Author Topic: Squash died unexpectedly (Read 1562 times)

VB-Milling · « **Reply #20 on:** July 13, 2021, 04:10:13 PM »

Ok so I definitely had to Google what the heck a Dustin-mizer was, so now I get it. We have a very limited garden so I think I'll go with something like @btulloh recommended.

Its funny...I grew up in CT and I remember my mother planting a 12x15ft garden every year and doing nothing more than watering it 4 times a week and we'd have more veggies than us and our immediate neighbors could ever eat. Either I mentally blocked out the beetles, borers, caterpillars, and all the other pests, or things are just different because of the growing conditions there versus southeastern VA.

21incher · « **Reply #21 on:** July 13, 2021, 04:15:16 PM »

I have been growing squash squeezed into small raised beds for years with fantastic results. I just use compost. After a while I pray for borers

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VB-Milling · « **Reply #22 on:** July 13, 2021, 04:19:12 PM »

Quote from: 21incher on July 13, 2021, 04:15:16 PM

I have been growing squash squeezed into small raised beds for years with fantastic results. I just use compost. After a while I pray for borers .

I was really hoping you were going to chime in @21incher
I remember seeing some raised beds in your videos.

Mooseherder · « **Reply #23 on:** July 13, 2021, 04:27:00 PM »

I've got a garter snake hanging out at the garden. He's there everyday hopefully eating bugs. Got the first flower yesterday.

21incher · « **Reply #24 on:** July 13, 2021, 04:31:39 PM »

I have switched from a large open garden to raised beds and it was the best move I have ever made. The only secret is to keep a good compost bed going and refresh them every spring. Bugs are a gardeners worst problem and it's easy to pick bugs from one bed at a time and plant a little extra for them. Not to late to replant them in most areas as they usually take 45 to 55 days. Good luck.

btulloh · « **Reply #25 on:** July 13, 2021, 04:50:05 PM »

More important when you apply something than how. The borers wouldn’t bother you if you replanted now. I think around here the danger time is June. Once their life cycle is complete you’re not in harms way. Best to get some local input from an extension agent or a knowledgeable person at Southern States.

Diatomaceous earth is a good idea too. I never used it but it would have been a good idea. I think it would take care of next year’s problem too.

mike_belben · « **Reply #26 on:** July 27, 2021, 11:05:17 PM »

Late to the party but i knew it was gonna be vine borer when i saw that sad plant. Theyve ate my yellow longnecks many times.

Ive got butternuts ready to snap the strings this year with no sign of harm from the flea beetles, june bugs or borers. Maybe give butternut a try.

ESFted · « **Reply #27 on:** July 28, 2021, 03:12:42 PM »

I'm in Yorktown and have been growing squash and zucchini in raised beds for years. I try to plant early in the spring so I get some produce before the vine borers attack. I've never had any luck preventing the borers, but have had good luck running a straightened paper clip up and down the stem after I see the hole where the borer goes in ( you can tell by the frass coming out of the hole). Also, if you cover the vine with dirt every few feet, it will root and keep growing and producing.

This year I tried injecting liquid BT (Bacillus thuringiensis) into my squash stems before the bugs arrived and have had really good luck with that technique. No apparent harm to the plants so far.

btulloh · « **Reply #28 on:** July 28, 2021, 03:51:47 PM »

BTW, the borers won’t mess with butternut squash.

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