My zucchini are being attacked by what I think are squash borers. Two out of the three plants are gone and the third might be on the way out real soon. Is it too late in the summer to replant? I live in southern Tennessee, to give you an idea about my growing season.

It might be a little late, but Zucchini's grow pretty fast, so I would think you could still get some Zucs in late August. Mine were started mid-May and I have harvested half-dozen already, so you probably have a good shot (we had a cold 10 day period in June which slowed things down a bit here). I'd also check out garden centers and see if you could get lucky with a few left-overs. They'll already be started so might buy you an extra week or two.

A far south as you are, you have plenty of time to grow this short-season crop from seed. Most Zuchs take 45 to 55 days so you will have the bulk of the growing done before the days shorten enough to slow you down considerably.

I've planted late crops of Zucchini on the 4th of July in northern NY near the Canadian border and got a good crop before the killing frosts in September.

Make sure you get seed in quickly though. If you have to wait weeks for seed to arrive from a mail-order company you might run into short-day problems.

Wayne

I just discovered vine borers eating my zucchini and yellow squash vines, too, dangit!

I'm going to head out to the garden center tonight to see if I can't find any stragglers on the shelf.

I'm so disappointed...

Well, my squash vine borers are back...I really didn't hold much hope. Same as last year - the Surround kept them off long enough to get 8 squash per plant, plus a couple very small ones, which is sort of how I knew they were there. Then a few leaves wilted, which is when they are getting very stressed, and the "sawdust" was around the stems at that time.

I am going to try one more thing, then never again! I am going to take some "sterile" soil (I am going to "bake" some, than stir some micorhizae into the soil) then start the squash seeds in a pot with this, and take some of the very light row cover I have over my peppers, and top the pot with a large, loose part of it, and tie it around to seal it, watering it with a drip emitter put in through a hole in the side. It's really too much trouble, just for squash, but I'm on a mission...sort of like when I was trying to root the kaffir lime plant! I don't really need it, just trying to prove I can beat those bugs!

If you got SVBs in your first plants, they will be in your later plants, more than likely. I heard years ago to plant late, and they will be gone, but they do not disappear like the flies for pepper maggots, and I still got them planting in the first week of August. And row covers don't work, as they come right up out of the ground...which is why I am trying the 4 gal. bucket, with a cover tied around it, and placed on a piece, so nothing can come up through the holes in the bottom. I'll have to hand pollinate them, and re-seal it...I'll keep you updated.

Dave

Dave --

I was mad about the squash vine borers that killed my zuchs and squash (pulled them up this afternoon ) so I did some research. I haven't tried any of these solutions, since this is only my second year with squashes, but you may consider some yourself:

1. Beneficial nematodes - Gardens Alive sells them as "grub away nematodes." If you have a big population of borers, this might decimate the numbers enough to give you a chance. (This is what I'm going to try.)
2. Wrapping aluminum foil around the stem of the vine where it emerges from the soil. This is said to confuse the squash vine borer moth so it won't lay eggs there.
3. Plan SVB repellent plant companions like catnip, tansy, radishes, nasturtiums, or marigolds, beebalm, or mints.
4. When the vine starts to stretch out, hill up compost around a section of the stem that is laying on the ground. If borers attack the main root area, the plant may be able to survive on the secondary roots that grow into this area.
5. Prepare to succession plant. Make sure you have a plant ready to go in the ground about this time next year to replace the one you pull up. Squashes grow fast, so will probably get more production before frost...or before the borers get the successive plant!

Good luck!

Lisa

I tried all of those back when I was trying to figure out a way of overcoming this pest - starting in the mid-late 80's. I never tried the nematodes in the entire garden - just injected, with no success. #4 worked briefly, with radishes planted all around them, but eventually they succumbed, after about 4 or 5 squash per plant. Nothing else worked at all, including row covers, and I waited 10 years before planting again, with no luck.

I finally gave up, then only planted moschata squash until last season, when I tried the Surround. I have also grown many Asian vegetables, which are sort of substitutes for summer squash, but those have either gotten diseases, or, the one that lives through anything - wax melon or winter melon - but gets very large - over 20 lbs! Smaller varieties succumb to disease, like other gourds have.

I just pulled my squash up today, too, since they are picking up the lawn trash tomorrow. I'll try the bucket over the weekend, and get it going.

Dave

Dave, If you decide to try nematodes in the garden soil, please post and let us know.

I'd like to compare notes with you since I'm going to try them myself.

I never thought it would be feasible to use them in the soil, since it would require far too many, and all it takes is for two to get out! (Assuming opposite sex, of course.) If fighting grubs reducing them by 95% would be very useful, but a small percentage of this type of bug surviving can wreak havok. And we really don't know where they are coming from, within the garden, or outside.

Dave

I haven't had problems with the SVB (at least not that I have seen), but I seem to have millions of squash beetles. They came late in the season, and I've gotten 30-40 yellow squash and more on the way from 5 plants...now 4 plants, one passed away today. When I saw the eggs, I tore off that tiny part of the leaf containing the eggs, and it didn't seem to bother the plant at all, but now, there are so many I can't do much with them. I've been picking off as many as I can, but there are always more the next day. I have raised beds...my question would be...After all the squash have been harvested, and I have cleaned off the bed, would solarizing that bed kill the remaining pests? I will add fresh compost in the fall and cover. Would this be a situation where diatomaceous earth would have helped if applied earlier? Is it too late for DE to help now?

Others could probably speak to this better than I could, but I would be wary of solerizing the bed. Yes, it might kill the “bad” bugs, but you’ll also wipe out the beneficial organisms as well.

As with the nematodes, solarizing would have to cover EVERYTHING, otherwise, something would survive, and back to square one. As the site below stated, as few as 10 moths can cause 100 percent infestation on a single acre of squash-family plants. So it doesn't take much to totally infest our gardens.

Diatomaceous earth had little if no effect on the bugs when I tried it, and it was dusted in when I did it, totally covering top and bottom, and I repeated it every other day, to get new growth. This is why it surprised me that Surround worked as well as it did - since I figured it was a similar type thing, making the plant feel bad to the insect (as well as the sharp DE, adding another aspect).

Here is an interesting source of info on squash vine borer and squash bugs. They did say that row covers and kaolin clay (Surround) worked some against the bugs, but one problem with these studies is that they only planted C. moschata varieties. C. moschata is all I have been able to grow here, as it has never been damaged by SVB in my garden! Squash bugs are another thing, but you think they would have grown something that is susceptible to both, to make the study worthwhile.

Dave

Hi guys. I wish I would have visited long ago. Anyway, this is my first year in a new house where I am growing all kinds of things for the fist time. Zuc and watermelon are two that I'm having problems with. Are the squash beetles the ones that look like giant lady beetles? I've killed a bunch of those on my zucs and they've been doing really well. In fact I harvested two giant ones over the weekend. But, there are now only a couple very small ones and most of the flowers are falling off without producing anything. It almost looks like they are cut from this vines. Now I'm finding fuzzy little orange critters on the underside of the leaves. Are they related to the squash beetles? Is any of this related to the flowers falling? Also, I had a very healthy watermelon plant that had just begun to flower. All of a sudden it wilted and died. No leaf damage at all. When I went to pull it up it wasn't even attached to roots. I saw no signs of bugs and the watermelon area has cedar mulch. Sorry for the long post, but can anyone straighten me out? Thanks in advance!

Suddenly wilting and dying is probably due to squash borers. They lay eggs on the vines, then when the eggs hatch, they burrow into the vine and essentailly eat the middle. If the bottom of the stem (around ground level, maybe a little below) is squishy and rotten looking, that's probably what did it. It probably doesn't have anything to do with the flowers falling off, but the other bugs might (or you might just have had male flowers for the moment).

Someone (I believe Kimm1) posted a pretty good link to something on them some time last week in another Zuc thread.