Squash Vine Borers- Any Good Ideas On Controlling Them?

[KittyWampus]

Every year- my squash yields a healthy batch and then goes kaput. I try to dig out the borers and re-plant the squash vines which is a large amount of work, kind of disgusting and doesn't have a big pay-off in results.


ANY suggestions are welcome. I'm in the NorthEast.

[Solly Mack]

1. It can take a few years (yes, years) to get rid of SVBs. To help that along...

Get some bright yellow buckets and half-fill them with water. Place along the outer area - just inches away - from your squash plants. The adults will drown themselves and you'll get a fairly good idea of just how bad your infestation is...the yellow color attracts them and they investigate, fall in, die. Not all..but enough.

June is the BIG month for SVBs....they are sweetly settled into the ground for next year come mid-July or so.

Many of the SVBs you're getting now are from your previous year's planting (and so on)- they burrow down into the soil and pupate....come out just in time to infect your current squash....and the circle of life continues.

Remove ALL of your squash now. Don't try and remove the larvae....just trash the plant, root/ surrounding dirt clumps and all. You want that larvae to die, so make sure it is dead. I know some will say you can save the plant but I'm not in that camp. It's just easier - and more effective (imo) - to take the long haul approach.

Pick any fruit, of course...then pull your squash plants.

So now you're going to re-work the soil (turn it over) and replant a few seeds... succession planting(s) is the slow but reasonably sure method of ridding yourself of the SBV. Continue to use the buckets to catch any stray adults...once the plants are a good enough size to start bending a little from their own weight (from size), wrap the stem with something reflective, like foil...this helps to keep the smarter adults from the stems.

My mother used to use enough foil to allow a little overlap to the soil around the stem as well. I know some folks who used grafting tape to wrap the stem area. It allows all the natural processes to take place but keeps the SVB out.


Pick fruit as it is ready, monitor your stems, remove the infected plant when you see the signs ..continue until that planting is over. Plant another few seeds and start all over again. You'll get less squash because of the growing cycles between plantings but that'll increase as your routine is perfected.

Next year you'll be better prepared for succession plantings and your routine will be easier and you'll get more squash between plantings and start to see less SVB. Over time you'll see fewer and fewer until you don't see any....but you still need to be on the watch for the stray adult that will enter your garden from surrounding areas/gardens.

Or you could try pesticides. Don't know which since we never took that route.