containertime it is your garden (container or whatever) and you can certainly do as you wish but this understood portion of a Texan searching the internet to find a comment that matches what they want to say is not what this Texas A&M site says. Which is ... If you have had squash vine borers infest your squash, vines should be removed and destroyed (not composted unless you are sure your compost pile temperature reaches high enough to kill insects) soon after squash harvest. Soil can be tilled before planting to reduce the number of larvae that are in the soil. IMHO - it makes more sense to remove the pupae rather than to bury them. In fact the concept of plowing in a container is not only not practical it is like comparing grapes to pumpkins. The idea of tilling, plowing, or otherwise turning the the soil was to expose the pupae so they could be eaten by other prey or freeze. Once the vines have been removed at the end of the season, till the soil to expose the cocoons on the surface. This exposes them to predators an d more severe winter temperatures. In fact, IF it were me and I intended to use this soil again but in another container, I would simply fabricated a sifter from hardware cloth to screen the soil as I am transferring it. 1/4" hardware cloth should be adequate to find any SVB pupae. You may be surprised how many you find. Sorry, I just don't think putting the pupae at the bottom of a container will keep them from emerging from the bottom of the container when they are ready. Your container - do as you wish. Edit: -------------------------------------------- To be clear: What I meant was <1/4" hardware cloth should be adequate to find any SVB pupae.> The mesh comes in diff sizes and I see I wasn't clear. I corrected the 1st statement above. Something similar to this 5-Foot 1/4-Inch Mesh Hardware Cloth 1/4 x 1/4 Hardware cloth. Tho, I think I would sift the entire container. Mea Culpa

vgkg....thanks. I pulled a couple stems out because they were all wilted (not brown, etc.).........but after re-reading your post I probably should have checked to see if it still had some blossoms and fruit. So you've discovered that if you do continue to pick some cucs off those affected vines, they tend to be bitter? Because my last picking had some bitter ones and they seemed to small to be bitter yet, so maybe why these were bitter. In the past, even when I've had a healthy cuc season, some of mine are bitter at the stem end. Forgive me, I tend to be overly analytical. I drive myself crazy. haha laceyvail........thanks. I did grow Little leaf one year and can't remember what I didn't like about it......but I may have to try it again. Are you as happy with it as you were with County Fair? Why did you switch?

Elmer's Glue will soon wash off from rain and watering. The cut stem will then be vulnerable for a borer attack. Give this a try for future cut ends. Place generous dab of acrylic, exterior house paint, any gloss, any color, on the cut end. Let it dry an hour or so, and put another dap of paint on top of it. Then, a short time later push a 5/8" or wider upholstery tack (Amazon sells them), into the just painted cut end all the way it will go until some paint oozes out around the tack's edge. The tack should be as wide or wider than the diameter of the cut stem. I have seen borers sneak a hole next to the edge of a tack that was too small in diameter, and only a tack was used, no paint dab covering the cut end. That's why a thick dab of paint at a cut end held down with a protective wide tack overhanging the cut edge is an ideal defense. Sounds drastic, but critical cases require drastic measures. A borer can kill a young bush, especially a grafted one. Own root bushes may not sustain fatal results from a borers attack. Moses

Always Prune out Cane Borer Damage ? I may not have noticed last year or maybe it wasn't there On this 1 rose, I have 2 main stems. Easily makes up 1/3 of the framework. These main stems have WYE branching off it it. The main stems are probably the main stems that came with the original plant There is growth *aka* from the WYE branching However, these main stems show cane borer damage. I can see holes in the middle of it. What is the rule of thumb. If it's growing, then leave it alone ? Or no, you need to cut till you see clean wood regardless ?