Oh Yeah, It's On Like Donkey Kong

This little -ucker is on my most wanted list right now!  The flea beetle has moved to #2.

This, my friends, is a squash vine borer.  It was the cause of my lack of zucchini or any squash for that matter last year.  This time last year, I saw evidence of my first zucchini and shortly after it started developing, I would come home from work, and the plant leaves would be wilted.  I thought the plants just needed more water, and my lack of knowledge did me in.  Not this year.  I have been on the lookout for it this year.  I have been faithfully checking my squash for signs each day.  A few of my plants are just starting to bloom.  Today, as I was checking each plant, something caught my eye.  I looked up, and then surprise, recognition, and shock flooded over me.  She was hovering over the squash plants in the bed next to me and looking me dead in the eye!  The nerve of this -itch!  I know she knows I know what she is and what she plans to do to my squash plants.  Before I could react, she flitted away.  Last year I was too late, and she had already laid her eggs and they had already bored into the vine.  This year I plan to be as proactive as possible.  I doused every plant with neem oil and then dusted them with diatomaceous earth.  I found every container in my house that had yellow in it and filled them with water and put them in the beds.  Of course, they are attracted to yellow, the color of squash blossoms, so these are supposed to work as traps.  I've read mixed reviews about wrapping tin foil around the vines, so I haven't done that yet.  I've already been battling flea beetles on my eggplants, so I'm trained and ready to fight.  It's on!

Happy homesteading,

Candace