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Pumpkins, Squash & Gourds

SVB: When do I throw in the towel?

13 years ago

Every morning I scrape squash vine borer eggs that I find into some alcohol, cut off the newest leaves to succumb, squash some borers, try replanting what's left of that vine. I think I'm losing the battle, but am I also losing the war? Should I just yank the plants now and save myself the morning angst? Those $2/pound squash at the grocery store are looking better and better.

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Comments (2)

susancol
13 years ago
Well, if you're going to give up, don't yank the plants. You might get a few more squash before the borer kills the plant.

Personally, I'm growing my squash plants under a Tulle tent and will hand pollinate. Also am trying some parthenocarpic zuch's like Caveli which can stay under the tent without pollination. Also trying Trombochino squash outside of the tent which is related to butternut and is svb resistent. There are options! Don't give up on squash!

Never give up.
Susan
Macmex
13 years ago
Agreed. If you can plant for a fall crop, why not try butternut or some other c. moschata? All of the squash in this family are pretty resistant. I grew Old Timey Cornfield Pumpkin, last year (and am again this year). It's now carried by Sandhill Preservation Center. Anyway, we have borers here, real badly. But this one never suffered from them. Plus, it withstood 9 weeks of 100 F + temps and never wilted.

Most of the c. maximas and c. pepos are not good at resisting borers. I've tried a couple of c. pepos which are okay with borer problems. Scarchuks Supreme, an acorn squash, was specially developed to resist them. It still gets attacked. But generally, it survives and produces. Another is Dolma Kabak, a vining summer squash, from Turkey. It puts down roots all along the vine, and can survive being "hit." But the c. moschatas rarely are penetrated by borer larva.

George
Tahlequah, OK
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Do I have SVBs?
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If a brown color is evident in the slits then chances are you have the SVB. In this case, you may want to try using a skewer to probe in the slit to find & root out the worm. Do this before the plant wilts as noted in the above post.
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I'm ready to throw in the towel
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Comments (36)
I really appreciate the encouragement. I did have to take a break for a while. I went to visit my aunt in Iowa and the trees I planted for her last year are really doing well. The Contender peach has about 10 fruits developing, Polly has about 5. There are also a handful of apricots and cherries. Thankfully the hail missed her. She has one mature apple on her property. I am guessing by the photos that it's Wolf River, I bought her one without knowing she already had one. She gave me some of the applesauce she made from it and it was extraordinary. Then I bought some Braeburn and Jonagold to make pies. Believe me I really appreciated the complex, sweet/tart flavor of the applesauce after trying to make pies with store-bought apples. It kind of gave me some impetus to keep going. I have all of the small fruits that were mentioned above, along with the trees that are supposed to be no-brainers. I have come to the conclusion that if I had to live off of the earnings of a fruit crop it would have to be pie cherries. I really couldn't possibly give up now with my whole yard an orchard. It is always hard when what one did for the love of it becomes something one must do out of obligation.
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Hey Guys - I'm throwing in the towel......
Q
Comments (14)
Hi folks...thanks so much for the continued support and feedback. I must tell you, my dear wife who is not in to gardening at all like I am basically convinced me not to give in just yet. There is yet another option of which I do not look forward to which involves clearing trees and constructing greenhouses....I just don't know where I'm going to find the energy for all that (lol). gardenman, yes I have always pretty much used oak leaves for mulch. I've not had any of the ingredients tested but I am near 100% certain that the Black Kow is free of herbicide. A few of my container plants which had Black Kow mixed in were inside my little greenhouse for around 3 weeks and they were fine but when I placed them outside it only took about four or five days to exhibit the leaf distortions. However it plays out this spring, I'm not going to pull any plants. I planned on letting things continue so that I can see the end results. And there are some positives going on. The plants continue to grow and set fruit at an excellent rate with some plants approaching 4 feet tall. And don't hold me to this, but I must confess that it does appear that some new foliage has developed without the distortions. Fingers crossed.... Jay
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