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.

This has probably been covered elsewhere, but I'm wondering about whether Bt stem injections are useful as an SVB damage preventative. Perhaps a stupid question, so bear with me. My understanding of the usual strategy is that you wait until you see the frass, and then squirt Bt into the hole to kill the bugger. But why not just fill the vines with Bt solution? Yes, that's maybe a lot of fluid, but the Bt is cheap. Very diluted. I can make tens of gallons for a few bucks. Instead of inspecting all the vines carefully every day or two, this way, I figure I'd just pump 'em up say, every week. I've never done Bt injection, as I like row covers, but row covers are hard to do for non-vining cucurbits, like zukes. How many gallons (ounces?) of Bt does it take to fill up a zuke plant? How long does the fluid stay in the stems? Do they leak?

"Ok Zeedman, it is Aug 18th as I read your post. How are your vines?" None were lost. All the plants are heavily rooted, growing rampantly, and setting large numbers of squash. There is no wilting, even in mid-day. The damage to the base of the vines was severe, but they just enlarged to compensate, and seem to have weathered the worst. I judge that by the fact that I can hardly find a place in the patch to put my feet. Runners have taken all the space I allotted them - 12 feet in all directions - and are now intruding on adjacent crops. I guess this qualifies as a "be careful what you wish for" moment. ;-) Over the years, I have read the cut-remove-bury recommendation in several garden books and publications. IMO, the procedure as most often described is flawed. They recommend burying the stem after removing the larvae. At this point, the plant's vigor has been substantially reduced, and root formation is not a given. It makes more sense to be proactive, not reactive. As I mentioned above, I usually install floating row cover over my squash, with great results. Provided that the cover is in place when the adult moths are laying eggs, it is 100% effective in my zone. As Joe mentioned, we usually only have one generation to deal with. But if that is not possible, and SVB infestation is expected, then why not prepare in advance? Bury the stems as soon as they start to run. At that point, the vines are still vigorous, and they form new roots quickly. My observations this year seem to indicate that is a winning strategy... but as they say, that opera singer hasn't sung her final song yet. If the squash crop is normal, the battle will have been won. Because the larvae will have pupated in the soil, I will need to Fall till to ensure they don't survive to attack next year's crop. "I basically knew that the round 2 bell rang when I saw more moths at the beginning of August." That is very atypical for Wisconsin, and could be a bigger problem. I'm not really worried for the vines, which are now rooted along their length; but about 10 years ago a late hatch infected the squash themselves, and I lost about half the fruit to rot.

Strong and healthy plants can better withstand attacks from insect pests then can plants growing with nutrient imbalances or lack of nutrients. There have been numnerous studies that demonstrate that over the years. However, that does not mean plants will not be hit by insect pests. There are numerous strategies a gardener can use to help protect what we grow from these buggers. Starting, of course with the soil, being sure the soils pH is where it should be and the nutrients are in balance and there is sufficient organic matter in that soil. Companion planting, including trap crops over aways, covering the plants with Floating Row Covers (making sure you are not trapping the insect pest inside), encouraging beneficials to hang around by planting things they can feed on until their favorite prey comes along, and then using the least toxic stuff when necessary, but not spraying poisons before absolutely needed. For this year squishing any eggs you find can be of some help. If Insecticidal Soaps are not enough then maybe Neem Oil products might help, keeping in mind even those are broad spectrum poisons that will kill beneficials as well as pests.