Eurato, sorry I hadn't looked at this posting till now.
I don't know. Seems like it might. But one would have to be sure that their soil isn't already on the alkaline side. Wood ashes raise the PH.

George
Tahlequah, OK

Anyone else have experience with this method?
Would love to hear. Will it help when the plant is on its way out?
I am desperate. Got nothing to lose since they are dying.

From my research, dusting with wood ash is an old school treatment for the Squash Vine Borer. The theory is that they don't recognise the texture of the vine & move on.

I've read online that dusting with flour will deter squash bugs, but I've never tried it. Same with intercropping with mint.

I plant buckwheat to attract squash bug predators. (The tachinid fly.) It works well. I've found dead squash bugs and have seen the flies patrolling. But once you do it, you're committed to going organic & letting the bugs do their thing.

One of my radio audience members suggested this to me and I've tried it with great success. He said he puts a layer of the ash underneath the growing vines, not on top of them. The moth that lays the eggs seems reluctant to crawl into the ask to deposit the eggs on the bottom of the vine. A friend who has been plagued with SVB for years tried it last year and reported that she was overrun with squash for the first time ever.

I have tried this and found it helpful.

Dig a shallow trench around the plants, as far away from the base and foliage as possible. Fill the trench with half hydrated lime and half wood ashes. Moisten the mixture. When squash bugs crawl through it, they die.homeguides.sfgate.com › kill-squash-bugs-killing-ladybugs-22177

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