Doctor, get me 200cc of BT, STAT!

If they really are SVB's, you'll probably want to forgo the neem and get yourself a syringe filled with some bacillus thuringiensis (BT) to inject into the stems.

Any idea of the price? I have 3 varities, 6 crooked neck mislabled as straight neck, 6 sweet dumplings, and 6 patty pan, plus 6 straight 8 cucumbers and about 4 or 5 volunteers from last year for a gherkin cucumber. I also have about 5 new shoots for canteloupe.

How much would I need and how much would the cost near?

Thanks for the help.

It's not much for the BT. I bought the liquid this spring to get the cutworms and baby hornworms. Also bought some powder to have on hand just in case.
One time spraying this spring and no mores worms in a month or more!

I'm with you scarletdaisies! I always have a problem with squash bugs and SVB eggs, but it's usually after I've started to harvest the squash. This year my squash have not even blossomed yet and I'm hand picking nasty little eggs everyday. And the squash bugs are everywhere! This morning I went out and drowned the little buggers that I could find, but I'm not sure hand picking is going to fix my problem.

In my experience marigolds are merely decoration. Maybe you have to plant LOTS of marigolds to be effective?

Will Bt kill squash bugs? Or only effective on SVB once in the stem? (I know how well it works on cabagge and such, just not sure on the squash). I also have Sevin if that will work, but I hate to kill my beneficials.

Best to all of you fighting the SVB war, seems to be on early this year.

Well, I made a concoction of my own due to the fact the local hardware store doesn't carry bt or neem oil. I used old cigarettes, garlic powder, black pepper, vegetable oil, and dish soap. My hands are burning, so maybe it will effect bugs in a much worse way. You have to apply the mix to the stems as well as the leaves.

I found squash bugs so aggressive, they started at me, caught them with the sponge I used to apply the mix with, and squashed them. I probably found hundreds of eggs, and I'm out of my mix, waiting an hour before I go back for more. It's really hot and I can see why someone might bypass growing any gourgette, melon, etc., of any kind. But I had the chance to buy seven dust and didn't, so I might leave organic for less back breaking options if next week I see the same amount of eggs.

This is my first year with marigolds, did scare the bunnies away because I haven't seen damage of them, but the groundhogs and birds, maybe even a cat, has been attacking the garden. I watched the rabbits crawl around below the hill where the garden is and not eat a thing, but don't know if they got wind the marigolds wouldn't hurt them, or maybe it's them eating it. The plants are too tall for bunnies which is not like them. I have squirrels running around too.

I ended up buying a 17 dollar a quart repellent called Ropel, haven't used it yet, but it can't go on the plants. I am going it spray it on some large rocks, let it dry, place the rocks next to each plant, and see if that doesn't scare them away. It supposedly works on dogs and cats too.

I've never used bt yet and can't see how placing only in the effective area is going to be effective. I did find an easy way to sponge on the mix by grabbing the leaf by its end and squishing the leaf in together to create a roll, then squeezed the sponge down the tunnel created with the leaf, wiggled and squeezed the leaf, so the soapy water would cover it without having to wash each leaf like a dish. It's taking forever that way, front and back it works better like that.

I guess you are right to check every day, but if this doesn't last week, it won't be worth my time. I'm already losing squash. I couldn't believe a squash vine borer flew up to my squash plants right while I was washing and removing its eggs. I flung the soapy water at it, it dodge to another part of the plant about 3 times, then I lost sight and finished with the rest of the mix.

PS.

It just rained on all my hard work! A greenhouse sounds good right now.

Last year I was amazed to watch my wifes young sunflowers being eaten by goldfinches. They killed em all. I have to protect all young plants in my gardening with netting or the quail would devour them...

My gardening experience has been nothing but disappointing. One highlight was this afternoon a black hummingbird decided to visit my first poppy bloom. Poppies are supposedly able to repel some insects, so they border around my vegetables. Only a few grew, but only a few were planted, a mix of everything to surround 10x10 squares with vegetables planted in between.

This did not work well, but the herbs and the flowers have not been disappointing. I'm sorry to hear about your sunflowers. I think the squirrel in my yard or a big vulture tall enough to reach them better ate the tops of the 4 that lived.

I can't believe people relied on this for their food. I have so much more respect for the oldsters who did this every day of their life and lived. It's amazing, I wonder if I'll ever learn to overcome all these problems and get out of my garden what I put in.

I am on to other things for svb, sabodilla?, dia? earth, and neem oil, not sure what neem oil can do accept when injected into the plant, but also to plant squash in July when the svb quits laying eggs.

A wasted year again! A long one at that! It's not even over yet, so maybe planning a winter garden is the only safe route.

Some species of squash are more resistant to borers than others. I have found the Moschata species best for avoiding problems with borers; it has very thick stems. Unfortunately, zucchini are the Pepo species, and not resistant, but the tromboncino variety is Moschata and resistant. For winter squash and pumpkins, the butternut squash is of the Moschata species and resistant. Most regular pumpkin varieties are not; commercial growers will use a lot of insectide on these. Moschata varieties can be grown in the Mid-Atlantic without insecticide. The key to growing organic is picking the right variety.

I had trouble wth SVB last year, but didn't start losing vines until much later in thee season. I think the trick with neem is to treat BEFORE the adults have a chance to lay eggs, and before your plant starts to vine. Most def do not plant any hollow stemmed squash in the same place next yr.

In your opinion do you think patty pan and sweet dumpling are varieties that are svb resistant? I went as far as buying sabodilla seeds to plant at each end of the garden area. I know they won't grow, been there with coffee and tea plants, they didn't live through the winter, but with a greenhouse/coldframe like what I'm using this year for them, I might get lucky.

Dia? earth and seven dust are my options now, goodbye bees, most of my garden is going to be squash melon type plants. I hate to do it, but oh well! Tomorrow I'll get the seven dust, do you think it will work on svb? Does anyone know for sure it will?

My uncle puts that dia? earth on his garden at the beginning of each year, kills everything, but nothing left to infest. It does not have any other drawbacks, so next year I know to include that, killing worms and all, so to get rid of infestations of this type. What to do and how do you use sabodilla? The bark? The fruit, leaves, roots? Any known available sabodilla products for gardening?

I read about the nematodes! Oh, god! No, I don't want to give the animals round worms. Got to be another option.

Yes, Seven is extremely toxic to bees of all kinds and I would think it is not intended to be used when flowers are blooming. It is the bees, after all, that serve to pollinate your squash flowers and give you squash. If you are going to spray this stuff, I would suggest you only need to spray at the base of the plant, and should try to avoid getting any on the flowers. An alternative is to grow squash in succession -- this works ok for summer squash, though not winter ones. I ended up only growing the Moschata species so that I could keep my vegetable garden all organic.

I'll lay it on the ground only, but maybe not. I found an orange lady bug, 2 different praying mantises, and a dragon fly in my garden, plus a really strange looking long winged bug, not sure if a beneficial, but it says other things are helping eat the little things.

The most annoying are the squash bugs. I guess the things are armored and they charge at me. I tried to kill about 5 different ones, got 3, but they were not easy to smash. I don't to kill the bugs and am waiting now to see if the blooms of the flowers said to protect them will actually do anything. I have a bunch of other melons to put out yet, 3 casa banana plants, kiwis, and sugar baby watermelons. I've been working and couldn't get them out the last few weeks. I still have time to plant those.

Experience from last year tells me if I had planted my peppers out sooner, none of this would be going on. That is the only place my pumpkins could grow last year, next to the cayenne pepper plants. I have about 6 different peppers, hot ones too, to plant and that may make a big difference.

What about mematodes? Have you ever heard of anyone using those?

I'll try to find the squash varieties you mention for next year. If the squash plant were not here, my cucmbers growing next to them would not be under attack.

hey fellow tennessee gardener!
scarletdaisies, so glad u are going organic. It isn't the easiest way, takes a little effort instead of just sprinkling the poison sevin dust on everything. I'm a newbie too, don't give up!!!!
The rains were something else this may, I know. I just got my zucchini seedlings growing out, so don't know much about SVB.
Marigolds are good as far as smell in my experience- such as by tomato plants.
Let me know how it's going in this humid 90 degree plus weather!!!!
Gretchen

I will, thanks for the encouragement. It's really disappointing being last year they did so bad and this year they came up blasting out. It's a total opposite change. This is what they look like now:

{{gwi:62252}}

I'm guilty of debree that needs to be cut, I haven't been able in 2 weeks at all accept to weed in the morning here and there to touch the garden at all. The shrubs you see cut in the background were cut a day ago, and they are going to be moved tonight. That is a sure invitation for bugs to hide, so I'm going to clean it up this week.

My plants were so healthy looking though and big, not like last year.

I just found a new type of organic killer for squash bugs anyways, those are running rampant just like the squash vine borer, only seen one of those, but seen tons of the squash bug. Something that has pyrethrin in it used at the same time of another type of bug spray with potassium salts with fatty acids in it called an insecticidal soap. One of the soaps is made with chysanthemums, so I wonder if that is a companion plant of some kind.

I'm looking for some predators that eat squash vine borers, so if you know of any, it would be nice to know.

Thanks again for the moral support.

Ps.

Anyone wanting to go organic, the Mexican marigolds attract beneficial nematodes and shasta and painted daisies have pyrethrin in them to kill squash bugs.

So maybe I should plant a square of nasturtiums, rashes, shasta daisies, and painted daisies around each plant?

Next year I can plant in blocks instead of square plots, blocks about 5 feet wide by 5 feet long with the flowers around each square? You learn something new every day, whether it's useful or not. Everything grows better in bunches, not rows, so I learned this year.

The link below says marigolds you buy in the nursery are grown reduced odor, so they will not work in repelling insects. The strongest scented marigold is the Mexican marigold, but you can't plant near cabbage or beans.

Here is a link that might be useful: Marigolds

This afternoon, with no warning at all the very back squash plant died of I think bacteria wilt. I don't count on any of these plants living for long. All the leaves dropped, every single one of them, it looks healthy above, that was a day ago. It's the one at the middle far left. I pulled the root, it was dark green and becoming yellowish at the root. There was no squash vine borer in the plant and the eggs have been removed for 2 days now. I think maybe my potion killed them, or maybe it was bacteria wilt. It's been 2 days and none of the rest are dying, but there some leaves that look bad, some are nice, new, healthy, and green, even the old ones look healthy.

This link shows 150 different squash/pumpkin types, can anyone vouch to their resistance to squash bugs and borers. I have to say right now the patty pans, although still small, are doing fine, and the sweet dumpling had only one or two eggs on them, none at all today saying maybe they are resistant? The cucumbers didn't have any on them either. The sweet dumpling plant had lots of flowers, so it should be under the same attack as the other.

I see my method of removing eggs is not working, I didn't go as far as to put the eggs in soapy water afterwards, so I don't expect to have rid them of my plants. They will just drop down under the leaves and hatch there. Oh, well. My local hardware store does not sell any of the organic bug control, no pyrethrin, no potassium salts with fatty acids, no neem oil, and no nematodes or BT.

I couldn't get to the farmer's coop today, but tomorrow I will go.

I'm thinking a winter crop of chrysanthemums? Can they grow in the winter? What varieties can you think of on the link below that have similar tastes to crooked neck, which I liked better. I didn't like the crooked neck I got this year, not as tasty or resilient and really was supposed to be long neck yellow squash.

I'll plant a fall crop of the ones I have and put them under hoops or plastic for cold weather.

Here is a link that might be useful: Squash/Pumpkin Varieties