Nice link, and a very good article. The ATTRA publications are very useful for organic gardening... I still haven't worked my way through all of them. SVB is terrible in my area, and would kill up to 100% of my C. pepo and C. maxima squashes without protection. For the past 3 years, I've applied floating row covers over those squashes after planting (I use transplants). The row cover is buried at all edges, and remains on until female flowers have appeared, or until the vines outgrow the cover. This appears to protect the plants during SVB egg laying, because I've had no infestations at all on covered plants. Not only that, but there have been very few squash bugs, and the population of cucumber beetles is much reduced. I could not grow squash reliably without this method. A couple of my own observations. As quoted from the article, ..."Supplemental fertilization may be necessary to promote the vigorously growing plants that can tolerate one or two borers and still produce a crop through additional rooting along the stem." My own observations have been that fertilized squash plants seem to be more attractive to squash bugs & cuke beetles. This would seem to make sense, since the compounds which attract the insects might be released in larger quantities, under the more rapid growth caused by the fertilizer... particularly the high-N fertilizer that stimulates heavier foliage. Because of this observation, I stopped using fertilizer on my squash two years ago, and the pest pressure has been much less than in previous years. Unfortunately, my yields without fertilizer have also been noticeably lower. It may be that low-N fertilizer, and/or later application, might offer the best of both worlds... I will be experimenting further in that direction. "The buttercups always seem to develop supplemental roots, never the moschatas which are resistant anyway. The more I work with OP summer squash (C. pepo), the more I see stem re-rooting, which really does help them survive borers. The OP yellow crookneck from Fedco ran 14 feet and rooted like crazy." The tendency to root at the nodes is present in all squash species, but varies by variety. I grew some of the smaller Butternuts, which were very reluctant to root. "Tahitian", also C. moschata, roots aggressively. One year, I hybridized a Butternut with "Tahitian"; the resultant seed produced very large butternuts, and vines that rooted heavily. One of the rave reviews on the Cornell site for "Zucchetta Rampicante" is mine. ;-) It roots very aggressively. Some years it gets attacked by SVB (I can see the frass) but it seems to kill the larvae, and the vines show no sign of infection later in the season. Squash bugs also might attack it when the plants are young, but once established, nothing touches it. Oh, another pest observation. When I see swarms of cuke beetles attacking a particular plant of "Zucchetta", I nearly always find a mature squash bug attacking the stem. The reaction of the plant to this attack - and its weakened state - appears to attract the beetles. The single squash bugs are easily killed with a soap spray. Last year, I grew several naked-seeded C. pepo pumpkins for trial. The semi-bush "Kakai" was very reluctant to form roots; and it has been very susceptible to SVB for me in the past. "Little Greenseed", on the other hand, had long vines & rooted wherever it contacted bare soil. If SVB attack can't be prevented, choose varieties that have demonstrated good rooting potential.

I found a SVB moth flying around my squash today as well. First one I have seen all year. My squash plants were just starting to revive after a long devastating bout with powdery mildew. Now this! When I first saw the moth I thought it was a wasp. After a closer look I realized what it was. Ended up chasing the thing for 10 minutes before I got him. The bad thing is I have no idea how many eggs (or where) it may have laid before I swatted it. I'm not really worried about the squash I currently have since I was thinking about pulling them in the middle of August to make room for some kale. I am worried about next year's planting in that spot. I guess I will not be growing squash or zucchini in that spot next year.

OK Arizona explains it as SVB are considered an east of the Rockies pest only. That doesn't mean you don't have any that wander in, just that they aren't regarded as a significant pest in AZ and each state IMP focuses on primary pest problems for their state. Below I linked the U of AZ IPM website - all sorts of info on what are considered your dominant pests. And they offer a Monthly Calendar of Pest Activity you can explore. Click on each month for a list of pests associated with that month. May seems to be your grub hatch so SVB pupae would likely hatch about the same time. June brings out your "All summer bugs alert". etc. Hope this helps. Dave Here is a link that might be useful: U of AZ IPM website

Earlier this summer I started some Round Zucchini seeds, and put them under cover to protect from SVB. Here is what they looked like in the end of July They have been growing huge under the netting, almost completely filling the area, and sprawling like vines. There have been lots of male and female flowers but they have all withered and died before any have opened. I think that was because of the heat. Its been around 100 for weeks now.. but we are getting a break now, and its in the mid-80s now. I decided to remove the covering because the plants have gotten so big. I hope that after a number of week of there being no place to lay eggs available that the SVB moths have left the area, but I know its still too early to think they are done for the year, especially here in Texas where they can be around until late September. This is them today: I think the plants are so large and well established now that they should be able to survive some infestation for a while now, and hopefully produce well. I am really hoping some of the flowers open and set fruit this coming week with the better weather. There are 4 plants. They are sprawling and I can see many roots forming along the main vine and rooting down into the ground. As I mentioned before, I am hoping to let at least 1 of the fruits grow to complete maturity, in order to use it as a fall decoration and ultimately for collecting seeds. These are the last of the seeds I had for this variety, and heirloom variety, so I would like to replenish my seed supply.