What’s killing my squash?

[Stolle]

This squash plant was thriving Friday. Saturday morning it looked like this.





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Austin]

Squash beetle???? Is so the rest of your plants will look the same soon

[Greenheadless]

Squash beetle???? Is so the rest of your plants will look the same soon

This, I gave up growing squash because of them.

[twistedmidnite]

Vine borers, wrap tin foil around the base of the vies up about 4 -5 inches.

[twistedmidnite]

Google squash vine borer and look at the bug and the larvae. The bug bores the hole and puts the larvae, then the larva eats the plant.

[Muskles]

Vine borers, wrap tin foil around the base of the vies up about 4 -5 inches.

Yep. Vine borers. You can also inject the vines with BT.

[Mr. Public]

They got mine last year. Hoping they don’t come back this year.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Man]

I gave up on squash several years ago becouse of this, just couldnt win the battle. However trying this year again and going to keep using my organic spray early on instead of waiting till i see the activity

[Stolle]

Yep. Vine borers. You can also inject the vines with BT.

I see I can get BT in spray bottle. How are you injecting it?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[mikeyb_23]

Will sevin dust kill them?

[SaltwaterSlick]

Squash vine borers... It's a moth looking critter and she lays a single egg (about the size of a period. (.) on the stem of the plant, usually very low down near the ground. When the egg hatches, the larvae bores into the plant then begins to consume the inside of the stem. If a plant is infected and you catch it early, there are ways to save it. You can cut open the stem and physically remove the small white maggot-looking larva. If the damage is not too bad, the plant will recover. The way you find the larvae is to look carefully at the stem of the plant. It will be in the woody part of the stem and there will be a sawdust like sticky substance on the stem at the site where the larvae have bored into the stem. That sawdust is the castings of the little maggot. You can split the stem and remove it or you can use a syringe and inject BT into the stem... this is easier said than done. I've had better luck cutting the stem and removing larvae. If the plant is a mature plant with several nodes beyond where the damage is, just bury the stem under more soil and water it in really well. Roots will develop at the joints of the stem and the plant will begin to regrow again...
Historically, I've been about 50/50 on getting the plant to survive.


The best way is to prevent the eggs from being laid or once laid removed before hatching, or when hatched, make sure the larvae is killed before it gets inside the plant. There are two organics that will kill the caterpillars/larvae. One is the BT and the other is Spinosad. The larvae have to eat the BT for it to kill them. The Spinosad kills them if they come in contact with it. I prefer the Spinosad and have better luck with it. This is what you use also on the silks of your corn and the corn plants to pervent/kill the silk worms in the corn. Spinosad is good stuff and absoluely fatal on any caterpillar if they come in contact with it... Trouble is, when a squash vine borer bores into the plant, practically no pesticide can get to them.
Good luck Matt!! Look over your other plants and see if you can see where any bores have entered them and look carefully at the stems and see if you can find any tine dark brown single eggs. Scrape them off if you do. If you separate the egg from the stem of the plant, it will die when it hatches. The larvae must begin to eat immediately after it hatches. If it's lying in the dirt, it starves within minutes.

[Man]

Squash vine borers... It's a moth looking critter and she lays a single egg (about the size of a period. (.) on the stem of the plant, usually very low down near the ground. When the egg hatches, the larvae bores into the plant then begins to consume the inside of the stem. If a plant is infected and you catch it early, there are ways to save it. You can cut open the stem and physically remove the small white maggot-looking larva. If the damage is not too bad, the plant will recover. The way you find the larvae is to look carefully at the stem of the plant. It will be in the woody part of the stem and there will be a sawdust like sticky substance on the stem at the site where the larvae have bored into the stem. That sawdust is the castings of the little maggot. You can split the stem and remove it or you can use a syringe and inject BT into the stem... this is easier said than done. I've had better luck cutting the stem and removing larvae. If the plant is a mature plant with several nodes beyond where the damage is, just bury the stem under more soil and water it in really well. Roots will develop at the joints of the stem and the plant will begin to regrow again...
Historically, I've been about 50/50 on getting the plant to survive.


The best way is to prevent the eggs from being laid or once laid removed before hatching, or when hatched, make sure the larvae is killed before it gets inside the plant. There are two organics that will kill the caterpillars/larvae. One is the BT and the other is Spinosad. The larvae have to eat the BT for it to kill them. The Spinosad kills them if they come in contact with it. I prefer the Spinosad and have better luck with it. This is what you use also on the silks of your corn and the corn plants to pervent/kill the silk worms in the corn. Spinosad is good stuff and absoluely fatal on any caterpillar if they come in contact with it... Trouble is, when a squash vine borer bores into the plant, practically no pesticide can get to them.
Good luck Matt!! Look over your other plants and see if you can see where any bores have entered them and look carefully at the stems and see if you can find any tine dark brown single eggs. Scrape them off if you do. If you separate the egg from the stem of the plant, it will die when it hatches. The larvae must begin to eat immediately after it hatches. If it's lying in the dirt, it starves within minutes.

Thanks SS ...looks like lowes carry both under the Monterey brand. Will stop by later and geab some

[Stolle]

Thanks Charlie!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Stolle]

I found one larvae in the dead plant and found signs of them in 2 of the others. I’m going to spray this on them.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Muskles]

I see I can get BT in spray bottle. How are you injecting it?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

This is the video I watched last year. I found that using a slightly larger needle on an empty syringe to make a pilot hole before injecting the BT works a lot better. The material from the vines will clog the syringe, if you don't.

https://youtu.be/BDHTP20Q4As