when we had record temps and it just got too hot to patrol.
That amazing that you were able to kill that many and that many were around your garden. I'll have to try out the Milkweed trick. If you can get them to the milkweed, it seems you had luck trapping them. Everything you said about the heat is so true. Everybody is struggling right now with the heat and getting out into your garden. I know I am!! Thanks again for the comments and Garden On!!
Thank you for this video. It covered a lot of issues. This is my first year with this pest and I am learning something every day. Really appreciate you sharing your experiences...
Glad you enjoyed the video. The squash vine borer really can do a number on your plants so anything we can do to detect and defend is well worth it.
My 1st vine borer year! Have grown for years in Idaho no problem. I saw a picture of moth on TH-cam then the very next day saw 1 in my garden. A week later my spaghetti squash gone. I've killed 2 since and they have taken out 2 more squash.This is an exceptional good video. I am putting peppermint oil on cotton balls and placing near stem. This worked well for cabbage moths. The white moths would go all around the garden and not even try to land near my brassicas so I will do the same for the squash. I will also implement some of your suggestions. Thank you!
Thanks for the comments! This squash vine borers are really a pain and worth trying anything we can to stop them. I love the idea with the peppermint oil in cotton balls to prevent cabbage moths. I need to give that a try this Fall with my Brassicas! 😄
Hello sir. Thanks for the tips.
I’m a rookie and never heard of these guys until one destroyed my squash last year! This year I’ll try some of these tips. Thanks a bunch!
Thanks for watching the video! Anything we can do to fight them off is worth the while!! Thanks again!!
The one zucchini plant that has the squash vine bore in it has no flowers at all I belive they go after the scent of the plants.
The squash vine bore has destroyed all off my cucumber plants. I seen 3 squash vine bore moths around my zucchini and squash plants today. I am gonna try the method of injecting bt into my squash plants and zucchini plants tomorrow . They say do it every week. Yes spraying with bt works but I see where a squash vine bore has bored into one of my zucchini plants.
Try to find any eggs that may be around the base or joints of the plant too.
Really helpful ideas and a ton of research done that you've compiled so nicely! Thanks so much! :)
Thanks and you're so welcome! All the work is worth if this helps someone tackle the squash vine borer nemesis!
Those borers drive me crazy. I also live in south Louisiana and started my seeds indoors and planted in the ground at the beginning of March. I only got to harvest one zucchini and I’m left with 1 zucchini plant out of 3. Out of my summer squash plants I have 1 plant left out of 5. Now all of my female flowers are dying off before they get to open. Im guessing it’s from all the rain we have been getting. I check my plants daily and pick off and kill the eggs. Definitely going to try some of these methods for the vine borer prevention and check my soil once I pull the plants up. I did plant a few more squash plants about 2 weeks ago and maybe I’ll get a harvest before winter.
I too planted another few hoping they won't be a problem in the late season. Thanks for checking out the video!!
Prefect timing for this video. Thank you.
VERY VERY HELPFUL!! You really gave some GREAT well thought out advice and covered the topic fully. Everytime I look at my squash I find eggs and ALWAYS 2 mating squashbugs getting sick of it. Are they ever gonna take a break and come up for air? I have picked off SO MANY & killed in soapy water. Ugh! I am going out right now to inspect and then cover the squash stem with D.Earth and then foil it and hunt for vine borer eggs/moths/ 💩. Ech!😱 The squash pests are so voracious. Like what would they be eating, laying eggs on and mating on if they didn't have MY squash plants? 😮 Lol.😊
If they weren't in your squash plants, they for sure would be in mine, LOL! Hopefully, your preventive measures help you get a great harvest. Squash Vine Borers are such as pain but so are the squash stink bugs. They are getting on my tomatillos which really aggravates me as I only planted a few this year. Thanks for your comments. Let us know how your preventive measures worked!
Pictures of the different stages or an excellent condition. Thank you for the presentation
Absolutely glad to get this information out! Thanks for the comment and garden on!!
Thank you for all the information you provided. I am a first time gardener and didn't know what was going on. Thank You again.
Thanks for checking out the channel and glad it was helpful! Feel free to check out some of the Spring Garden 101 series for even more!
Thanks for the two helpful videos regarding squash vine borers.They are excellent and useful in combating this destructive pest.
Thanks!! We need all the help we can get in fighting those borers, LOL! Thanks for commenting as well. Good luck and Garden on!!
We are getting hit badly now in SC.. It is war injecting bt and slicing into the vine. I am squishing them!!! I also set out yellow bowls too! Thanks for your informative video!! I even covered them in tulle but they still bore in.
They are truly a bug that is just difficult to overcome but together we've got to try. Squash is too good to let the Squash Vine Borer win. Thanks and sending prayers to SC to not get hit too hard by the squash vine borer!!
I had no idea that you could do all these things. My squash was decimated and that area became dead for 5 seasons. I have a volunteer crook neck start up this year, lots of blossoms but no mature fruit. I had to cover it with hard ware cloth due to rats and maybe that's why no fruit. I see no evidence of borer. I will remove the hardware cloth and place some sprigs of dead mint leaves at the base of each stem, spray with neem and keep looking. Thank you!😊
Good luck! These are all options that we can try. The SVB is truly a formidable foe. Hopefully, after not growing in the area that the SVB has moved on. They are still really bad around here but that's part of gardening I guess. Thanks for the comment and Garden On!!
Row cover didn’t help me this year. For my Connecticut Field Pumpkins, what did do the trick was burying/mulching the stem. The base of the plant is pretty much dead, but those advantageous roots are doing the job!! I had so many borer moths this year, southern New Hampshire.
Wow, sorry you are getting the SVB in New Hampshire!! The plant can be pretty resilient. My Dickenson's pumpkins do the same. They re-root along the vine and that really helps out. I do cover my stems with dirt as well. Unfortunately, with other squash plants, the SVB's just move up the vine and lay eggs at the branches above the roots!! Thanks for watching!!
What a fantastic, thoughtful, well-considered video! Great solid, practical information for gardeners in different situations. Thank you.
I'm trying again this year but I'm putting everything in pots under row covers with the edges weighted down with lengths of EMT so the little buggers can't crawl underneath.
I have not tried this, but I did see where someone suggested taking sewing pins and when you see frass, impale the stem at 1/4" intervals going through the center and alternating at right angles. The idea is you'll go through the grub and they can't progress up the vine and will die. The drawbacks I see are you could miss it, it could still do fatal damage while it's in place, and now you've got pins everywhere. It's not supposed to hurt the stem. But, combined with your flashlight idea, if you can pinpoint the location, it may be worth it if you don't want to do surgery. A last-ditch effort to be sure but if one does nothing the plant's a goner anyway.
My concern with the lure is it will be like Japanese beetle traps-it will bring more in than would otherwise come to your yard in the first place and those that aren't trapped are free to do damage. To my mind, the best way to use a lure is to have it in someone else's yard who doesn't grow squash, preferably upwind, but they'd have to be a good friend or a kind soul.
LOL! I agree, I wonder if my upwind neighbor would mind if I put some Squash Vine Borer traps in there yard. I love it! Keeping the buggers out from the plants using a row cover is the only sure way to avoid crippling actions by the SVB, but then you still need to pollinate them yourself potentially. The other method, and I'm going to put a video out in tonight or tomorrow is to plant different plants than our traditional summer squash. They need to be from the Cucurbita Moschata family. This includes cultivars like the Butternut, Tromboncino, Calabaza, Cushaw, and Dickenson's and Long Island Cheese Pumpkins, among others. Even though the SVB may hit the original root, they re-root every so often so they should survive. They have tougher vines so it is somewhat resistant to the SVB as it is. Thanks for you comment and let me know how successful you are in avoiding our SVB enemies.
@@LouisianaSimpleLiving Thank you for that list. I have trellises so Tromboncino would work and I have some of the winter squash seeds. If you like butternut try honey nut-smaller, sweeter and they did escape damage. Looking forward to the video!
Thanks, I didn't go with Tromboncino but did some butternut, Dickinson's pumpkin, and Zucchino Rampicante that all are doing reasonably well. I will definately try the Honey nut!
Your description of "the battle against vine borer" was very complete and informative, but after three years of losing the battle, I gave up trying to raise zucchini and yellow crookneck last year and planted Trombocino squash which course you may wish to follow? Trombocino's immature fruit is almost as tasty as zucchini or crookneck, but its solid stem seems to resist borers. Even squash bugs don't seem to bother it. But watch out, the vines can quickly take over your garden so head them back. And avoid allowing the fruit to mature into giant butternut-like squash unless you have lots of storage space!
I have made a similar switch myself. I still have a few summer squash that I just getting a quick harvest as the squash vine borer is killing those plants. I do more butternut squash and I planted a tromocino this year and get a few already. I still like summer squash but these do pretty well as an alternative. You are right about storage space. Those tromboncini get huge and fast! Thanks for the suggestions!!
Oh No ! Yesterday I saw squash borers on my squash plant making babies! I’m in zone 9a. I immediately inspected for eggs and sprayed neem oil and covered with row cover. I plan to pollinate by hand my few squash plants. Thank you for creating this very informative video.👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
Oh no! I haven't seen them yet but will in the weeks to come. Hopefully, that's the time we need to eat squash!!
This is a great video. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Great, thanks for watching and glad you enjoyed the video!! Hope you don't have any problems with those Squash Vine Borers!!
I have never had issues with the borers before this year and I happened to stumble across your video. It was 9 pm and I took my flashlight and headed out to the garden to preform surgeries... I know I lost one patty pan but if the Lord is willing I'll have saved countless others. Tomorrow I plan on checking all stems and getting super proactive! I do have marigolds, onions, basil, dill and catnip planted directly with my squash plants but I guess those didn't work for me this year. I also don't plant squashes near each other because of Powdery Mildew and squash bugs but this year has been quite rough and nothing I've done (so far) seems to deter these pests but I will be using some of the other techniques you've discussed. Thanks so much for the info!!!
PS I've also covered over different parts of the squash vines (the ones on the ground and not growing vertically) with soil to encourage multiple rooted sections so that if the borers get into one section hopefully I won't lose the entire plant. Winter squashes are really good at rooting in multiple locations 👍
The squash vine borer started hitting me about 4 or 5 years ago. I'm the same way with planting. My summer squash is not planted together to give them a better chance. I have various plants like marigold, onions, borage, etc., but I haven't found anything that works great. Your thought on covering up the vines on the ground is spot on. Even if the original base part of the plant gets hits hit hard, the remainder, since rooted, can continue on. Thanks for checking out the video!!
Excellent video! Thanks and God bless you and your family.
Thanks and God bless y'all too!! Thanks for checking out the video and the channel!!
Just watched a video where the woman used cups (solo) at base. Another video, a man wrapped tin foil around the base. The cups were put on while plants were small. I've been tearing up basil leaves and spreading them under everything.
Thank you for the information. Didn't know what they or eggs looked like yet, so will go hunting now.
Hopefully you will not find any eggs!! They can be very frustrating!
@@LouisianaSimpleLiving not yet but it's Hot so will check again this evening. Again, thank you for the info ☺️
I seen a video where the lady injected BT into the stem and she swears by it. Worth looking into. I’m trying it this season. Hopefully it works for me! Good luck!
Please let me know how well it works! This season I've killed a number of the squash vine borer moths as they've come in to place eggs with some pheromone traps. I've used pretty much all the tricks but I've had grubs, somethine more than one, in at least 8 or 9 joints in a gourd plant. It's just pretty incredible they can do so much harm. Nevertheless, I've cut them out with a knife and am hoping they will still make it. I'm just not sure squirting some BT from a proactive basis would work or not. Again, please let me know how you did with using BT injected into the plant.
Thank you! I hope I can get a handle on this! 😳 Last year was my first planting and I had no idea about this disaster! This year I planted carrots in that raised bed and have discovered that these things are what is leaving a casing behind. I saw one of these fly away to identify it. 💔 The war is on! My squash plants are just starting to get big enough to trellis. I tried to dig and search for the buggers but no success. Very hard to see what they crawl out of as it blends with the dirt!!! ...☹️and my back gave out. Great information!!! I needed to know how deep to look for them!!!
Don't blow your back out!! Especially in this heat!! Keep the faith and your hopefully your squash and carrots do great!!
Nice job, thanks! Flashlight behind the vine is a great idea.
Thanks for checking out the video!!
Good video enjoyed it thx for the info and sharing Be safe God Bless
Thanks Larry! Glad you enjoyed it and God Bless to you too!
Thx
OMGosh!! We are also in southern Louisiana and just had to pull out our squash plants due to vine borers. Ugh soooo frustrating that in less than 24 hours the plant can get beyond repair. Oh well, we are getting ready for our "fall" garden and hoping to squeeze a tiny squash harvest in(mostly butternut and zucchini).....if the rain doesn't drain everything first.
My spring and summer garden is still doing okay but am really looking forward to the Fall garden. Thanks for checking out my channel and I will check yours out as well!! We can't ever get too many Louisiana people on TH-cam!! 😃
I'm in South LA too and stopped growing squash years ago after finding the ugly SVBs. However, after healthy vines started popping up in our community garden compost pile I thought I'd try again with a late season planting of 1 or 2 zucchinis and 1 or 2 winter squash. So far they've just poked up their heads but they're covered with netting and I'll do my best to keep that on as they grow! Both types are supposed to remain on the small side so 🤞
WOW I just lost 2 plants from these. They didn't even get to start growing any squash before they got taken out. Guess I need to replace my above ground garden's dirt
I am not sure that would work. You can sort through the dirt to look for the grubs but I'm sure some of them just happen to be flying through and find your squash. It had to have happened that way to begin with. They are tough and a formidable foe but keep gardening on!!!
This is an excellent video! My yellow neck squash are vertically grown on a wooden post. This year I planted 8 plants. I have lost 5. And 2 plants that 3/4 of the stem has been attacked, they nearly died, but have survived and producing fruits but at a much diminished scale. I don’t use any pesticides nor organic methods (because I do not want to hurt the bees) and I do check daily and I intervene daily also and I have to say those squash vine borers are my nemesis! Next year I will try to plant them earlier, cover them and use the marigolds or use one of the onion plants. Can I ask where did you get those yellow bowls? I will also try this technique going forward. Thank you for your very informative video.
I ordered them off Amazon @ amzn.to/3jsauXJ. There are a bunch of vendors if I remember right and are really cheap. Thanks for watching the video!!
@@LouisianaSimpleLiving Thank you.
Really good information!! Thank you!!
Thanks for watching and glad you checked out the video!
Great tips, thanks for sharing
Thanks for watching, Freddie! Glad you enjoyed the video!
Very informative. Great information. Well presentative.
Glad you enjoyed it! As a content creator, those comments mean a lot! Thank you and good luck with your garden this season!!
I wrapped the base stems in pantyhose and aluminum foil strips and have actually watched the moth fly around and never land to lay eggs. I hope it's because she had no suitable place to lay her eggs. I have seen no borer damage as of yet. Keeping fingers crossed.
That does help, especially for those that try to land around the base!! My problem is the squash vine borers will lay an egg on each "joint" of my squash vine. I had 8 borer grubs in 8 different locations on one vine. Good luck and thanks for checking out the channel and video!!
I use a syringe to inject neem oil into the stems and even cut them out of my plants and then I wrap any spots I cut with plant tape. So far it seems to work.
That definitely can work if down near the base but sometimes I've had at one each in 5 or 6 joints going up the vine. It's crazy. Thanks for watching!
No mint in the garden unless I’m a container and don’t let the roots grow through, it’s very invasive. We’ve seen them in South Carolina already and we found her eggs under leaves and on the stem under leaf and on the tendril that was wrapped around the stake. We cover ours with insect covers take off a while and put back on. We put them on in evenings bc of pickle worm moth. If I feel I need to pollinate then I do. We lost all our cucumbers and zucchini last year. It isn’t worth the risk to let them destroy our garden we work so hard for.
I agree with the Mint. I have mint and chocolate mint in separate containers, not in the raised beds. I agree!! Thanks for the suggestions. I've lost 2 summer squash thus far but most of my remaining butternut squash and some others are doing fine. I don't expect them to be hit too bad by the squash vine borers.
Thanks 👍 great video. I live in Louisiana also and of course just had this problem.
Yes, they are very discouraging when they arrive. Thanks for watching!!
I’ve always grown marigolds and mint around my garden and had luck with that.
I normally do go with marigolds in the beds. I've never done Mint as it can spread and take over the garden space. I do have some in containers for that reason. Thanks for checking out Louisiana Simple Living!!
learned a lot thanks for the help
been dealing with this issue the last few years
Hope it does help!! There's nothing worse than seeing what the squash vine borer does to your squash!!
Those bugs are a huge problem in my garden. I have never successfully grown zucchini. I gave up on planting them actually. It was a scene like from a horror movie when I first discovered those white ugly things inside the stem when one of my plants died.
I'm trying one more time this year. I have a beautiful plant in a grow bag. I applied some DE and hope for the best.
I didn't know the details about the moths but now I know what to look for.
This was very helpful. Thanks!
Thanks! Good luck as these vine borers can be really frustrating! Glad the video was helpful!
@@LouisianaSimpleLiving spoke too soon! I just went to check on my zucchini and it's full of holes and dirt. DE didn't help. It calls for surgery but it's dark already.
@@iwona4685 Oh no! I'm so sorry and I know just how frustrating that is. You might get them in the morning without them doing too much damage? Good luck.
I covered ALL my young plants under netting until they got to big. Then this week the vine boarders hit all my squashes. Zucchini, acorn, speg and Hubbard. Losing plnts little by little. Doing grub surgery morning and afternoon.
Thing grow fast here but but bugs are a battle. Been hete q6 yrs, never had as many bug problems when I lived in West side Wa stste all but 16 yrs of my life. Moving to Oklahoma soon hope I have better luck there with my gardens. I am sure there are way less bugs. Probably shorter growing season though. I use only Neem, olive oil, squirt of dawn and water for insect spray.
Just saw the month for the very first time ever 2 days ago.
Man, I feel for you! The Squash Vine Borer is a real pain in the behind. I started having trouble with them only in the last 3 or 4 years. Good luck to keep what you can going!!! Thanks for commenting too!!
Very good video! Wish I had found you earlier in the season! I will try done if your methods next garden season! NEW SUBSCRIBER HERE FROM SOUTH CAROKINA🌻
Awesome! Thank you! Thanks for subscribing and leaving comments. As I like to say, us Southern Gardeners need to work together to help out each other!!
And the rain down here 9b south of new Orleans..washes away the diatomaceous earth too fast. I have a row cover till i get flowers. And i keep the base of the plant wrapped the rest of the time. I have zucchini, yellow, and spaghetti squashes ..mini pumpkin..
I agree, I don't go to a surface application of anything, as we just have too much humidity and rain. Diatomaceous earth can also effect good bugs as well.
Great information, Thanks!
Thanks for watching my channel!!
I feel your pain! Last year I did not plant any squash or zucchini. I gave up trying to beat those darn things. I tried everything and they still won. I ended up tearing them all out and didn’t plant any more. Too much stress!
I'm having some success with squash and pumpkins in the Cucurbita Moschata family. The SVB still winning some battles, especially with summer squash, but I hope to win the war!!!
Mint doesn’t deter them from my experience. I planted mint all around my squash plants, mint spreads everywhere and it’s in bushes all around, still get borers.
I agree, mint does not work as I've tried that too. Thanks for sharing!!
Finally, great info on this! I found one video where the guy injected BT into the plant I don’t know if I want to do that, I don’t want to be eating that. You definitely covered it all and even showed what they look like 😊 thanks so much!
Glad it was helpful! That's why I do this channel! It's my passion to grow my own organic fruits and vegetables and love helping other beautiful people, like you, do the same!!
Excellent information, clearly explained - thank you! I'm going to try wrapping the base of the plants with tulle - the cheap fabric that ballet tutus are made from, as a varied use of recommended by Robbie and Gary's YT channel'. Like tiny, fabric window screen, bugs and other predators are creeped-out when their feet or claws get caught in the web, so they go away! Where do they go? Away. BTW, tulle comes in many colors and can wrap fruits or vegetables or whole plants!
Good luck! That's one thing I haven't tried with squash vine borers. Let us know how it works!
Very good video and you cover all bases with your info & tips/suggestions. I've not found ANYTHING that works to get rid of the squash vine borer. I am in coastal AL (zone 8b...almost 9) and up until the last two years have not had a problem with these evil creatures!! I have tried the foil, pantyhose, diatomaceous earth, BT on plant & injecting, keeping lower stems pruned, planting in a different location, and wood ash around the base of plant. Going to try Neem oil & Dr Bronners Liquid Castile Soap next, spray weekly or after a rain then dust on diatomaceous earth. I don't want to continue using diatomaceous earth as it kills beneficial bugs AND earthworms which HELP put nutrients in my soil. But I may have to resort to this practice IF IT WORKS in order to have my fav summer time veggie! I planted 12 plants EARLY this year (late February & covered if threat of frost) and got two harvests before the borers hit. I have fought & fought for over a month and FINALLY saved just 4 plants. I know my battle isn't over with the vine borer, but I have also discovered ANOTHER problem with grubs in the soil eating the root system away from the plant. I know I have picked out 2 dozen grubs from one container/tub my squash is planted in. I covered the plant back up with soil as it had just pulled out of the ground leaving root system in the dirt. I think it has re-rooted as the plant is now thriving and putting on new growth & blooms. I'm EXTREMELY careful trying NOT to use harmful pesticides as in my area, pollinators are almost non-existent now. I have had lots of squash start to grow but gets what looks like blossom end rot due to lack of pollination. I've been gardening for years (I'm 65 yrs old) and it seems I'm having to relearn ALL that used to work for successful harvests. Can't plant in full sun due to UV rays burning my plants up, strange bugs/diseases I've never seen before, CRAZY weather for the deep south and now flooding rains & these darned squash vine borers & grubs. I depend on my garden to supplement my social security income ESPECIALLY with the shortages & skyrocketing prices so if you learn of ANYTHING that works to solve this problem with vine borers, PLEASE make another video. I've subscribed to your channel as I appreciate the research you did to learn all about the borer, its habits/breeding, etc. Thank you for the time you spent gathering info & making this video for us fellow gardeners!!
Squash Vine Borers are an incredible bug is you think of it. I actually just killed over 40 that were in 2 winter squash plants. There was at least one and sometimes two grubs at each intersection. I also tried some butternut and other types of squash that supposedly they do not bother as well. Thus far, we are doing okay on them. Now, I've never had an issue with grubs eating the root system. I'd love a picture so I can know what you are thinking of.
@@LouisianaSimpleLiving I don't know how to post a picture here of the grubs. I have done some research and found that they are the larva of 3 different beetles. Japanese Beetle, June (Bug) Beetle & the European chafer (Northern & Southern). They are most known for destroying the grass in lawns but will also destroy/eat the roots of garden plants & fruits. They emerge in the spring from deeper in the soil and feed on root systems of grass or vegetation. They thrive in moist soils, the female has to have moist soil to lay her eggs and the larva must have it to stay alive. I have to garden mostly in containers (35 gallon tubs) & raised beds due to my heavy clay soil filled with iron rock. The tubs are where I had my squash plants and where I found the most grubs. BUT, I had one small inground bed I had planted some potatoes & carrots that a critter had destroyed uprooting everything. I knew it was hunting grub worms. We do have them here as we have many June bugs and I did see a Japanese Beetle earlier this spring but had no idea what it was because I had never seen one before. I saw a picture of one in my research to learn what that strange looking beetle was. I have two compost beds that I have found a few grubs in but would just pick them out, save them in a container & feed to my chickens. But lately some critter(s) have been uprooting my Jerusalem Artichokes, my newly planted blueberry bushes, strawberry bed so I must have a bigger problem than I thought with grub worms (that is what we call them here). I live in a very wooded, rural area (40 acres of mostly woods) so my garden area is amongst trees where I have filtered sun and some full sun during different times of the day. Lots of leaves which I normally use for mulching to help with weed control. We've also had a lot of rain the last couple of months, over 20 inches the last week alone so the soil has been SOAKED which has made June bug breeding primo PLUS giving the larva from previous yr(s) supreme thriving conditions. I've found that there are several remedies to get the grubs under control & to keep the beetles from hanging around to lay more eggs. Two of the ones I will try will be drenching the soil with BT, which is an organic treatment that will have to be done a couple of times during the lifecycle of the beetle/larva/grub. I use BT now but just in trying to control the squash vine borer. You must also spray the plants to keep the beetles from eating the leaves and keep them away to prevent more egg laying in the soil. With all the rain we have had, I've not sprayed as much as I would normally as you have to respray after every rain. I can't afford to buy that much BT (as it isn't that cheap this year as in the past) so I've saved the BT for injecting the stems of the squash for the borers. We had an unusually cool LONG spring (for our area) and very wet. We had our yearly rainfall by April this year, if that tells you anything about just how much rain we have had. The other treatment is using Diatomaceous Earth & work it into the soil, then wet it to get it down where the grubs are. In spring/summer they are 1-5 inches down but burrow deeper in the winter. They have a life cycle of 1-3 yrs, depending on the species of beetle laying the eggs that turn into the larva-grub. The other treatments are beneficial nematodes, Milky Spore bacteria & then your harsh pesticides, which I do NOT wish to use in my garden. You can also pick the grubs from the soil but that can be very time consuming as it must be done at least weekly. With the damage from the critters digging up areas of my garden I know I've got to get a hold of this infestation or they will just continue to multiply and I won't win this battle...now if the weather will just cooperate with my efforts...and we just entered Hurricane season so with our last couple of years of storms that either was a direct impact or remnants of a tropical system, I know what to expect this year as it is supposed to be another very active season. I can at least try to get control of the situation this year and hope for better gardening & harvests next year. Drenching the soil with BT will stop the grubs from eating and within 3 days they will die so that is the treatment I will try, which may solve some of the other bug problems I'm having. Thank you kindly for responding to my comment. You can look up "grubs" & gardening problems to read many articles & see many pictures of both the grubs & beetles that they come from & treatments available. Each beetle has their own season for breeding so to know when & how to treat (as well as keeping soil cultivated if gardening inground) you've got to know which beetle(s) you're dealing with. Mine are June Bugs & Japanese Beetles (as I mentioned seeing one earlier this spring). Tent worms, army worms, leaf footed bugs-1st time having them last year on ALL my fruit & veggies, stink bugs, kudzu bugs (ever heard of those??? they love green beans, butterpeas, butterbeans & kudzu which is infamous here in the deep south-look sort of like a mini stink bug but cluster on stems & beans by the 100's...the list is endless and growing every year.
Deep South Bama Grits, the grubs eating at your roots can be taken care of by something called "milky spore" -- it works on Japanese beetle grubs and I think it can work on June bugs, too. It's expensive, but absolutely took care of my grub problem. I had so many grubs!! I still find one here and there, but my plants have been doing pretty well except for downy mildew (i think) and definitely the squash vine borer. Also, I sprinkle the milky spore around my plants and water it into the ground. When the grub eats it, it dies quickly. There are a few videos out about milky spore. Hope it helps!
I know they're expensive, but beneficial nematodes have been the best remedy I've found for the worst soil-dwelling pests. Arbico Organics has different kinds for the various groups of pest and they have regular sales a few times a year. Worth saving up for but follow application directions closely so you don't waste your money.
Great video!. I had that happen for the first time this year in Northeast Ohio. Same deal, came home plant was wilted and was fine the day before. I had looked into squash pests before because I was growing zucchini and wanted to know what to look for early to prevent this. It killed the one plant but the other was fine so far but I did find the hole way up on the stem and saw the borer inside. So it had not been there long. I used a syringe meant to inject a turkey with butter or broth or whatever and used it to inject Monterey BT into the hole to start and an inch or two above and below the entry hole and it saved the plant. My first experience with a squash vine borer and this was year two of having a raised bed and gardening I'm a beginner. First year was a learning experience I had no idea what I was doing and that garden got attacked by everything and had to learn on the fly what to do to deal with everything and although it was frustrating it was a great experience as well and it's very enjoyable growing your own food.
You are absolutely right on the learning part. I'm always still learning something new as that's kind of what gardening is about. My first few years I never had problems with Squash Vine Borer then all of sudden they are here. It's crazy but that's also part of the fun and yes, it is enjoyable to grow your own food! Thanks for checking out the video!!
Thank you ,my plant was attacked, am going to pull my zucchini, and try and save the pumpkins, my first year planting pumpkins and zucchini and didn't know what to expect, now I have to choose what plant to grow,
Thanks for watching the squash vine borer video! I know they can be very frustrating so good luck!!
Thanks for all this information. I will be trying them in my garden.
Have fun! That's what's gardening is all about!!
Very good info!
Thanks Teri! Glad you enjoyed it!!
I am frustrated too. I did the vine surgery last year, but no luck. The plant died. This year, I planted more plants. I am trying peppermint oil this year
How is that working? I haven't tried that.
@@LouisianaSimpleLiving pretty well so far
@@judithrobinson6846 Great!
@@LouisianaSimpleLiving report update, one of my plants got infected by the vine borer. I tried to find him but he dug into the soil
I removed two with a crochet hook and tossed it to the garden toad! Lol hopefully the plant survives. Planted two new plants in case. I’m in the Houston area oh and thank you for all the information and tips!!
Fingers crossed! Hope they survive!! Regardless, garden on!!
Very informative video, thanks for sharing.
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for leaving a comment as well!!!!
Ughhh first year gardening and growing Zucchini and Squash, had 2 of each they were pumping out fruit like crazy, giving it to everyone we could. I noticed the leaves yellowing and wilting some, just thought those were aging maybe, figured they needed pruning as they were huge, researched pruning and did that. More started wilting and yellowing, thinking now not enough water as it has been hot and dry for a while or I pruned to heavy. I've seen bugs around but did not know what they were, figured I needed them to pollinate, my plants look horrible now, came on YT to find out why, and I seem to have both these bastards, I've seen that moth flying around and I've also seen the squash bugs which I thought were stink bugs. Looks like the battle is on but I might be too late now for this year but I do not like losing lol. i still have some flowers growing so I am going to at least try.
Man, I sure know how frustrating that can be. Plant looks absolutely great and pumping out squash, and, like that, they are nearly dead. Keep the faith, try it again, and enjoy those flowers!!!
@@LouisianaSimpleLiving Thanks definitely giving it another shot now that I know what to look for thanks for the information!
Great information and a beautiful garden. Thanks .
Thank you sooo much. I'm glad you like the info and the garden!
That is a good video. Thank you.
Glad you liked it! We all got to team together to defeat this pest! Thanks for watching!
Do you know any ways to remove earwigs and prevent them from invading plants? They seem to like my tomatoes and bell peppers.
To be honest, I've never had that problem. I would think neem oil would be something that would work. if you want to stay organic!
Mine too!
Thank you for all your helpful information. It's really appreciated!
Well, thanks for watching!! Hope it helps you out on your garden!
Dang buddy over 1k subs! Congrats man! Your a natural!!!
You know how it is Oscar. Lots of hard work, consistency and lots of luck!
I read catnip may help too. Squash vine borers hate the smell. I am going to try catnip and borage this year.
I got borage this year too! Let me know if catnip seems to help!
I had all my squash and zucchini plants killed not two times but 3 times, I planted seeds again around the first of August and there up around 3 inches, I had to cover the top of plants because the heat was so bad and I've been using 5 % seven dust to combat the worms that killed all my plants 3 times, I order the Bt yesterday, I'm in waiting now. I sure do want zucchini and squash, when I get that order I will also use it on my cucumbers plants and spray it on my tomato plants. this year has been the worst on my garden and all mine are containers, never a problem before. I live in the lower of North Alabama and for next year it will be fresh soil in clean containers. and will plant on a farm too.
Yes, it seems our pests are much worse than they were a few years ago. I didn't have squash vine borer 4 year ago. Now, every season, they are horrible. Nevertheless, we just got to hang in there and hope we get a few good seasons going forward. Keep gardening!!
I see these things all on my sunflowers 🌻 I haven't heard anyone mention that un all my research im in Southern Louisiana but I'm definitely ready for em
Thanks for sharing!! If you start some summer squash down here, I imagine you will eventually find the grubs getting into your squash as some point. Hence, the video giving ways you can attempt to deter them. Thanks for watching again!!
Also just fyi - svb attacked my Jack-B-Little & Sugar Pie pumpkins this year, but have totally ignored my 2 butternut squash plants. I hear that the svb prefers the other squashes to the bns.
I’ve also read that they LOVE Blue Hubbard Squash and that planting a trap crop of those may keep them away from the other squashes. (But not sure my garden is big enough to keep the trap crop far enough away).
Great sharing for our group!! I was able to harvest a few butternut squash once I rearranged it!
Hey! they attack here in North Alabama too......Larry @ Scoot's Organic
They sure get around, don't they! Thanks for watching the video!!
I had a couple NICE squash plants that got killed by these last year. This year I think I'm going to spray my plants with Spinosad soap two or three times a week, to make sure I kill any eggs or larvae that might be on the plant, from what I read this should work. And that stuff is cheap and available.
Yes, please shoot me a note if you find that successful!! Thanks for watching!!
It is so frustrating to go out and see your beautiful squash plants dying. Its still freezing cold here in Iowa, but I'm so ready to get out in my garden and plant...I was born in Louisiana, and would love a trip down there just now. Thanks so much for your great ideas.
Yes, I truly despise the squash vine borer!! Wow, from LA to Iowa. I imagine it gets really cold there. Thanks for watching the channel and let's do what we can to fight the squash vine borer!! Keep gardening!
The Vine Borer also likes Sunflowers. I lost all my sunflowers this season cuz i didn't know i needed to be looking out for them
I’ve never had SVBs get at my sunflowers. Did you have squash at the same?
Thanks man. Appreciate the advice.
Anytime! Any help against those squash vine borers is definitely worth the effort.
Great video!
New sub
Thanks for watching and subbing!! Glad you liked it.
Hey there. This is my first year growing anything from seed, and I've had a fantastic success. I've dealt with cabbage worms and harvested a bit before giving up on that fight, I've dealt with the ants on my okra, and guess what I got a crash course on today? You guessed it. I live in austin Texas, so similar conditions as LA. (My mom lives on Toledo Bend Lake, there in Many, LA. So I am familiar with the climate)
I lost 3 plants yesterday and 2 more today to these guys. I had no idea they were infected until it was far too late. I dissected my biggest baby after the stem broke clean off in my hand and found 5 of those things. Now, I didn't watch any videos before reacting, maybe I should have, but so far, we'll, I'll lose probably 2 more, but I'll keep the rest I bet. So what I did was gouged the pests out of the holes they made as best I could, and cut them away from the stakes I had them zip tied to. Lowered them slowly after one snapped off in my hand. Then I got really close to the stalks with my Sevin sprayer, and sprayed heavy, including inside the holes I had widened to kill the grub with my shears. Turns out i didn't kill them all, and the ones I had missed wanted out of there like I'd set them on fire. Ants rushed over and put them out of their misery before they also succumbed to the poison. 2 bugs, 1 spray. Now I know they needed to root again up higher on the plant to survive, so I went ahead and sealed up the stalk with pruning seal. That might turn out to be a mistake, if the roots can't grow through it. I won't know until I see. I mixed up a strong batch of miracle grow and gave each plant a nice scoop of the water mixture. I threw compost dirt around the bases, and cut back any flowers that were going to try and open this week. I also harvested EVERYTHING because I sprayed HEAVY. I'm not going to fight these things, I'll just kill them.
I know how you feel. Hopefully, you got a good Spring Harvest off of them. Let me know how they come out?
So I've been doing as you've advised... this was the first year ever that I've encountered this little mofos.... so now I check my plants everyday, morning and before sunset. Now I know what the eggs look like so it's easy to clean, plus all my plants are vertical so it's easier to go through the vines of the plants rather than have them growing on the ground.
My question to you is...
"What are the tiny greenish/yellowish looking egg like things on the back of my squash leaves?".
I've been cleaning those off as well only because I'd rather be safe than sorry, but I'm afraid that maybe I should leave them, because they might be beneficial to the plant 🤷♀️.. I can't tell you how many leaves I had that were full of them. I thought it would just be easier to cut them and call it a day, but then my plant would be left with no leaves. What I've been looking for has been the reddish eggs that are in clusters, and some that are randomly laid throughout the plant... those I've been maintaining, I squish those suckers into non existence.
I'm not real sure what the tiny greenish/yellowish eggs are. But the reddish eggs in tight clusters are most likely the Squash Bug, and not the Squash Vine Borer. The Borer moth normally lays individual eggs but if multiple eggs in one location they are not all clustered tight together like the Squash Bug. Either way, if reddish eggs, you need to get them off. Thanks for watching!!
@@LouisianaSimpleLiving thank you. I did not explain it right, the greenish/yellowish eggs were not necessarily in tight clusters but individually throughout the leaf (bottom of the same leaf).. they kind of look like tiny blisters, once squished they released a liquid, that's why I thought they were eggs. Oh well, they're gone now.
@@SuchaCaligrrl It's all good now!
I've used duct tape and masking tape to remove the squash bug eggs from the back of the leaves. That seems to work pretty well. I haven't tried it on the squash vine borer eggs yet, because the borers had already bored into my vines.
I'm learning a lot this year.
1. Powdery mildew
2. Squash bugs
3. Squash vine borer
Next year I'll be armed much better! 💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼
@@landthatilove6556 They are relatively easy to destroy, but you've got to find them and that can be a problem. Great suggestion!
Great review. Learned about light exam after dark. I’m no longer intimidated by grubs in vine. Slice either side of frass and remove then let Mother Nature heal. Don’t have to bury. Wound will heal. Then I send the devils off to larvae heaven 🔨
Good stuff! I'm with you on that. A good knife and larvae heaven is the way to put it!!!!!! Thanks for the comments!!
Cinnamon is a great healer for cuts you have to make
Thank You! Very thorough.
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for you comment and I truly appreciate you!! Good luck and let me know how things are going with the SVB.
Iam currently setting my liquid 7 to stream and precisely spraying around the bottom few inches of the stem of my yellow squash hopefully this works i might kill some lady bugs but probably wont hurt any pollinators since this area is also where the squash bugs like to hang out hopefully ill be killing 2 bugs with one stone .
I pray it works without killing any pollinators! The only issue is with any rain it will wash away. Then you will have to reapply. I choose to stay organic as we need to keep all the pollinators we can but we all got to do what we can to defeat those SVB's.
I use bt mixed in water and injected with a syringe i got from my vet. I do this each week. No priblem last year. Hoping it continues to work.
I inject the stem with the by prophylactically.
Were you having problems before the BT?
I used tulle this year also….so far, so good….
I haven't ever tried it as yet. It seems it would be a pain in the behind?
Great video. After removing grub(s) walk away. Plant will heal itself. Dirt invites disease.
Thanks for your comment!
i have been a gardener for a few decades , i too from lousy-anna lol , i just had a thought instead of dirt how about wrapping some tape around the squash plant instead of packing with dirt ? once you get the grub out , i too have also just covered up the stem with soil once i remove the grub !
I haven't tried that technique. Have you tried it yourself yet?
@@LouisianaSimpleLiving to be honest NO i just pack a lot of dirt almost a foot up from the damage !!! most of the time it will re-root but not always , it depends on how bad and damaged it has become !!!
If you give it a try, let me know if it works!! Again, that's not something I've tried.
Just found your video, very informative, I grew up in Massachusetts and always had a successful garden. Moved to North Carolina fifteen years ago, and my garden has deteriorated yearly until I gave up two years ago. I try to stay organic, but it’s been nearly impossible…so I’m trying again with containers, tulle, and hand pollination. Have you heard of neem soaking the soil? I’m thinking of trying that also.
That’s again for a helpful video!
Thanks for sharing! No, I haven't heard of neem soaking the soil. I'm just not sure that would work as every time it rains it would reduce the amount of neem available? However, it's probably worth the try. Let me know how it turns out and it could be another tool in our belt to fight the SVB's.
I have them in my squash what can I do