At this point, no there really isn't. Once the borers are inside, removing them is all that helps. Depending on what kind of squash you have, it is not too late to start new seeds right now and transplant them outside in a couple of weeks. That would work for summer squash, but probably not for winter squash or pumpkins due to their longer days-to-maturity.

Another option for future years is to completely cover the plants with floating row covers. This is harder than it sounds because our constant high winds lift them up and move them around and you have to lift them long enough for pollination (natural pollination, or you can hand-pollinate) to occur.

I've linked some great info on squash vine borers. SVBs are going to pop up every year, so the best long-term strategy seems to be to wrap the stems in aluminum foil or in nylon (kneehigh stockings with the feet cut out of them) at planting time so the borers cannot get into the stems. Some people have luck injecting nematodes or Bt or both into the stems.

Don't feel alone in fighting SVBs. People all over the entire country have the same struggles with them that we have here in Oklahoma. Some years they are bad and some years they aren't. I haven't had any yet this year. (However, saying that pretty much guarantees they'll show up any day now just to make me eat my words.)

One way to defeat the SVBs is to plant butternut squash which they seldom bother. Another way is to deliberately plant as early as you can in spring to try to get the plants far enough along that they can outlive the borers. As the plants grow, whenever you see some exposed vine lying on the ground, heap soil up over the vine and pat it down. This will encourage the vine to root into the ground then. Do that over and over so your vine is rooted into the ground in several places. Then, if SVBs attack, your plant has several rooted areas to carry on after one main stem is compromised.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: SVB Info From Gardens Alive

Tigerdawn,

Dawn shot it to you strait. I am personally down to one prolific strait neck plant due to SVB and it is on its last leg with the only seed squash I have a hope on. The preventive things she mentioned and linked are the only ones I know of. Although Dawn is an organically minded gardener she is not holding back any insecticide cure. Surgery is the only option at this point and it had a success rate of a heart-lung transplant in humans. Feel assured though that these pests are a bane worldwide. Like this year when I get down about my squash getting pwned by them I remember Genesis 3:17: Then to Adam He said, "Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ÂYou shall not eat of itÂ: "Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life."

Christopher
S.OKC

Christopher,

If there was a chemical cure for squash vine borers, I betcha I'd use it.

I try to garden organically and I succeed 95-98% of the time, but there are some beasties for which the organic gardening world lacks a real cure....and SVBs are one of them.

Fire ants used to be another problem for which there was no viable organic solution, but spinosad baits have taken care of that.

I personally don't believe there ever will be an organic product than can do what Roundup does (and I've tried the organic pretenders and they don't cut it). I'll use Roundup if I feel I must, although that probably happens maybe once every 3 or 4 years.

In a perfect world, I'd like to believe I could garden 100% organically, but this is not a perfect world, is it?

I used to garden chemically long ago, so I still know some of the chemical solutions, but I have not paid attention to chemical pesticides released the last 10 or 12 years, so I hope somebody else is staying up to date on them and can advise everyone about them.

I do wonder what in the world commercial pumpkin and squash growers use for squash bugs and squash vine borers. There must be SOMETHING or I don't see how they could ever raise a crop successfully.

Dawn

That's very encouraging. I'm glad I'm not the only one who battles these things. I also try to garden as organically as possible. I'm thinking of trying those injectible nematodes next year to see what happens. And I guess I'll plant way more vines than I need. I try to get heirloom plants whenever possible so my seeds are pretty much free after the first year.

I was wondering about physical barriers to the borers. Those are some creative suggestions. I was thinking tape or something but foil is a good idea. Do you know if they enter from the soil or what- like if I protect the vine from touching the soil, will that make a difference?

In the mean time, I will go bury my vine nodes ASAP!!

Tigerdawn

The moth can lay the eggs on leaves, stems or stalks. After the small larvae hatch, they work their way down to the main stalk where they begin boring. You can read about it in great detail on the attached link.

Here is a link that might be useful: Squash Vine Borer Life Cycle

That was a very informative link. Thanks!