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Texas Gardening
daninthedirt

SVB schedule

9 years ago

So I've asked this question at the Vegetable Gardening forum, but might do better here.

Squash vine borers are a dreaded pest, and mess up just about whatever kind of squash I try to grow. No, Moschata are not immune. They're sort of vaguely "resistant". I plant out in late February, and I manage to get some squash by April or May, whence the SVBs take out the plant. No, I don't want to get into covers, or wiping, or spraying nasty stuff, or stem surgery. But ...

This year I had some winter squash that managed to survive a serious attack of SVBs. I decided to leave them in. As of now, they are THRIVING. EXPLODING! Squash all over the place. No SVB damage whatsoever.

So the question is, what is the life cycle for SVBs in Texas? Ideally central Texas. I understand that in the southern U.S. there can be two broods. Elsewhere there is just one. When do they happen? What I'm seeing is that if you manage to have your plants surviving in August, you're home clear. Next year I will plant out in late June or July, and I hope to be harvesting through November. I have to gather that a powerful strategy for SVB management in a long growing season is, just wait.


Featured Answer
  • 9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I asked the "Ask an Expert" folks, and got handed to an A&M horticultualist. The information I got was pretty interesting. It seems there are usually two broods per year, and they emerge on a degree-day schedule. That is, the warmer your weather is, the sooner they'll emerge. I wrote this up in

    http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/4865221/svbs-in-central-texas?n=6

    Now, to summarize, and translating degree-days to calendar dates, around here, it's looking like the first brood emerges in late March, and the second in mid-June. That means that planting out in July will avoid them. That's entirely consistent with my experience this year. As I said, I'm now rolling in squash, and they will mature well before first frost. No SVB problems anymore whatsoever.

    That is, if your growing season is long, a good strategy is just to wait them out.

    Because my soil is alkaline, I would NEVER put wood ashes in my bed. I consider wood ashes toxic waste from the perspective of gardening. But it is true that, to the extent SVBs emerge from the soil, if the soil is toxic to them, that might prevent them emerging from at least your own garden bed.

    Comments (6)

    • 9 years ago

      Thanks for this infomation Dan. Has anybody come across info on the life cycle of SVBs in their area. It would be great to know to be able to plant around the dates when they are active and get some squash, especially yellow squash which I love, but gave up on it because of squash vine borers.

    • 9 years ago

      I've tried different planting times but have never gotten any squash crop to speak of because of the SVB. I won't bother again.

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    • 9 years ago

      I have never tried this (but probably will next spring), my neighbor swears by putting wood ashes in the hole when you are planting the seeds. I know he grows squash every year with no problems except for an occasional squash bug invasion.

    • 9 years ago

      SVB is definatly one of the most frustrating pest faced by gardeners but out smarting them can be rewarding. If you crave early squash as I do and neighbors aren't growing host plants nearby,try this. First and formost,choose planting site where host plants were not grown within last year. 6 feet away help's, 20 is better and 50 is even better. Plant a few seed well after emergence of first generation (May 1st for above schedule) then a few more on two week intervals. Container plants could be put out after mid-May. When gen 1 emerge's in March,they have no where to lay eggs so fly away in search of host plants. The farther away that gen 1 lay's eggs,the less chance of gen 2 finding your plants so infestation should be light if at all. If you notice damage at any time,pull plant as soon as damage is discovered and burn or dispose of intire plant in garbage bag. Do not compost effected plants. If you have damage,watch plants of same age very close because most if not all eggs will be on that age plant. Under worst conditions you should hearvest plenty for eating fresh. With any luck you'll have plenty for canning but if not you can always plant a large crop in July as suggested above. If you have planting room,follow same strategy the following year.

    • 9 years ago
      last modified: 9 years ago

      I suppose that's one strategy. To just plant out several generations of squash. But to the extent the SVBs actually find any squash to lay eggs on, you're just perpetuating them.

      Note that my March/June emergence dates are for me, in central Texas. It'll be later and earlier, respectively, for north and south Texas.

      One awkwardness is that the more resistant Moschata varieties (e.g butternut) are winter squash. So the plant has to stay alive until the squash mature. For the less resistant (e.g. zukes) they're good to eat any time.

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