Nasty little critters! I moved into my current house 5 years ago...had squash and zuchs the first year. The next 2 tries were futile...all the plants succumbed to a SVB death just as fruit began to ripen. I gave it a break the past 2 years, but am trying again this year...I just seeded, hoping to get my plants up AFTER the primary hatching period. I'll also try the aluminum foil trick and will also wrap my stems tightly with floating row cover (a friend said she's had luck with this technique). And you're right, they swarm...in a real menacing way. My wife pulled out a tennis raquet one year and began swinging away.

SVB is a frequent source of terror that is discussed often at this board ;)

Best of luck to you in protecting your plants from this scourge!

Ugh, hate those @%^$#! things.... I once heard that a solution of skim milk and water (1:3 water to milk ratio) will control SVB, but never tried it myself

I once heard that a solution of skim milk and water (1:3 water to milk ratio) will control SVB, but never tried it myself

No, that's for powdery mildew. And it's been peer-reviewed for that purpose, too. But not for SVB ;)

For best results, you really need heavy duty chemicals to kill the SVB. Best so far is lambda-cyhalothrin, in trade named products like Scimitar or Warrior. Second best was esfenvalerate which is the active ingredient in certain Bug-B-Gon formulas (I think the concentrate had esfenvalerate, the RTUs had something else.) Warrior is often used on other things like corn & tomatoes.

The next best method is sitting in your garden with a fly swatter all day.

Also, I should mention that contrary to what was posted above, the moth lays eggs ON the vine/plant, the eggs hatch, the larvae bore into the plant, eat it "inside-out" and THEN go into the ground to pupate. The problem persists because they hatch as adult moths in YOUR garden the NEXT cycle or year!

The problem is that they lay the eggs 1 or 2 at a time/location, and usually in hard to see or hard to reach spots. These pics were results of spending HOURS lying on a piece of cardboard inspecting vines for eggs.

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All these pics were on 1 Atlantic Giant pumpkin plant... the lower left were eggs on roots that emerged from a node--the roots got exposed from wind blowing the leaves and lifting the roots out of the loose soil/compost. They also laid eggs on undersides of leaves as well as bases of leaf stalks. Burying the vines ONLY after careful inspection helps a lot too, but only if you are sure they are free of any attached eggs. This isn't practical on many varieties.

Hope this helps.

Mark

One way to combat the borer without resorting to the chemical arsenal is to plant forms of squash that are resistant to it because of their hard stems. The varieties that belong to the species cucurbita moschata are like this; other cucurbita species, including the common cucurbita pepo (which is what most zucchini is), will succumb to the borer. This applies also to winter squash and pumpkins. For summer squash try the Italian tromboncino squash. In my view, seed or plant companies that do not tell you the scientific name of the varieties they sell should only be patronized as a last resort.

I planted plants they hate and it worked line your squash with radishes and nasturtium this year I have seen one of the nasty bugs and have grown a few squash and cucumbers but my tomatoes are choaking everything out hehehe Last year they wiped everything out ...so cheers to Nasturtiums and radishes

I'm not certain that radishes repel squash vine borers. I spotted one specimen when it was resting in the middle of a radish row.

I have been spraying rotenone on the stems, injecting vines with BT on weekly basis, and picking any eggs that I spot whenever I have a chance. That has been going on for five weeks and the egg-laying period for the first generation is drawing to a close or may be over by now. Sprays and injections seem to work quite well, but several eggs did manage to escape control and I needed to remove larvae from lateral stems of one Blue Hubbard specimen I'm growing. However, the plant alive and quite healthy, and I have not lost any zucchini, yellow squash, or patison plants so far.

And yes, C. moschata cultivars are quite resistant to the borers. They still can get infested, but damage is limited and I am yet to see a single specimen of butternut or other squashes of this species die from borer infestation.

Last year, when I was experiencing huge swarms of the critters; I didn't experience any plant losses to them. I always check the seed packets of everything I buy for resistance to common pests and diseases. I grew Burpee Pic & Pic summer squash last year and this year and haven't lost any so far.

I grew four varieties of cucumber last year and determined that the Burpee Early Pride was the only one that stayed sweet all summer long no matter how large they grew. The others would eventually become bitter. This year, when I went to purchase my seed off the rack, they didn't have the Early Pride, so I bought the Burpee Sweet Burpless Hybrid. The next day, they had some Early Pride, so I wound up planting both and the Sweet Burpless Hybrid is way out performing the Early Pride in time to harvest and taste. I didn't lose any cucumbers to the SB pests last year and so far, I haven't this year.

I think my selection of seed is the primary reason my plants seem resistant. It may just be early season luck.

Another thing I do that may be helping is I watch for any problems with my plant leaves. When a squash leaf or cucumber leaf shows any sign of yellowing or getting powdery mildew, it gets cut off and disposed of. I think this may prevent many problems from getting out of hand.

Ted