What pest chews off cucurbits at the base?

16 years ago

Folks -

I've been having a tough year for squash and cucumbers. Some critter seems to be chewing right through the stem of big, mature, productive plants. One day I'll have a healthy plant, then the next day it's dead on the ground with the base of the stem separated, and appearing to be chewed.

I do not think it's squash vine borer, as I've not seen any worms, and two of the cucumber plants this happened to were grown completely under floating fabric, and I mean completely. The fabric was lifted briefly for harvesting, and that's it.

I don't think it's cucumber beetles, as I really haven't seem many of them, and I'm used to the gradual wilting over a few days or longer that they cause by transmitting disease.

I _have_ had a lot of rodent problems this year. Mice, voles, and I think at least one chipmunk. I've been putting out traps quite a bit, and have been killing mice and voles, and just today one of the big traps got something that looked like a chipmunk, but without a stripe, just a uniform colored coat.

The most recent cucumber victim actually had a foam ring around the base of the stem to protect it (a piece of pipe insulation) but when I found the dead plant today and looked at the foam, it was chewed through, and that's just since yesterday.

Is this a known vole/mouse behavior? Is it some other rodent or pest? Why the heck would a rodent kill a plant rather than eat the fruit (none of the cucumbers on the plant were touched)? I'm used to finding nibbled-on carrots and potatoes, which makes sense to me as normal feeding. Why go for a prickly hard stem, and every time right at the base of the plant?

I've been vegetable gardening for 20 years, but this is a new one for me. I'd be grateful for any thoughts, remedies, or assistance - or even just commiseration.

Ken

dejected and cucumberless in northern connecticut

Comments (3)

paula1024
16 years ago
Ken
Commiseration here, We have voles in SE PA as well..never had them eat the squash or cuke plants but any tomato within reach is fair game...also they ate all the lettuce in our cold frames last year. Voles will chew thru styrofoam insulation boards (they did to access the inside of the cold frame) so the pipe insulation chewing sounds similar...

It makes no sense when there is plenty of other yummy stuff this time of year for mice and voles...somehow i think of chipmunks as smarter than voles, perhaps not...but agree the trouble is not of an insect nature.

Trapping sounds like a good idea but wonder how many there could be out there. We had a small hawk take up residence near the garden last summer and he/she? helped a great deal.This year, the hawk did not return but the voles sure did.We find if we keep the grass short around the outside of the fence it does not give them any cover to hide. That helps but they still get in and eat tomatoes and beans. Our veg garden is fenced and strung with clothesline over the top in a random maze fashion to keep out the deer.

Wish i could offer some sage advice, you have our sympathies. Maybe we should look up how to attract hawks to our property and let nature take care of the problem.
nygardener
16 years ago
I had voles earlier this summer and they chewed through the bases of about a dozen cuke, melon and squash plants ... including some that were under floating row covers. I put out traps (snap-type mousetraps baited with almond butter) which caught lots of them but more kept coming. I finally spent a couple of weekends surrounding the garden with a 3' fence of Â¼"-mesh hardware cloth, trenched in about 5". (6-8" would be better but my soil is very stony.) Then caught the last one, who was still helping himself to produce inside the fence, and thankfully my garden's been vole-free since. They are an incredible nuisance. They will do things like mow down a row of seedlings or eat through broccoli stalks or pea vines at the base and leave the rest. They would also scurry around the strawberry patch taking one nibble from every berry.
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ken_platt
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks for the replies. I guess it might just be voles, although I cannot understand why they would chew a plant off. It just destroys their food source and their cover in one fell swoop.

I'll try keeping on with the snap traps, and in desperation I ordered 2 of those sonic repellant devices, so we'll try those too.

Ken

What pest chews off cucurbits at the base?

Comments (3)

paula1024

nygardener

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What pest chews off cucurbits at the base?

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paula1024

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