An SVB Experiment

[GoDawgs]

I have resumed dusting the base of the yellow straightneck with Sevin and using DE around the base of the zucchini next to it. Or at least I did until the remains of TS Claudette intruded. Hopefully I can resume with retreatment tomorrow after a three day rain delay.

[JRinPA]

That should be a good comparison. I'm terrible at following through on stuff like that. I'd end up with Sevin on both by the second application...

[brownrexx]

According to PA State, the SVB do not emerge from their underground cocoons until late June and will not start laying eggs until July so I plant my squash early and try to get some squash before the plants get infected.

Supposedly the larvae live inside of the stems feeding for about 4 weeks so this means that the plant will not die until about 4 weeks after infection. Biologically it would not make sense for the plant to die before the larvae are mature or they would die too and not perpetuate the species.

I do not use Seven in my garden and I always get an adequate amount of squash. Currently I have only one zucchini plant and 2 yellow squash and I just planted a second crop of each. My zucchini was started indoors in April and planted in mid May. It is flowering now and has several small zucchini before the SVB's have even emerged from their cocoons.

I have also had success with injecting liquid bt into infected stems. Last summer I had zucchini plants that lived the entire season until they died just before frost.

In the southeast the SVB only has one generation but in the south they are 2 so GoDawgs will have a second emergence of these devils.

[JRinPA]

I saw some out just a few days after I put in my summer squash. That was early May. The first one was landed on the AG19 and crawling around on it trying to find a way in. Of course it was pretty hot in early May so maybe the more or less normal time is late June, but that sounds late to me.

[brownrexx]

I have not seen any yet but then I don't always see them and they do their dastardly work without me knowing that they are even around.

[b54red]

There isn't anything much I can do now with rain going on all day long and daily for the foreseeable future. I have already picked more squash than we can give away and I'm sure the SVBs will have their way with them under cover of this messy weather. I am more worried about what will happen with my tomatoes as I am already seeing green ones splitting and stink bugs galore. I am already seeing worm damage on the tomatoes and I'm sure the pickle worms will show up for the squash and cucumbers. I guess foliage diseases will follow shortly. On the good side it is cooler.

Bill

[GoDawgs]

You know, I've never seen a SVB around here. One article I read said to put out a yellow dish with soap water in it as SVB's would be attracted to the yellow. Nope. None. No insects at all with any kind of red anywhere on them. I have a note on 2019 that said the 1st SVB damage on squash was May 30. No note on that from last year.

It's time to get out the bT. Yesterday I found the first munching if a hornworm on tomato foliage and a tomato fruitworm damaged the first nice big green German Johnson. I didn't find the hornworm (bird picked it off?) but I did find the fruit worm and that sucker is no more.

The garden plan says I need to start another straightneck and zuke on the 28th and so I will. Meanwhile, more rain today.

[seaeagle]

I wrote in an earlier post in this thread that I had given up trying to grow squash because of the borers and bugs. Well I decided to try again and may have found the key to avoiding the borers and squash bugs. More years are needed to be sure. I did not grow squash at all last year.I didn't grow squash this spring. I have tried growing squash this time of year before and it didn't work. I think because the borers were already established from the spring.


Not sure when i seeded the squash, probably late July or early August. Moved to a 4 inch pot and planted around the first of September. Picked the first squash yesterday and not a sign of a squash bug or vine borer.I think the key is not planting in the spring and not having other gardens with squash near you.I don't know what is pollinating them. I don't see any bees, but plenty of ants in the flowers. No treatment of any kind.

Have at least another month so will be eating plenty of squash

[brownrexx]

Many people swear by planting later.

In PA the SVB lays it's eggs July and August and they take 10 days to hatch. They feed for 4 weeks before the plant dies.

I like to plant some early and then another planting 2-3 weeks later. This way the second planting is producing when the first one dies from SVB infestation.

This year I started a squash in a pot indoors and planted it in the garden as soon as it was warm enough. This worked well for me and it produced a lot of squash.

If I plant too late in the summer my plants get powdery mildew really bad. Yours looks nice and healthy.

[Greatgardens]

Does spraying the eggs (Sevin, etc.) do any good?

[NewWestGardener]

There is one squash that is way under valued by many gardeners, and in my opinion, the most garden-worthy vegetable, period. That is, the Chayote squash. It is super productive, tastes great, keeps well, no bugs and no disease that bother it .
A average gardener, in an average year, can harvest about 250 fruit (about 300-800 g per fruit), more experienced gardeners can double that, from one planting of two seed squash. It needs good trellis support, and most people build temporary supports, extending supports as the vines spread.
The trick is to get the right variety (grocery store bought ones are too late maturing, it won't work for northern climate), build up the base soil (piling up leaves, manure) in the fall, then protect seedlings from cold in early summer. Then it is a pretty easy to grow. No disease or bugs bother them. It can be eaten like a green vegetable, stir-fried, or in salad, crispy and crunchy, or baked soft like any other squash.

You can not afford not growing it, period! .

Seriously, it is absolutely worthy trying!

The photo below is a nest of two plants, pruned to one main stem each earlier in the season, once they climbed up the trellis you let go the side branches, they grow rapidly, fruiting on tips of side branches.

Back to digging a pit for fall leaves and manure for them, definitely growing it next year, again. I plan to write up a summary on the basic techniques of growing it, once I get around to it. There are lots of online resource to look up as well.

[JRinPA]

No disease or bugs bother them.

Challenge accepted!

[b54red]

I forgot to follow up on this thread. When we tired of squash and the plants were so big they were making it impossible to walk down the rows between the raised bed the squash were in we pulled the plants and only one of them had a borer in it and it was still producing. The rain didn't let up for weeks but it would be light on some days so I would dust the bases every time I had a chance. When you are only dealing with a few plants it doesn't take long. I was surprised sometimes how much dust was still remaining after some of the rains especially early on when the leaves were giving the bases of the plants some protection from the rain. Of course as the plants got larger and the older leaves died the rain was more effective at washing the Sevin off.

I think I will only plant two Butta plants this coming spring since they are just so productive. Of course sometimes you get a plant that is less productive. This past season I had one like that so I pulled it early to make room for other things and I'm glad I did since I couldn't give away all the excess squash from the three remaining plants.

Bill