In article , says...
How do you stop them from killing the vines? I tried to cover the vines with
soil but that didn't work. I tried Sevin dust. That didn't work either. What
are you doing that works? We are growing squash, water mellons and
cantalopes.


Are you talking about them being already in the vines and boring?

If they're already in the vines, slit the vine near the point of entry,
remove the borers and then immediately cover the slit with earth. The
vine should put down roots at that point.

We've done it for squash. It worked. We moved to butternut squash
because it keeps (just ate the last of the harvest) and it's resistant
to borer.

We don't do melons.

*Be aware that Sevin is particularly toxic to bees.*


http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/squash_pest.html

http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef314.asp

http://www.organicgardeninfo.com/squash-vine-borer.html

http://www.backyardgardener.com/wcgp...ash_borer.html

Google is your friend.

Of course, crop rotation is another option.

wrote in message
...
Of course, crop rotation is another option.

We have two vegetable gardens several hundred feet apart. Everything is
rotated but the greens. The borers found the squash. A neighbor suggested we
cover them with screening but the cost is too much. The soil is rich with
compost and the plants get huge.

"Katey Didd" wrote in
:


wrote in message
...
Of course, crop rotation is another option.

We have two vegetable gardens several hundred feet apart.
Everything is rotated but the greens. The borers found the
squash. A neighbor suggested we cover them with screening
but the cost is too much. The soil is rich with compost and
the plants get huge.

the borers are generally only an issue with seedlings though.
sometimes tinfoil collars work, or if the borers are already
in the vine slit it & remove them. do not compost vines killed
by borers. sanitation helps a lot too.

lee
--
Last night while sitting in my chair
I pinged a host that wasn't there
It wasn't there again today
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"enigma" wrote in message
. ..
"Katey Didd" wrote in
:


wrote in message
...
Of course, crop rotation is another option.

We have two vegetable gardens several hundred feet apart.
Everything is rotated but the greens. The borers found the
squash. A neighbor suggested we cover them with screening
but the cost is too much. The soil is rich with compost and
the plants get huge.

the borers are generally only an issue with seedlings though.
sometimes tinfoil collars work, or if the borers are already
in the vine slit it & remove them. do not compost vines killed
by borers. sanitation helps a lot too.

The vine borers here get into the main stem and kill the plant, not the
seedlings. They usually start their damage when the fruits have already
started to form. I've yet to ever see the adults. I've tried to slit the
vines to remove them and the plants would die anyway. They're not easy to
find in the vines and slitting the vines seems to kill the plants even
faster. Have you tried tinfoil collars and did the work for you?

lee
--
Last night while sitting in my chair
I pinged a host that wasn't there
It wasn't there again today
The host resolved to NSA.

"Katey Didd" wrote in
:

The vine borers here get into the main stem and kill the
plant, not the seedlings. They usually start their damage
when the fruits have already started to form. I've yet to
ever see the adults. I've tried to slit the vines to remove
them and the plants would die anyway. They're not easy to
find in the vines and slitting the vines seems to kill the
plants even faster. Have you tried tinfoil collars and did
the work for you?

the adult is a clearwing moth.
i've never had borers kill mature vines, but i bury vines as
they grow so that they root along the length. i do put tinfoil
collars on young plants of the squash & cucumber family. if
borers are a real problem, you could try floating row covers &
hand pollenate the flowers...
are you slitting the vines where the borers are, or are you
slitting the entire vine looking for them? there's usually a
hole with frass near the borers location, & the moth lays the
eggs at the base of the vine, so the first place to look is at
the base, & then look for the frass.
lee
--
Last night while sitting in my chair
I pinged a host that wasn't there
It wasn't there again today
The host resolved to NSA.

"enigma" wrote in message
.. .
"Katey Didd" wrote in
:

The vine borers here get into the main stem and kill the
plant, not the seedlings. They usually start their damage
when the fruits have already started to form. I've yet to
ever see the adults. I've tried to slit the vines to remove
them and the plants would die anyway. They're not easy to
find in the vines and slitting the vines seems to kill the
plants even faster. Have you tried tinfoil collars and did
the work for you?

the adult is a clearwing moth.
i've never had borers kill mature vines, but i bury vines as
they grow so that they root along the length. i do put tinfoil
collars on young plants of the squash & cucumber family. if
borers are a real problem, you could try floating row covers &
hand pollenate the flowers...

We're retired now and can't afford to by row covers. This gardening is
starting to get expensive. Insecticide, weed cloth, fertilizers, limestone,
Ironite.........

are you slitting the vines where the borers are, or are you
slitting the entire vine looking for them? there's usually a
hole with frass near the borers location, & the moth lays the
eggs at the base of the vine, so the first place to look is at
the base, & then look for the frass.

The *&^%$# borer is usually not near the hole. I have to slit the stem and
look for it, and the plant (crooknecks and zucchini) never recovers. I'm
going to put collars on them and use Sevin under and around the collars. If
that doesn't work I'll have to give up on these squash.


lee
--
Last night while sitting in my chair
I pinged a host that wasn't there
It wasn't there again today
The host resolved to NSA.

"phorbin" wrote in message
...
In article , says...
How do you stop them from killing the vines? I tried to cover the vines
with
soil but that didn't work. I tried Sevin dust. That didn't work either.
What
are you doing that works? We are growing squash, water mellons and
cantalopes.


Are you talking about them being already in the vines and boring?

If possible I'd like to keep them out of the vines. The seedlings just came
up the other day.

If they're already in the vines, slit the vine near the point of entry,
remove the borers and then immediately cover the slit with earth. The
vine should put down roots at that point.

Oh I heard about this, but they never rooted. They'd wilt and die. Finding
where the borer is in the vine is not so easy even when the hole is found.


We've done it for squash. It worked. We moved to butternut squash
because it keeps (just ate the last of the harvest) and it's resistant
to borer.

We don't do melons.

*Be aware that Sevin is particularly toxic to bees.*

Yes, that has us concerned. Will check sites below. Thanks.



http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/squash_pest.html

http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef314.asp

http://www.organicgardeninfo.com/squash-vine-borer.html

http://www.backyardgardener.com/wcgp...ash_borer.html

Google is your friend.

In article , says...

"phorbin" wrote in message
...
In article , says...
How do you stop them from killing the vines? I tried to cover the vines
with
soil but that didn't work. I tried Sevin dust. That didn't work either.
What
are you doing that works? We are growing squash, water mellons and
cantalopes.


Are you talking about them being already in the vines and boring?

If possible I'd like to keep them out of the vines. The seedlings just came
up the other day.

Ah, OK.

You could be somewhere, where your squash is already in the ground and
well along. The newsgroup is worldwide and your posts appear to be
coming through datemas.de which makes it look like you're in Germany.

I only know our area, and of that I only know our garden well and it
changes according to the weather and climate.


If they're already in the vines, slit the vine near the point of entry,
remove the borers and then immediately cover the slit with earth. The
vine should put down roots at that point.

Oh I heard about this, but they never rooted. They'd wilt and die. Finding
where the borer is in the vine is not so easy even when the hole is found.

Could it be that the vines were infected?

I'm pretty sure my wife watered at the covered, damage point but I'd
have to ask her, and she's not here right now.

I'd wonder if encouraging rooting at different points along the length
of a vine would be helpful. (Anyone care to comment?) We had one that
was virtually destroyed at the original root butproduced well through
the season from roots along its length.

Google is your friend.

What I like about Google is that it throws up information for farmers as
well as gardeners... We have something between 80 and 120 books on
gardening but they don't deal with the issues in quite the same way.

"phorbin" wrote in message
...
In article , says...

"phorbin" wrote in message
...
In article ,
says...
How do you stop them from killing the vines? I tried to cover the
vines
with
soil but that didn't work. I tried Sevin dust. That didn't work
either.
What
are you doing that works? We are growing squash, water mellons and
cantalopes.


Are you talking about them being already in the vines and boring?

If possible I'd like to keep them out of the vines. The seedlings just
came
up the other day.

Ah, OK.

You could be somewhere, where your squash is already in the ground and
well along. The newsgroup is worldwide and your posts appear to be
coming through datemas.de which makes it look like you're in Germany.

I only know our area, and of that I only know our garden well and it
changes according to the weather and climate.


If they're already in the vines, slit the vine near the point of entry,
remove the borers and then immediately cover the slit with earth. The
vine should put down roots at that point.

Oh I heard about this, but they never rooted. They'd wilt and die.
Finding
where the borer is in the vine is not so easy even when the hole is
found.

Could it be that the vines were infected?

I am in the mid south USA. The vines in past years don't appear infected
with yellows. The borers destroy the inner part, the leaves wilt and the
plant dies. Even if borer is found the plant never recovers and fades away.


I'm pretty sure my wife watered at the covered, damage point but I'd
have to ask her, and she's not here right now.

I'd wonder if encouraging rooting at different points along the length
of a vine would be helpful.

Zucchini and yellow crooknecks don't really have vines. They're more bush
shaped.

(Anyone care to comment?) We had one that
was virtually destroyed at the original root butproduced well through
the season from roots along its length.

That must be a more vinelike plant the crookneck and zucchini. These do not
root at the leaf nodes. At least they never did for us.


Google is your friend.

What I like about Google is that it throws up information for farmers as
well as gardeners... We have something between 80 and 120 books on
gardening but they don't deal with the issues in quite the same way.


I was hoping to run across someone that tried something that actually worked
for them.

"Katey Didd" wrote in
:


Zucchini and yellow crooknecks don't really have vines.
They're more bush shaped.

oh! you're planting bush squash... that's different, then.
yes, it's *much* harder to find & control borers & they're
much more likely to destroy the entire plant. that's why i
don't grow bush type squash. both zuchinni & yellow crookneck
should be available as vining type, but you may need to look
for heirloom seeds.

lee
--
Last night while sitting in my chair
I pinged a host that wasn't there
It wasn't there again today
The host resolved to NSA.

"enigma" wrote in message
. ..
"Katey Didd" wrote in
:


Zucchini and yellow crooknecks don't really have vines.
They're more bush shaped.

oh! you're planting bush squash... that's different, then.
yes, it's *much* harder to find & control borers & they're
much more likely to destroy the entire plant. that's why i
don't grow bush type squash. both zuchinni & yellow crookneck
should be available as vining type, but you may need to look
for heirloom seeds.

Thanks. We may look into it for next year.


lee
--
Last night while sitting in my chair
I pinged a host that wasn't there
It wasn't there again today
The host resolved to NSA.

Katey Didd wrote:

"enigma" wrote in message
. ..
"Katey Didd" wrote in
:


Zucchini and yellow crooknecks don't really have vines.
They're more bush shaped.

oh! you're planting bush squash... that's different, then.
yes, it's *much* harder to find & control borers & they're
much more likely to destroy the entire plant. that's why i
don't grow bush type squash. both zuchinni & yellow crookneck
should be available as vining type, but you may need to look
for heirloom seeds.

Thanks. We may look into it for next year.


http://www.victoryseeds.com/catalog/...sh_summer.html