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Pumpkins, Squash & Gourds Vegetable Gardening

Squash Vine Borers: Cover Stems?

4 years ago

I have been covering all my pumpkin plant stems with grass clippings to obstruct the SVBs from laying eggs upon them. These piles of grass clipping tend to stay wet from the rain and from my watering. Will this damage my pumpkin plants? Please, please, please only answer this one question.

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daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
4 years ago
SVBs will latch onto whatever stems are exposed. So covering just the lower part of the stems probably isn't going to help a lot. But no, wet grass clippings won't damage your plants, except in that they tend to mat down and keep both oxygen and moisture from getting into the soil.
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