replant!

Fmart, I'm in NJ as well. When do you normally see the SVBs starting up around here?

squash can survive a SVB attack if you catch it in time. I have a zuke now that has made it through quit a bad one they they got in the steam in the some of the leaf stalks, a little surgery a few amputations later it's doing good now.
I did however plan to replant just in case and started a new plant but, ended up with a good reason to make the garden bigger.

It's always a good idea to have a backup squash on hand.

We have all kinds of troubles with SVB here. I previously tried to manage a garden without pesticides only to have the squash, zukes, and canteloupe decimated by SVB. Now, I'm the insecticide queen and this is war. My plants are just now taking off, no blooms yet, and I just sprayed them down with bayer insect spray which should have residual. How often should I re apply the insecticide to prevent SVB from getting in? Should I also keep sevin dust on the soil surface? I'm going to be vigilant with the sprays to keep my plants safe, and I have a couple of openings in the beds for future plantings of squash and zukes.

War, I'm telling you - war.

Cheers
M

I took on the dreaded squash fine borer, and went from this to this.

Here is a link that might be useful: DFW Gardener

Replanting is a great idea. The SVB bug should be gone by now, so you won't need chemicals. I have salvaged winter squash by burying non-affected vines--enabling them to grow their own root systems. This is the first year I was able to save a zucchini. I injected a LOT of BT into the stem above the oozing area. It did the trick. Spinosad might also work.

Would not advise using Sevin ever; you won't get any squash if you kill all your bees.

Here is a link that might be useful: My Unplanned Garden

Just dealt with the SVB's in my pumpkin vines. I dug them out by hand. One vine died and the other is ok. Keeping a close eye.

I still have SVB. I finally pulled my summer squash up because I could not get rid of them, now they're at my sweet corn. Agh! I hate you SVB. I don't think I'll ever plant summer squash again. I have watermelon and canteloupe planted in a different part of the yard and so far so good.

SVB are bad in my area. Some years, I lost almost all of my squash, especially the C. maxima varieties. Lost all banana squash one year, and most of my acorns.

Starting squash in pots & covering with row cover after transplant proved to be a good solution. I left the covers on until the vines began to blossom, or until they outgrew the cover, at which time the cover was removed. Apparently, the SVB egg laying period was over when the cover was removed, since I had no subsequent infestation. Squash bugs were almost nonexistent as well, and cucumber beetles were in such low numbers that they were no problem. In my area, the use of a row cover to protect the young squash plants virtually guarantees success.

But this year, I got behind in my garden chores, and the cover never got installed. I saw an adult SVB in the garden one day, chased it down like a maniac, and killed it. Obviously, it had company... so I buried many of the vines, so they would form extra roots. I kept the ground around the plants well watered, to encourage rooting.

Sure enough, SVB had infected the stems. The stems of the Maximas (Queensland Blue & Kabocha) have swollen, and the frass shows that there are multiple worms in each plant. For a few days, there was fairly widespread wilting; but that has diminished. The wilting now only occurs in the heat of the day, and the vines have begun to set fruit. I'll try to post updates as the season progresses.

The key to this strategy, though, is to seek out squash varieties that have long vines, and root readily. That is especially true for C. maxima and C. pepo, since they are highly vulnerable. C. moschata (butternuts, cheese squashes, and tromboncino) are more resistant.

I grow Tromboncino every year in place of zucchini (chiefly because of zucchini's vulnerability to insects & disease) and with no protection, have lost only a few plants over the years to SVB. They occasionally attack it, as evidenced by minor amounts of frass... but the vine generally seems able to defend itself. After a couple of weeks, there is no further frass, and the vines are healthy. The only time the vines succumbed was when a plant had already been weakened by squash bug attack.