can we see a pic or 2 of the whole plants ..

where are you.. big city name ... whats the weather been like ....

have you ever grown squash before?

ken

Here are the pics of the plant, they are tied to 4ft bamboo stakes, and there is 2 per hill... We’re in Shelby, North Carolina... We had a lil bit of rain about 2-3 days ago and have had some sunny and cloudy days since then... the last time i grew squash was with my grandparents when i was like 6, im 15 now, lol. Overall everything has went fairly well...

That is an odd "gall" type formation in the pic but overall your plants look very healthy. Squash Vine Borers (SVB) are the usual cause of my plants demise up here just north of you in Va.

Ok so i started digging around and sure enough you were right zeedman. There was about 2 tiny SVBs in that stem. Im amazed it wasnt wilting already but they were real small. I always thought you would see tiny entrance holes where the grubs entered the stem. Instead of entrance holes, the deeper i cut into the stem, the more hollow and rottened it got and eventually i hit a little cavity where the grub was.

So heres what what i got now after squash surgery... What do i do with the stem? Should i wrap it in something or what?

And also what can i do to stop SVBs before they get to this point? Would a daily spraying of neem oil do anything?

The stem should heal on its own, but you will need to remain vigilant for other larvae which may travel down from within the leaf stalks (eggs are deposited there also). There are almost certainly other larvae already on the plant. Wrapping might have helped before the SVB were active, but at this point the eggs have already been laid.

As far as prevention, there are several possibilities. If you can determine when the SVB egg-laying period is for your area (your local Ag Extension should be able to help with that) you could either cover the plants with screen or floating row cover during that period & then remove it, or wait until that period has passed before you plant. In the North, there is usually only one SVB egg-laying period (generally about now) and zucchini planted in July will usually be safe. But in some areas of the South, there can be more than one hatch... hopefully there is only one in your area.

The problem with covering squash plants to keep out SVB, is that the cover also keeps out bees... and without bees, no squash will set. You can overcome that problem by growing a variety of squash which is parthenocarpic - meaning it will set squash without pollination. "Sure Thing", "Partenon", "Cavili", and "Easypick Gold" are some commercially-available parthenocarpic varieties. Those could remain covered all season, removing & replacing the cover only for harvest.

"Would a daily spraying of neem oil do anything?"

Probably not. I tried doing that once, and it did not appear to be effective... the plants were still heavily infected.

One last note about prevention. When SVB larvae mature, they emerge from the plant & burrow into the ground to pupate. So once you have had SVB, there will likely be some larvae in the ground where the squash was grown. You should avoid planting squash again in that area for at least a year, because even if you grow squash covered next year, the moths would emerge under the cover & infect the plants.

I haven't tried it personally, but many people inject Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt, into their squash plants to control borers. It's a bacteria that only affects specific insects upon consumption.

This explains it a bit:

http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/btgen.html#howwork

Thank you all for helping. I will try and look around those plants today for anymore eggs. Also, for extra precaution, ill try and inject the plant stems with Bt like BlueberryBundtcake said.

15 YO gardener! I love it! Rock on Ethan!

Thank you. Yea im a weird kid. Its a shame other people dont get into things like this.