GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post

Pat Kiewicz[_2_] · 03-07-2013, 12:55 PM posted to rec.gardens.edible

said:

Twisted and yellow and split right up the middle. I pulled everything out. I tilled the
space where the plants were and did see an actual bug.(I till by hand with a 3 prong hand
tool) I did see one bug. I did not see anything that seemed like eggs and the plants are
now 1/2 a mile down the road. I have started new seeds in grow pods so the new plants will
not be going in the ground for a few days. Should I spray some Sevin on the ground or does
that only work on foliage? There have been several bees around but they are not honey
bees. Does that matter?

Split stems (a clean split up one side of the stem, between the seed leaves and the ground)
is a physiological problem, possibly connected to wildly fluctuating temperatures, rainfall
and (most particularly) gusting winds.

Unless it weakens the plant enough that they wilt or seem stunted, the best thing to do is
to let the split stem callous and then carefully heap up soil around the base of the plant to
bury it.

Squash vine borers are the caterpillars of a clear-winged moth. The moth is red and black
and mimics a wasp when it flies. It is active in mid-day, flying from plant to plant to lay
one or more small, disc-shaped eggs near the base of the squash stems or on large leaf
petioles or running stems that are laying on the ground.

The borers are only vulnerable to pesticides before they burrow into the stem. My technique
(when I was younger) was to inspect the plants carefully for eggs and remove them. But
in more recent years, I've been mainly relying on spraying the base of the plants with a
mix of light oil and pyrethrum in the evenings. I've alternated that with spinosad. The aim
is to kill the eggs or recently emerged caterpillars before they bore into the stem. (It also
has the additional benefit of helping to control cucumber beetles.)

I also do my best to kill any moths I spot.

If the borers do make their way into the stem, you will see a wet mass of material (frass)
at some point on the stem. You can either slit the stem to remove the borer and then bury
the cut stem (never had good luck with that) or use a fine wire with a hook at the end to fish
them out (this I've been able to do) or use a large-bore syringe to inject Bt solution into the
stem where the borer is (also worked for me). Veterinary syringes are what you should
look for if you take this approach.

Bush-type summer squash are the least tolerant of borers, as unlike runner squash, they
can't reroot at intervals along the stem. Running butternut and cushaw winter squashes are
the most tolerant of borers, because in addition to being able to reroot as they run they
have solid stems which less likely to be completely destroyed by borers.
--
Pat in Plymouth MI

"Yes, swooping is bad."

email valid but not regularly monitored