I’m pretty sure I watched this exact bug fly in and crawl toward the zucchini and I thought to myself, ah nice bugs and life are interested in my plants, must be a good sign of healthy plants and soil! And moved on… I later see videos like this explaining why half the zucchini plant is basically melting a couple weeks later and I wonder what I was thinking 🤦🏻♂️ live and learn I suppose
talk about perfect timing, i literally saw eggs on my leaves this morning and got really worried knowing the damage that they can do. really glad to have meg back, she's great!
Same here (North TX, zone 8). I saw the moth one week ago and was thinking that I know this face and this is not good. Took two days to actually figure out the enemy bug. I found eggs 3 days ago and not it is my morning and evening duty to check the leaves and buds (may be as my plants are mature, the stems are tough for the larvae, that is why I saw less eggs on the stem). This is tge first year I am trying summer and winter squashes. Wish me luck 😒!
I lost half of my squash/kins this year from these. Since napalm isn't an option I'm going to look into those resistant varieties and try again this season.
I sprayed my main stalk and stems with BT every two weeks once I saw the moth. I also injected the main stalk in a few places.I found this to be very effective. If I missed any eggs that hatched, I think , once the larvae started to bore into the stalk, it ingested the BT and died. I also bought vine borer traps, which shockingly worked. Within a week, I caught about 30 Vine Borer moths. I got them on Amazon for about $20 which was well with it. Using this method, I didn’t lose a single plant out of 30. It worked for me but you must be diligent inspecting your plants and spraying. I had a bumper crop of zucchini and summer squash. First time in years!
This has to be one of the best vids on SVB. Thank you EG and Meg! Two other tactics not mentioned here: simply keeping the squash plant covered completely (no gaps) with netting such as Tulle and hand pollinating - or - instead of "stem surgery" for larvae removal, use a thin sharp object and pierce the stem to stab the larvae to death. An ice pick or straightened paperclip can work. I have done both of these with success. I wholly appreciate the myth busting for some of the deterrents that, as you mention, are completely ineffective. 1000% spot on with this one. Thanks again.
We are growing both tromboncino and Seminole!!! We also have Tahitian melon but haven’t harvested yet but it should also be a butternut type!!! So far so good!!!! Also try kajari melons which are small but taste like a cantaloupe, although the insides look like a honeydew! We’re growing China Jade and beit alpha cucumbers, all down here in Florida with much success!!!l
I watched with a hopeful heart. I’ve cut, I’ve wrapped, I’ve done so much surgery that my vines look like Edward Scissor hands is loose in the garden. I recommended Tatume to you, yes I did get a harvest, but lost them as well. So I guess I’ll give Trombetta a try. SE Texas, long growing season. Why not! Right now I have grey zucchini under netting. The borers won’t be gone until frost. 😡 If I can’t get something to work, I’ll surrender! The battle is hard! Thank you for the suggestion! Blessings!
@@tammyohlsson7966 Yes I have this year, although I never really had an issue with svbs last year when I didn't use the clay. Lol. I'm not a good measure of it's worth in that sense. We just don't have much pest pressure at all where I am.
Great visual on the whole borer excision! My first planting of zucchini this year succumbed pretty quickly to SVB - didn't get a single one. Crookneck squash planted about a month later - so far so good!
THANK YOU!!!!🙏🏽 That was SOOOOO helpful! You just cleared away buckets of grief for me. I feel well armed and confident now! I’ve been going after them all summer by hand after losing my most productive plant. A lot of egg squashing and bug drowning multiple times a day! You just set me up to conquer and not settle for defeat!❤
Meg! You are the only person I know who broke the SVB code for me! Yay! Because of you mentioning this a few months ago on another video, I now have Seminole pumpkins growing! Thanks soooo much😊 I live fairly close to you, would love to visit if you have garden tours.
Squash vine borer!!! I shake my fist at you!! I do have a round of fall seedlings growing in my laundry room right now, though I unfortunately have not yet obtained any Seminole pumpkin seeds even though I live in FL 😂 Hooray for long seasons! A couple of moschata varieties I'm trying: Black Futsu, Musquee de Maroc & Butterbush.
@@meggrowsplants oh I've got Long Island Cheese too! I had that under pumpkins on my.............. spreadsheet 😁 Yes I have a seed spreadsheet! There's too many to remember!
I've watched a lot of svb tips and tricks on RUclips and this was by far the most comprehensive and useful. I wasted YEARS trying to wrap and inject vines and now grow mostly moschata for winter squash and do succession planting for summer squash. I've had so much more success that way, even though my summer squash do still succumb to svb, at least I can quickly move on to my next planting and not waste time trying to save a dying plant. Thanks for this overview!
Great video! I have stopped growing squash here in TN because of SVB. It's heartbreaking every year to come out and find your thriving, energetic pumpkin vine dead. I have even lost butternut squash and cantaloupe to these bad boys.
Same, I’m in TN and am growing zero cucurbits this year because of the SVB and squash bugs. I’m hoping to trick them into thinking my garden is a crappy place to eat so they don’t come back when I try to grow them next year.
Yours is the BEST video I've seen regarding the squash vine borer, and I've watched a lot of them! You've covered everything I needed to know from possible prevention and what to do when the little monsters show up, in simple terms. I appreciate your demos of how to use injections and do surgeries too. I've only gotten bits and pieces until now. I'm going to try the squash varieties you recommended as well. Thank you!!!!
Thank you for this very helpful and informative video. I would like to request a part 2, addressing the infamous squash bug. I have 3 zucchini and 3 yellow squash plants. I have been manually inspecting and killing the bugs in all stages of their life, plus removal of the eggs. On average I kill 25 every day. I have used neem oil once and it was affective, but not sure if it's the best option.
Thank you Meg. I actually saw one. It stopped at the bird bath a couple weeks ago. Ugh. I haven’t seen squash bugs this year though. I usually take those eggs off the leaves with tape but I haven’t seen any. I’ve been inspecting every day. This year I have more squash plants than previous years too. Thank you. Good tips.
Meg, do you have your own RUclips channel? I almost skipped this video because I know Kevin lives in SoCal where they don't even have SVB. But I moved from SoCal to NC and would love to learn more from you. I've had pretty good success injecting bt into the stems. But for next year, I was going to try spritzing just the base of the plants with bt every morning or so hoping that when the eggs hatched and tried to eat into the stem, they would die from the bt residue. And as soon as you mentioned the superiority of the moschata varieties, I grabbed my collection of squash seeds and found that the Honeynut I have grown is that variety. Chose to try regular butternut this year but will put this one back into the rotation next year.
Thank you Meg for the great information! Here in the Midwest I had trouble with them a couple years ago so the following year I put my zucchini plants out in mid June because a guy had posted in another gardens channel to put the plants out later and that worked but I have had terrible problems with squash bugs 😵💫
Great video! I really like Meg. I will say, I've had success with the aluminum method. I don't think it's wasteful. A 6" length of aluminum can be cut into 3" wide strips and cover a dozen plants. I leave it on for months; it's not like a single use thing. It's awesome!
I live in South central Ga. I lost my 1/2 acre garden at the end of July. The vine bores and birds totally destroyed it. Thank you for this video. You gave me some good ideas to try and control the problem next time. Thank you:)
I grow "Sucrin Du Berry" a butternut variety from France .. has a tuff inner vine pith .. and I wrap a narrow strip of tin foil around the young vine as I'm transplanting from a small pot into the garden. I'm also doing this with regular butternut squash. I appreciate the suggestion to inject BT into the vine. I agree with you about planting most of these tender plants after the worse period is past .. bugs spring forth mostly in the spring .. then the summer heat etc. beats them back. If you plant and grow other things .. like sweet potatoes .. early then tender squashes later .. you're getting around the worst of the bug problem.
I've had that problem for years! Tried for the first time the injection, but it didn't work, even tried planting later in the season that didn't work. Trombetta squash a try. I love making squash pies from the butternut and zucchini for other things! Thank you
Meg! Thank you thank you THANK YOU!! I watched this video over a week ago and the other day I literally did my first squash vine surgeries (why was I so excited and proud of myself??😂) and saved 2 vines!! It’s so annoying. I check them everyday and they were fine then suddenly DECIMATED. But thanks to you I was able to save some and gave the grubs to the birds. I don’t have chickens…yet😁
I JUST planted zucchini seeds yesterday, and I’ve been panicking about the SVB so much so that it’s taken me 2 months to get the courage to plant squash. I’m glad to hear it may be less of a risk later in the season, and I’m going to be so diligent about checking my plants once they grow, still anxious though
So very interesting! I have tried to grow zucchini for three summers and had squash vine borers destroy the plants! Thank you for some great information on what to look out for and what to do!
Great video and good call on the tromboncino squash. I've been growing them for years in south carolina. They're very versatile in that they can be picked and eaten as a summer squash or left on the vine to mature as a winter squash. My family and I leave the fruits on the vine and pick them in October. If kept dry and cool, they can hold until March!
I lost my first planting of summer squash. So, I have started a second round hoping to avoid the borer. That has been my best option, so far. I might try some of these you talked about next year
Jumping spiders have somehow made their way into my yard. Initially i was using pesticides and still having annoying pests. I stopped using pesticides after a heavy rain and have been fostering habitats for jumping spiders. Cucumber beetles, aphids, svb eggs, anything, they are the best pest control Ihave ever seen! So much so, now cucumber beetles prefer running inside my house than feeding on my huge melon vines. Jumping spiders are the best.
I have found a way to hinder squash bugs in south Louisiana. I use an empty, dry mouthwash bottle, drill 3 or 4 small holes in cap and add combination of Deltamethrin powder and diatomaceous earth. Works as a duster to base of plants but repeat after rains. Deltamethrin is somewhat water resistant and both are non-toxicity to humans. Permethrin could also be used.
SVB has been my nemesis for years. I started using BT and it was a game changer for me still have few issues but it is the real star for me. Thanks for the great video.
I saw some other RUclips gardener suggest to start an early regimen of injecting BT into the squash plants when the plants had 2 flowers on them. And do it every couple of days in the beginning. I did that this year and my plants are still growing and producing when in years prior, I've given up and pulled them out by now!
Thank you Meg 🙏 I learned about c. moschata from you and have several growing this year. The rest have been under cover til now, I’m hoping I can still get a harvest before the SVB gets them. I have backups ready. PS We’ve always loved tromboncino…I have Seminole and long island cheese growing too PPS We need a timing chart tracking the SVB emergence and receding so we can plan!
One thing to note on spraying BT: it is effective but you have to do it daily and proactively when vine borers start laying eggs, which for me is late June -early July. Come June 20th I spray all my squash plants daily with a heavy spritz of BT. I found that kills most of them as when they hatch and start burrowing they just die. It’s an effective method for large numbers of squash as long as you invest in a good sprayer. Paired with spot checking for eggs, I only lost 2 squash plants out of like 25-30 this year.
Excellent presentation. I’m growing blue Hubbard’s squash as a trap crop this year and also using a SVB trap. I know they attacked the blue Hubbard, but I cut into the stem and couldn’t find it. I did see where that plant has rooted a couple times, and I have one squash. I have such a small garden in Virginia, but hopefully this fall, we can build another raised bed to grow squash in an arch fashion and grow the tromboncino squash.
Very informative video! The SVB moth was relentless where I live this summer so I lost all my summer squash plants. In addition to the SVB resistant varieties Meg listed, I recommend Honeynut Squash. I got my seeds from Botanical Interests and it’s really prolific! Love seeing Meg on the channel!
You don’t need to inject lot. Maybe just 1 ml or so where you see the frass, and you can inject in multiple places along the vine if you want to be thorough!
Ive never seen a bug like that. I’m in the southern piedmont of NC. I have my first zuchinni plants growing strong and can’t wait to see the first zuchinni start growing! I inspect all of my plants at least once a day and have only found a few Mexican beetles, spider mites, aphids, green hornworm, army caterpillars and another one that looks like army caterpillars and might be but they’re small and eat the skin of tomato stalks/stems and the leaves on top of the cherry tomatoes. I hope I don’t struggle with these too!
I did accidentally split my main vine in half when trying to dig them out with a knife. Luckily I had also buried the stem so most of the plant is still alive. I did spray BT into the holes, but I will get a syringe because it’s expensive to spray multiple plants.
In my part of the country, the danger of squash vine borers is that they carry wilt bacteria/virus. There is nothing to be done about it other than a weekly dose of a pyrethroid.
We have tried everything and what we have to do is remove the grub and bury nodes along the vines. There is no way we can find all the eggs. There are two laying time here and hopefully we miss them. And Yes, I have had them enter on a leaf stem. We only like buttercup, Waltham squash and pumpkins. We don’t have a long enough season to start late. Z5a. Generally we start watching for frass at the base and it’s usually when vines are 3’ long or so. The grubs this year were the largest we ever had. Usually they are tiny.
Thank you! I needed to actually see how to remove eggs from my pumpkin plants, just scrape them off. I have three plants that are really beautiful. I knew the bug had to be bad because it's pretty, like the nymph stage of the Spotted Lanternfly. This was very informative.
I just had to rip out most of my squash plants because of vine borers. They are the worst. Totally going to do this to my squash plants in the future. Thanks for this video. ❤
Seeded summer squashes a week or so ago. Only a couple are leafing out so far. Keep scraping off svb eggs. (Grrrr...) I'll mix up some bt and start injections. When I perform borer-echtomies, I use a small crochet hook. Try Black Futsu (Cucurbita moschata.) Another one that takes up less space is the Burpee Butterbush butternut.
I live just north of you in zone 8b. I long ago said, "screw it" to growing zucchini or anything from that family. The amount of effort to keep them pest-free was tedious and not worth it IMHO. I grow honeynut squash (mini butternut squash basically-perfect size for Mt husband and i) and don't have any issues. Definitely going to try the trombetta squash next year! I'm really intrigued by the idea that I can use it as a summer or winter squash. Awesome vid!
Rats... I just pulled out all my squash & zucchini for this season; no produce from them in sight. Now instead of sautéed zucchini and zucchini 'boats' it's sautéed young cucumbers and cucumber 'raft' recipes, which actually is rather excellent. This video is helpful indeed.
I’ve had good luck with Honeynut squash. It’s a butternut/buttercup hybrid that’s a small personal size which stores well. I grow them in upstate NY, where I must fully ripen them indoors due to frost, but that’s ok. I’ve had great success with them.
For some reason this year I have not lost a single squash to squash vine borer. I often lose them all after I get one or two squashes. Also haven’t seen nearly as many squash bugs this year. Guessing they’ll probably make up for it next year. Don’t think I can make myself dig out the borer but I might could inject some BT. Thanks for the info.
Thai kang kob pumpkins are crazy productive and taste amazing when cooked in pies or soup. They’ll give the seminoles a run for their money on productivity too. I had 1 plant and got 15 five to twelve pound pumpkins. Grown in Georgia so should be similar to you
Now I want to go pull all my almost dead squash plants & plant some new ones! I’m having issues with FUNGUS this year. I’m in NWFL, zone 9a, & nothing ever gets completely dry before it rains again. My poor Persian cukes are eaten up with it!
Meg, you are amazing! I’m also North Carolina and also 8a. Just today I saw one of my volunteer squash has frass on the stem and I was planning on pulling it out this weekend. I’m wondering if it might have been from contaminated soil. This squash is a volunteer from one of my raised beds that I transplanted into a grow bag earlier this season because I had already rotated other veggies into that bed. Last year I had a volunteer cantaloupe so amazing and productive that I saved its seeds. So when I saw this cucurbit pop up, I was hopeful it will be a repeat. Not so much. This sad squash in my grow bag is making me second guess garden volunteers. So my question is about cucurbit volunteers. Do you recommend trashing them?
It sounds like you maybe just got a dud volunteer! In my experience, my volunteers are my strongest plants. I never trash them, but nature isn’t perfect and sometimes they can just get off on the wrong foot.
@@meggrowsplants thank you! You are restoring my faith in volunteers. I usually think of them as the Darwinian best (adapting and thriving). I was pretty surprised how quickly this plant went from hero to zero, but we’ve had some challenging weather this year. You are right. Nature isn’t perfect.
After removing the grub via surgery, make a paste of soil and water and pack it around the incision, creating a protective barrier. Works every time and allows the plant to callous.
@meggrowsplants They've gotten a bit expensive. And they like to be let loose in the evening and watered in. Great lil hunters. I wonder if you could awaken them in water, then use a larger dental syringe to inject into the stem, like you did with the bt? Keep us posted.
I don’t know if my “winners” are cucurbita moschata , but I have found that the squash bug leaves my cozazelle zucchini alone! Also my Italian Cucuzza gourd is not bothered by them. Cucuzza is very mild and goes with EVERYTHING! I live in North East Iowa and the squash bug is such a problem, and I am not well enough to stay on top of them. So having better varieties is the best way to go. I wish I could find a resistant yellow summer squash
I've found that a liberal application of Orange Guard at the base is pretty effective at keeping them out. If they do get in, I've had good luck soaking down the "frasshole" with the same product, making sure it gets down in there.
I've never seen one of these things, my squash are like three feet tall, except the second planting I put in for a later harvest, they're only about a foot right now. I guess I'll be on the lookout.
I literally lost all my summer squash to these things today. In the 4 years I've lived here I've never had an issue. I didn't even know they were in Upstate NY!
Thanks for the tips! I have a lot of experience in the squash surgery department but I would much rather avoid it altogether. Will try other varieties and/or later in the season!
Aloha! We have squash vine borers here in Hawaii. When I lived in SoCal, Camarillo, My garden also had squash vine borer. 😊 Those buggers are persistent!
Spraying works for me and has for years, once they hatch they bite the vine to enter and boom tummy ache, dead! Spraying BT works just as well as any other technique as long a as it's sprayed correctly
As someone who studied entomology and loves gardening, I was really impressed on how informative this video was. She was an excellent presenter.
I have purchased and planted the seminole pumpkin and trombone squash because of her. Wish me luck. Lost original batch of zucc already
I’m pretty sure I watched this exact bug fly in and crawl toward the zucchini and I thought to myself, ah nice bugs and life are interested in my plants, must be a good sign of healthy plants and soil! And moved on…
I later see videos like this explaining why half the zucchini plant is basically melting a couple weeks later and I wonder what I was thinking 🤦🏻♂️ live and learn I suppose
Hahahahha I did the same thing 2 yrs ago.
Meg is a wonderful addition to this channel! ❤️👍
Thank you for the kind words ❤
❤️😘
Agreed. I follow her on her channel.
talk about perfect timing, i literally saw eggs on my leaves this morning and got really worried knowing the damage that they can do. really glad to have meg back, she's great!
Sucksssss
Thank you for the kind words! Good luck to your squash ❤
Me too found eggs this morning
Same here (North TX, zone 8). I saw the moth one week ago and was thinking that I know this face and this is not good. Took two days to actually figure out the enemy bug. I found eggs 3 days ago and not it is my morning and evening duty to check the leaves and buds (may be as my plants are mature, the stems are tough for the larvae, that is why I saw less eggs on the stem). This is tge first year I am trying summer and winter squashes. Wish me luck 😒!
Great info, thank you Meg! Would love to see a video from you on raising swallowtail and monarchs in your garden.
Planning one soon :)
I lost half of my squash/kins this year from these. Since napalm isn't an option I'm going to look into those resistant varieties and try again this season.
I love Meg’s voice so much I could listen to her talk about bricks for 3 hours
Hahahha thank you!
@@Sandraparson1 I agree!!
LoL❤ ima start planting again lost ma whole crop from these little buggers😂
I sprayed my main stalk and stems with BT every two weeks once I saw the moth. I also injected the main stalk in a few places.I found this to be very effective. If I missed any eggs that hatched, I think , once the larvae started to bore into the stalk, it ingested the BT and died. I also bought vine borer traps, which shockingly worked. Within a week, I caught about 30 Vine Borer moths. I got them on Amazon for about $20 which was well with it.
Using this method, I didn’t lose a single plant out of 30.
It worked for me but you must be diligent inspecting your plants and spraying.
I had a bumper crop of zucchini and summer squash. First time in years!
WOW!
Did the trap catch any bees? This was always my concern which is why I never tried it.
This has to be one of the best vids on SVB. Thank you EG and Meg! Two other tactics not mentioned here: simply keeping the squash plant covered completely (no gaps) with netting such as Tulle and hand pollinating - or - instead of "stem surgery" for larvae removal, use a thin sharp object and pierce the stem to stab the larvae to death. An ice pick or straightened paperclip can work. I have done both of these with success. I wholly appreciate the myth busting for some of the deterrents that, as you mention, are completely ineffective. 1000% spot on with this one. Thanks again.
We are overrun with borers here. Tried all these techniques. They got everything including the resistant squash varieties.
This is the best video on this topic I've found, thank you! I especially love the specific squash recommendations. Thank you!
So happy you found it helpful!! ❤
We are growing both tromboncino and Seminole!!! We also have Tahitian melon but haven’t harvested yet but it should also be a butternut type!!! So far so good!!!! Also try kajari melons which are small but taste like a cantaloupe, although the insides look like a honeydew! We’re growing China Jade and beit alpha cucumbers, all down here in Florida with much success!!!l
We’ve got them in southern Arizona! I performed a SVB surgery just the other day! Works like a dream
That’s interesting to know! But also sorry to hear you have to deal with them lol.
And northwestern Arizona
We dont have them at all in california so i had thought it was a east coast thing
I watched with a hopeful heart. I’ve cut, I’ve wrapped, I’ve done so much surgery that my vines look like Edward Scissor hands is loose in the garden.
I recommended Tatume to you, yes I did get a harvest, but lost them as well.
So I guess I’ll give Trombetta a try.
SE Texas, long growing season. Why not!
Right now I have grey zucchini under netting. The borers won’t be gone until frost. 😡
If I can’t get something to work, I’ll surrender! The battle is hard!
Thank you for the suggestion!
Blessings!
Have you tried spraying with surround wp clay?
@@derwynmdockenjr I have not, have you had success with it? Lots of talk around the garden world about it.
@@tammyohlsson7966 Yes I have this year, although I never really had an issue with svbs last year when I didn't use the clay. Lol. I'm not a good measure of it's worth in that sense. We just don't have much pest pressure at all where I am.
They don’t seem to infest cushaw squash for me.
Great visual on the whole borer excision! My first planting of zucchini this year succumbed pretty quickly to SVB - didn't get a single one. Crookneck squash planted about a month later - so far so good!
Good luck!!
THANK YOU!!!!🙏🏽 That was SOOOOO helpful! You just cleared away buckets of grief for me. I feel well armed and confident now! I’ve been going after them all summer by hand after losing my most productive plant. A lot of egg squashing and bug drowning multiple times a day! You just set me up to conquer and not settle for defeat!❤
Meg! You are the only person I know who broke the SVB code for me! Yay! Because of you mentioning this a few months ago on another video, I now have Seminole pumpkins growing! Thanks soooo much😊
I live fairly close to you, would love to visit if you have garden tours.
Soooo excited for you! You’re going to love Seminole pumpkin!
Squash vine borer!!! I shake my fist at you!! I do have a round of fall seedlings growing in my laundry room right now, though I unfortunately have not yet obtained any Seminole pumpkin seeds even though I live in FL 😂 Hooray for long seasons! A couple of moschata varieties I'm trying: Black Futsu, Musquee de Maroc & Butterbush.
I’ve heard such good things about black futsu. I have that one on my list for next year!
@@meggrowsplants oh I've got Long Island Cheese too! I had that under pumpkins on my.............. spreadsheet 😁 Yes I have a seed spreadsheet! There's too many to remember!
Thank you, Meg! I am a fan of your style. Keep up the great work!
Thank you so much for the encouragement ❤
I've watched a lot of svb tips and tricks on RUclips and this was by far the most comprehensive and useful. I wasted YEARS trying to wrap and inject vines and now grow mostly moschata for winter squash and do succession planting for summer squash. I've had so much more success that way, even though my summer squash do still succumb to svb, at least I can quickly move on to my next planting and not waste time trying to save a dying plant. Thanks for this overview!
Great video! I have stopped growing squash here in TN because of SVB. It's heartbreaking every year to come out and find your thriving, energetic pumpkin vine dead. I have even lost butternut squash and cantaloupe to these bad boys.
Same, I’m in TN and am growing zero cucurbits this year because of the SVB and squash bugs. I’m hoping to trick them into thinking my garden is a crappy place to eat so they don’t come back when I try to grow them next year.
I took a five year break growing them, but they were right back this year.
Yours is the BEST video I've seen regarding the squash vine borer, and I've watched a lot of them! You've covered everything I needed to know from possible prevention and what to do when the little monsters show up, in simple terms. I appreciate your demos of how to use injections and do surgeries too. I've only gotten bits and pieces until now. I'm going to try the squash varieties you recommended as well. Thank you!!!!
The production values of this video are great !
That was insanely cool to see you remove the grub. You rock Doc!
Thank you for this very helpful and informative video. I would like to request a part 2, addressing the infamous squash bug. I have 3 zucchini and 3 yellow squash plants. I have been manually inspecting and killing the bugs in all stages of their life, plus removal of the eggs. On average I kill 25 every day. I have used neem oil once and it was affective, but not sure if it's the best option.
Yes, I need a video on squash bugs too! I’m just trying to grow a few tiny pumpkins. You wouldn’t think that would be too hard, but those bugs!!
Thank you Meg. I actually saw one. It stopped at the bird bath a couple weeks ago. Ugh. I haven’t seen squash bugs this year though. I usually take those eggs off the leaves with tape but I haven’t seen any. I’ve been inspecting every day. This year I have more squash plants than previous years too. Thank you. Good tips.
I just replanted my pumpkins after they were decimated by those horrid bugs. I hope your methods work for my new plants!
Meg, do you have your own RUclips channel? I almost skipped this video because I know Kevin lives in SoCal where they don't even have SVB. But I moved from SoCal to NC and would love to learn more from you. I've had pretty good success injecting bt into the stems. But for next year, I was going to try spritzing just the base of the plants with bt every morning or so hoping that when the eggs hatched and tried to eat into the stem, they would die from the bt residue.
And as soon as you mentioned the superiority of the moschata varieties, I grabbed my collection of squash seeds and found that the Honeynut I have grown is that variety. Chose to try regular butternut this year but will put this one back into the rotation next year.
Thank you Meg for the great information! Here in the Midwest I had trouble with them a couple years ago so the following year I put my zucchini plants out in mid June because a guy had posted in another gardens channel to put the plants out later and that worked but I have had terrible problems with squash bugs 😵💫
Great video! I really like Meg. I will say, I've had success with the aluminum method. I don't think it's wasteful. A 6" length of aluminum can be cut into 3" wide strips and cover a dozen plants. I leave it on for months; it's not like a single use thing. It's awesome!
I live in South central Ga. I lost my 1/2 acre garden at the end of July. The vine bores and birds totally destroyed it. Thank you for this video. You gave me some good ideas to try and control the problem next time.
Thank you:)
I grow "Sucrin Du Berry" a butternut variety from France .. has a tuff inner vine pith .. and I wrap a narrow strip of tin foil around the young vine as I'm transplanting from a small pot into the garden. I'm also doing this with regular butternut squash. I appreciate the suggestion to inject BT into the vine. I agree with you about planting most of these tender plants after the worse period is past .. bugs spring forth mostly in the spring .. then the summer heat etc. beats them back. If you plant and grow other things .. like sweet potatoes .. early then tender squashes later .. you're getting around the worst of the bug problem.
Good advice
I've had that problem for years! Tried for the first time the injection, but it didn't work, even tried planting later in the season that didn't work.
Trombetta squash a try.
I love making squash pies from the butternut and zucchini for other things! Thank you
Meg! Thank you thank you THANK YOU!! I watched this video over a week ago and the other day I literally did my first squash vine surgeries (why was I so excited and proud of myself??😂) and saved 2 vines!! It’s so annoying. I check them everyday and they were fine then suddenly DECIMATED. But thanks to you I was able to save some and gave the grubs to the birds. I don’t have chickens…yet😁
I JUST planted zucchini seeds yesterday, and I’ve been panicking about the SVB so much so that it’s taken me 2 months to get the courage to plant squash. I’m glad to hear it may be less of a risk later in the season, and I’m going to be so diligent about checking my plants once they grow, still anxious though
So very interesting! I have tried to grow zucchini for three summers and had squash vine borers destroy the plants! Thank you for some great information on what to look out for and what to do!
Great video and good call on the tromboncino squash. I've been growing them for years in south carolina. They're very versatile in that they can be picked and eaten as a summer squash or left on the vine to mature as a winter squash. My family and I leave the fruits on the vine and pick them in October. If kept dry and cool, they can hold until March!
They’re seriously my favorite! Love a versatile crop that can be used multiple ways!
You MUST do a video showing us what you do/how you cook the Trombetta squash!!
@@stacysb5449 yesss!
Meg, I love this video! Im in Austin, TX and this evil demon is my biggest garden challenge! 😂
She is my favorite EG gardener!
Thank you!! ❤
I lost my first planting of summer squash. So, I have started a second round hoping to avoid the borer. That has been my best option, so far. I might try some of these you talked about next year
I’ve started my late round of summer squash as well. Wishing us both the best of luck!
Jumping spiders have somehow made their way into my yard. Initially i was using pesticides and still having annoying pests. I stopped using pesticides after a heavy rain and have been fostering habitats for jumping spiders. Cucumber beetles, aphids, svb eggs, anything, they are the best pest control Ihave ever seen! So much so, now cucumber beetles prefer running inside my house than feeding on my huge melon vines. Jumping spiders are the best.
I have found a way to hinder squash bugs in south Louisiana. I use an empty, dry mouthwash bottle, drill 3 or 4 small holes in cap and add combination of Deltamethrin powder and diatomaceous earth. Works as a duster to base of plants but repeat after rains. Deltamethrin is somewhat water resistant and both are non-toxicity to humans. Permethrin could also be used.
Great video EG! So glad you have Meg now, i absolutely adore her! Happy growing ya'll 💚 🌻
Aw thank you! ❤
SVB has been my nemesis for years. I started using BT and it was a game changer for me still have few issues but it is the real star for me. Thanks for the great video.
Thank you. I’m always fighting them in Central Texas. You gave me some new tactics.
So happy to hear that!
I saw some other RUclips gardener suggest to start an early regimen of injecting BT into the squash plants when the plants had 2 flowers on them. And do it every couple of days in the beginning. I did that this year and my plants are still growing and producing when in years prior, I've given up and pulled them out by now!
@Epicgardeningofficiall How exciting! I'm never the victor!!
" in the beginning". For how long do you keep this up?
Thank you Meg 🙏 I learned about c. moschata from you and have several growing this year. The rest have been under cover til now, I’m hoping I can still get a harvest before the SVB gets them. I have backups ready.
PS We’ve always loved tromboncino…I have Seminole and long island cheese growing too
PPS We need a timing chart tracking the SVB emergence and receding so we can plan!
One thing to note on spraying BT: it is effective but you have to do it daily and proactively when vine borers start laying eggs, which for me is late June -early July. Come June 20th I spray all my squash plants daily with a heavy spritz of BT. I found that kills most of them as when they hatch and start burrowing they just die. It’s an effective method for large numbers of squash as long as you invest in a good sprayer. Paired with spot checking for eggs, I only lost 2 squash plants out of like 25-30 this year.
Excellent presentation. I’m growing blue Hubbard’s squash as a trap crop this year and also using a SVB trap. I know they attacked the blue Hubbard, but I cut into the stem and couldn’t find it. I did see where that plant has rooted a couple times, and I have one squash. I have such a small garden in Virginia, but hopefully this fall, we can build another raised bed to grow squash in an arch fashion and grow the tromboncino squash.
Meg, FANTASTIC Video! Thanks so much! ❤
Thank you so much for all these tips and especially introducing Cucurbita moschata!!!
Very informative video! The SVB moth was relentless where I live this summer so I lost all my summer squash plants. In addition to the SVB resistant varieties Meg listed, I recommend Honeynut Squash. I got my seeds from Botanical Interests and it’s really prolific! Love seeing Meg on the channel!
during this video i ran to check on my squash! all clear!
thank the harvest gods!
You have been blessed 🙏🏼
Great video. I noticed the Bt used was sprayable. How much did you use to inject? Thanks.
You don’t need to inject lot. Maybe just 1 ml or so where you see the frass, and you can inject in multiple places along the vine if you want to be thorough!
Ive never seen a bug like that. I’m in the southern piedmont of NC. I have my first zuchinni plants growing strong and can’t wait to see the first zuchinni start growing! I inspect all of my plants at least once a day and have only found a few Mexican beetles, spider mites, aphids, green hornworm, army caterpillars and another one that looks like army caterpillars and might be but they’re small and eat the skin of tomato stalks/stems and the leaves on top of the cherry tomatoes. I hope I don’t struggle with these too!
Same
This is the most informative video I've ever watched on the Squash Vine Borer! Thank you!
I did accidentally split my main vine in half when trying to dig them out with a knife. Luckily I had also buried the stem so most of the plant is still alive. I did spray BT into the holes, but I will get a syringe because it’s expensive to spray multiple plants.
The syringe is much more precise! Good thing you buried the stem!
In my part of the country, the danger of squash vine borers is that they carry wilt bacteria/virus. There is nothing to be done about it other than a weekly dose of a pyrethroid.
We have tried everything and what we have to do is remove the grub and bury nodes along the vines. There is no way we can find all the eggs. There are two laying time here and hopefully we miss them. And Yes, I have had them enter on a leaf stem.
We only like buttercup, Waltham squash and pumpkins. We don’t have a long enough season to start late. Z5a.
Generally we start watching for frass at the base and it’s usually when vines are 3’ long or so. The grubs this year were the largest we ever had. Usually they are tiny.
Thank you! I needed to actually see how to remove eggs from my pumpkin plants, just scrape them off. I have three plants that are really beautiful. I knew the bug had to be bad because it's pretty, like the nymph stage of the Spotted Lanternfly. This was very informative.
I just had to rip out most of my squash plants because of vine borers. They are the worst. Totally going to do this to my squash plants in the future. Thanks for this video. ❤
THanks! I always had a problem with Squash vine borers...
Seeded summer squashes a week or so ago. Only a couple are leafing out so far. Keep scraping off svb eggs. (Grrrr...) I'll mix up some bt and start injections. When I perform borer-echtomies, I use a small crochet hook. Try Black Futsu (Cucurbita moschata.) Another one that takes up less space is the Burpee Butterbush butternut.
Thanks for the tips, especially the varieties that are resistant to SVB. I will be reying those next year.
In Central Florida 9b. Just started Seminole pumpkin seeds for the first time in seed starting trays. 🙏🏽
These bugs are destroying my Seminole pumpkin I'm also in central FL.
Wow!! That procedure was very enlightening. I hope I can tackle that task if I come across svb (again) this season.
You're my favorite new Epic team member
❤❤❤
I live just north of you in zone 8b. I long ago said, "screw it" to growing zucchini or anything from that family. The amount of effort to keep them pest-free was tedious and not worth it IMHO. I grow honeynut squash (mini butternut squash basically-perfect size for Mt husband and i) and don't have any issues.
Definitely going to try the trombetta squash next year! I'm really intrigued by the idea that I can use it as a summer or winter squash. Awesome vid!
My*
@Epicgardeningofficiall I am thoroughly confused.
Rats... I just pulled out all my squash & zucchini for this season; no produce from them in sight. Now instead of sautéed zucchini and zucchini 'boats' it's sautéed young cucumbers and cucumber 'raft' recipes, which actually is rather excellent. This video is helpful indeed.
You can also replant ❤
I’ve had good luck with Honeynut squash. It’s a butternut/buttercup hybrid that’s a small personal size which stores well. I grow them in upstate NY, where I must fully ripen them indoors due to frost, but that’s ok. I’ve had great success with them.
For some reason this year I have not lost a single squash to squash vine borer. I often lose them all after I get one or two squashes. Also haven’t seen nearly as many squash bugs this year. Guessing they’ll probably make up for it next year. Don’t think I can make myself dig out the borer but I might could inject some BT.
Thanks for the info.
I lost all my squash and zucchini this year after my first harvest. I’m gonna try your advice on different varieties.
If you find the right variety it’ll change your life!
Thai kang kob pumpkins are crazy productive and taste amazing when cooked in pies or soup. They’ll give the seminoles a run for their money on productivity too. I had 1 plant and got 15 five to twelve pound pumpkins. Grown in Georgia so should be similar to you
I’ll add that one to the list!! Love the look of them too
I will try the trombetta squash next year!
Now I want to go pull all my almost dead squash plants & plant some new ones! I’m having issues with FUNGUS this year. I’m in NWFL, zone 9a, & nothing ever gets completely dry before it rains again. My poor Persian cukes are eaten up with it!
I’ve had good luck preventing SVB by spraying the lower stems with neem oil
Meg, you are amazing! I’m also North Carolina and also 8a. Just today I saw one of my volunteer squash has frass on the stem and I was planning on pulling it out this weekend. I’m wondering if it might have been from contaminated soil. This squash is a volunteer from one of my raised beds that I transplanted into a grow bag earlier this season because I had already rotated other veggies into that bed.
Last year I had a volunteer cantaloupe so amazing and productive that I saved its seeds. So when I saw this cucurbit pop up, I was hopeful it will be a repeat. Not so much. This sad squash in my grow bag is making me second guess garden volunteers. So my question is about cucurbit volunteers. Do you recommend trashing them?
It sounds like you maybe just got a dud volunteer! In my experience, my volunteers are my strongest plants. I never trash them, but nature isn’t perfect and sometimes they can just get off on the wrong foot.
@@meggrowsplants thank you! You are restoring my faith in volunteers. I usually think of them as the Darwinian best (adapting and thriving). I was pretty surprised how quickly this plant went from hero to zero, but we’ve had some challenging weather this year. You are right. Nature isn’t perfect.
Thanks for the map of the range!
Happy i dont have to worry about these. 😊❤
Really glad i dont have to deal with these. Instead i get a plague of powdery mildew, got some resitant varieties this year so fingers crossed.
After removing the grub via surgery, make a paste of soil and water and pack it around the incision, creating a protective barrier. Works every time and allows the plant to callous.
I have had a load of luck with beneficial nematodes. I got them for my Mayo green crookneck squash. Got rid of my other grubs in the soil as well.
I’m actually going to be trying that this year as well!
@meggrowsplants They've gotten a bit expensive. And they like to be let loose in the evening and watered in. Great lil hunters. I wonder if you could awaken them in water, then use a larger dental syringe to inject into the stem, like you did with the bt? Keep us posted.
Do nematodes harm earth worms?
@@user-wq3jp3qg1o nope. Only grubs.
I'm in Georgia and am eagerly looking forward to this
Thank you for the Seminole Nation call out ❤
Thanks kevin - Here in Florida Squash Vine Beetles have rlly affected our crops so this should help
I don’t know if my “winners” are cucurbita moschata , but I have found that the squash bug leaves my cozazelle zucchini alone! Also my Italian Cucuzza gourd is not bothered by them. Cucuzza is very mild and goes with EVERYTHING! I live in North East Iowa and the squash bug is such a problem, and I am not well enough to stay on top of them. So having better varieties is the best way to go. I wish I could find a resistant yellow summer squash
I've found that a liberal application of Orange Guard at the base is pretty effective at keeping them out. If they do get in, I've had good luck soaking down the "frasshole" with the same product, making sure it gets down in there.
Wish I saw this a few days ago! Ugh gotta try plant again
Great video. Wish it would've come out several months ago so I could've planted different varieties. Next year!!
Where can I get seeds for the Trumbetta that you grew?
Would covering the base of the vine with something sticky help? Sticky tape!?
I've never seen one of these things, my squash are like three feet tall, except the second planting I put in for a later harvest, they're only about a foot right now. I guess I'll be on the lookout.
I literally lost all my summer squash to these things today. In the 4 years I've lived here I've never had an issue. I didn't even know they were in Upstate NY!
I will warn my son who gardens in Syracuse!
Thanks for the tips! I have a lot of experience in the squash surgery department but I would much rather avoid it altogether. Will try other varieties and/or later in the season!
I used to cover my young plants with net until the egg laying season was over. It seemed to work well.
Love Meg. We are a lot alike when it comes to gardening :)
Aloha! We have squash vine borers here in Hawaii. When I lived in SoCal, Camarillo, My garden also had squash vine borer. 😊 Those buggers are persistent!
Spraying works for me and has for years, once they hatch they bite the vine to enter and boom tummy ache, dead! Spraying BT works just as well as any other technique as long a as it's sprayed correctly
I was literally looking up fixes for this the day before this was posted!!
I'm on my third year of growing Seminole squash. I can attest that it's a survivor. 👍