Friday, April 27, 2012

The Bane of My Existence

Do you see the three dark brown sesame seed looking dots on this squash leaf? You can click on the photo for a better look.



Those would be squash vine borer eggs. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you'll know I hate them. Last year, I fought viciously and daily to rid my plants of them with no success. I picked them off, tried to bury the vines above the damage to stimulate new root growth, tried to catch the vine borers themselves, used DE, and probably some other tactics I can't remember. I think I got one zucchini and that was it. It is said that in the South you have to lock your car doors in the summer; otherwise, you'll come back and find a bag of squash in the front seat.  Well, my car doors are wide open!  If you can grow organic summer squash near me, bring it on.  Hell, you can load up my trunk if you want to.  I don't see how anyone grows organic squash here.  I

Today I found eggs on my melon plants, winter squash, and my Zucchino Rampicante.  I have always read they don't touch winter squash, cucumbers or melons.  It is the summer squash they gravitate towards.  I chose to try the Zucchino Rampicante this year, rather than zucchini or yellow squash, because I read that even though it's a summer/winter squash, it is resistant to vine borers.  Apparently the vine borers in my neighborhood didn't read the same stuff I did. 

I just picked eight eggs off one of the Zucchino Rampicante plants.  I didn't even walk up front to check the cucumbers.  I'm afraid to.  I think I'm seriously going to cry.

Candace

12 comments:

  1. Oh No! This is right up my alley. Thank you so much for this post. I was attackedlast year for the first time and had to be informed from the blooging community what the problem was. I'm hoping that I don't have them again this year. Time will tell. Poor you!

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    1. Tami: Once they are in your area, they are hard to get rid of. The worms do their damage and then burrow into the gound to overwinter. In the spring they emerge as the moth that lays the eggs. Tilling the soil at least an inch deep is supposed to help.

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  2. I use a concoction made like sun tea, of onion and garlic skins and peels, dish soap, cayeene and water,...strain and spry. Don't know if it will help those particular bugs, but it would be worth a try.

    I lost almost all my squash last year too, but it wasn't bugs. Weird rains and rot. I nearly cried too--I need squash. lol

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    1. I had so many eggs on my squash plants, I decided to pull them up for now. We have a long growing season, so I may try again using row covers. I'll have to try your concoction for gardening in general. It sounds very potent!

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  3. Oh no! Definitely discouraging. Garden plagues seem so common nowadays. :(

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    1. It's us against them for sure! I'm discouraged but not down and out.

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  4. OH NO this is terrible news! Oh man i dont have these buggers but my squash didnt do well last year at all... i got only one too due to a worm that lays larvae inside the shoots, summer bummer. I am hoping for better luck this year, fingers crossed.

    I did however have a squirel in my garden while i was at stagecoach last weekend who ate 5 flipping heads of lettuce, ugh.

    I wish you were closer and i had a ton of squash i would happily fill your car :)

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    1. The eggs in my photos turn into worms that bore into the stem. Could we be talking about the same thing? I hope you have better luck this year. I hate squirrels. We call them tree rats.

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  5. Oh my gosh I HATE BORER'S TOO! I thought I was the only person that couldn't grow zucchini. Up north (MN & WI) people will give you more zucchini than you need, my god mother even came out of the hair salon to find a bag of zuc hanging off the side mirror on the car. I keep wondering why this isn't happening to me! I have never looked at the leaves for the borer eggs, I always thought they were found at the base of the stem closer to the ground. This year I could barely get my zuc seeds to sprout. They finally sprouted, not growing slower than slow. Since no one is leaving their extra zuc on my doorstep I think I will put up a sign on the road that says something like "free zucchini drop off" or something like that. Emily

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    1. That's so funny! They lay the eggs all over the plant, but do like to concentrate them at the base. The ones on the leaves are really easy to pick off, but the ones at the base, forget it. I may have to try a sign like that myself!

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  6. Keeping guineas in the garden was the only thing that stopped our culprit---squash bugs. Like you, we hand picked, used DE, took off parts of plant that were overrun, but it all failed. And like you experienced, they ate everything after they killed the squash. Guineas spend all day eating bugs of all types that bother the plants. And, unlike my chickens they don't scratch and don't eat the greens themselves. But.....they are noisy enough that the neighbors complain. Can't win for losing! Stevie@ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com

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    1. I have heard that guineas are really loud. I think all the noise would annoy me. But if they help with pests, the trade off might be worth it. I've never had squash bugs. I guess because the borers wipe out the plants before the squash get large enough for the squash bugs in invade. Good luck this year. There is always a bug out there to keep a gardener on his/her toes.

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