I received this interesting article form the local extension office. I'm in Zone 6 West Virginia. It just FYI The established controls for the squash vine borer are somewhat deficient. The gardener who goes on the offensive for controlling this pest will: A. Inject Bt into the hollow stems near the base. B. Slit open the stem, remove the borers, then cover the infected stem with soil in order to grow additional roots. C. Cover the plant base with shaving cream or some other barrier. D. Cover the plant with a row cover; then pollinate by hand. These procedures seldom work well because the borers from previous seasons have entered your soil and pupated. In fact, following the above prescriptions will insure that you continue year after year to cultivate the squash vine borer as though they were your pets. The Bt does not work, because the borers work in the solid portion of the plant base, and some always seem to escape. The slitting operation does not work because you always miss one or two borers, and the plant is too weak to save at that point anyway. The barriers and row covers don't work because your pets are already in place, despite your crop rotation efforts. The above are mostly anecdotal remedies, similar to those for slugs and snails; a real waste of time and effort. With this pest, it is better to operate with defensive tactics. First, minimize your plantings of hollow stemmed cucurbits. Instead of pumpkins or winter squash, grow butternut squash. Limit your summer squash to a single variety or grow a solid stemmed variety such as Zucchetta rampicante (Pinetree Seeds Co.) As soon as your hollow stem summer squash starts to lay down from the weight of the plant, place aluminum foil on the ground underneath the stem at the base to disorient arriving moths. This will result in minimizing the attraction of your garden to the moth from adjacent and removed properties. Second, minimize the number of moths originating on your own property, by not allowing any larvae to reach the ground, ever. We'll discuss how to do that in the next paragraph. The result of this procedure, is that over time you will eliminate the number of moths hatching on your own property. And, in a few years you will have no moths except for the stray one that was blown to your property by the wind. Since you have minimized your hollow stem plantings, the outside incursions will be small, infrequent, and occur in random years if your immediate neighbors are not also growing hollow stemmed cucurbits. If they are, then you need to act in concert. If you live near to commercial growers of cucurbits, the problem may well be insurmountable. You would have to follow all of these suggestions in addition to protecting your plants with row covers. In addition, there may be some sections of the country where the squash vine borer moth is found in great numbers. As to procedure, here is where I suggest you start: First, plan on succession plantings. Pretend that your zucchini is lettuce or any other veggie that we are accustomed to replant several times. Harvest as much fruit as you can before the stems are invaded. Inspect every day that you harvest, and guess when it is about one week before first leaf wilt, based on the amount of frass and the number of holes in the stem, then pull the entire plant out of the ground. Cut off the lower section containing the larvae, and place in a bucket of water, or soapy water, or no water - whatever it takes to destroy existing larvae, or at least prevent them from ever reaching any soil, so that they can never pupate, or wrap in plastic wrap and send to the landfill with your trash. Put the rest of the plant in your compost pile. Plant one or two (or more, depending upon family size) zucchini seeds every 14 to 21 days, so you will always have fruit all summer. Over the years, your squash vine borer problem will slowly disappear (again, depending upon your immediate neighbors.) If you minimize the attraction, gradually destroy all those moths originating on your property, and plant successively, you will enjoy plenty of summer squash, and eliminate the need for chemicals on one more garden challenge. If you have but little space for summer squash, then your succession starts will have to be in containers. As you throw each infected plant away, another good sized one will be ready to take its place. Instead of having a continuous supply of squash, you might have to go without squash for a week or two between plants. That will not be hard to take, compared to the alternative.

Diggity, Your list expands on what I was planning on. Also, I planted most of my best heirlooms in the spring; some of them failed, so I'm planting any variety I've got now! Hopefully after our seed exchange, I'll have more heirlooms for next year (and more cheaply!) Although I'm now out of the wheelchair most of the time, I'm still working around a recovering broken (foot) bone and ligament damage. Still, working for about an hour yesterday, I pulled out the rest of the pea vines, and got in some broccoli (seeds) and beets. Someone on the upstate NY forum put a link for a chart; I'm hopefully attaching it. Anyhow, it says I should be planting broccoli plants now, not seeds. Haven't started any, but will see if anyone around has some for sale. This weekend, I'm aiming to get one round of leaf lettuce in, and some kale. By next week, I should have Bright Lights chard... and I'll look at your list, to see what else I can get in. This is an evolutionary step for me: I always planted once, and that was it. This should really increase the garden yield, this year! Mountainsong in The Heart of NY Here is a link that might be useful: Fall Planting Info.

GOOD REASONS TO STAKE: Keeps it up off the ground, keeps the leaves growing on the lower levels, may keep the vine shorter (spending more energy on fruit production), keeps the fruit growing lower on the vine--yet up off the ground, keeps fruit from rotting against wet soil and drawing bugs. TOOLS TO USE: This early in the year, stakes are probably cheaper--or free, if you have a straight branch lying around. 4 feet is plenty long for the stake in an 8-inch raised bed. You also need several ties per squash. Use a figure-8 tie with old pantyhose strips or soft stretchy fiber, like narrow green bias tape. (Save, wash with bleach, and reuse.) Trellises work if you have a low enough starting point. They also do very well in cages, the commercial inverted cone type. Use the large size of cage. as the plant grows help work it up through the cage. This can give a very interesting look and assists with pest control as the leaves are easier to reach and it holds them up off of the ground. The large wire cones also work for eggplants and peppers, and come fall, for brussels sprouts. SECRET OF SUCCESS #1 (STAKING IN STYLE): Plant the stake first--firmly (steady, no wiggling). Then put the plant/seed in beside the stake. (No root damage from driving in a stake!) PLANTING PATTERNS: In Texas, small items can grow near the center of the 4 squares, because they are grateful for the shade! Elsewhere, you can stake your squashes on the edge of the beds, 2 in a 1 x 3 squares line--stakees may take up 18-24 inches in width for big zucchini leaves. You can also plant in a corner square, near the outer corner, or devote the big middle of 4 squares to a summer squash, with shade lovers down below (like heat-tolerant lettuce followed by beets or short carrots and radishes) and sun lovers along the outer 6 inches of the blocks, as shown in the following pitiful text-art drawing (planted 4/1): SSSS SSSS SHH-X-HHS SHH-Z-HHS SSSS SSSS S = Sun lover H = Heat tolerant (planted in the squares around the squash and stake, giving the summer squash a few inches of room) X = stake (planted near the center of the 4 squares) Z = Zucchini or other summer squash (planted near the center of the 4 squares, right by the stake, very snug and friendly-like) SECRET OF SUCCESS #2 (BABYSIT EARLY AND OFTEN): Check your summer squashes every other day--they want to grow out. You must keep coaxing them up. SECRET OF SUCCESS #3 (BABYSITTING PAYOFF): You check the plants every two days, right? You will find your squashies before they grow into baseball bats (or pattypan UFOs.....) PLAN AHEAD FOR FALL: Brussels sprouts do great in 1/1 (1 per square foot). So do broccoli and cabbages, but they don't need stakes--so you can plant between the staked 'sprouts, and don't bother to move the stakes. Description by Jacque_E_TX with comments by Michael_ut

LOL! What fun to come in here and find such entertainment :) And an award!! You can be sure the trophy will be proudly displayed along with my eight "West Virginia State Quack Grass Digging Championship" trophies. For those who tuned in late, this is the thread that started all this: zucchini as winter squash? So I see that moschata was not originally specified -- no wonder I began the autumn with a spare bedroom full of cartoon-like over sized squash resting on plastic sheeting in case they explode! I'm always looking for ways to extend the garden produce through the winter, so this has been fun and motivating, if not quite yet successful. My personal opinion about Trombocino: insipid as summer squash, deliciously sweet as winter squash. Could it be that it is simply a winter squash that's a summer squash wannabe? Sponges for dinner! (my dog likes them too)