[Rockin'B]

....to getting rid of vine borers for the long haul?

My cucumbers are under attack and I'd like to fix this problem for good. Is it possible?

 

[nandmsmom]

Move?

 

[MELOC]

row covers and hand pollination?

 

[Rockin'B]

that's what I was afraid of...

Thanks.

 

[EDDIE BUCK]

Does anyone know if the vineborer moth or fly is active at night
or day. If at night a bug zapper light might help a lot. my 2 cent

 

[MELOC]

removal of dead plant material, post harvest and compromised plants, tilling in the fall and spring to disturb the overwintering population and pre-emergent pesticide. IMHO, that doesn't do much to prevent the insect from surviving in the wild or compost heaps and mulch, etc. these bugs get my squash every year. too much wild area with wild cucumbers and such that i feel may help them overwinter. my compost heap normally doesn't get real hot and i normally don't till in the fall...i just top dress with manure. i may have to try tilling myself.

 

[Jenn]

have heard burying bored area with dirt/compst will help vine survive- I have a lot too but am too lazy (not dependent on the pumpkin outcome) to act... some toher bug is getting my pumpkins directly so not my main concern

 

[ksfarmer]

Move your garden each year. Trouble with this is, unless you have a big acerage, you can't move it far enough.

 

[plantaholic]

I spray BT every two weeks or more if rainy. NAtural stuff but it doesn't stick around long, as long as I am diligent it works. But because neighbors aren't so diligent...I'm still spraying, although I've only seen one actual moth this year, which is down from 6 or 7 most years.

 

[dcross]

Does anyone know if the vineborer moth or fly is active at night
or day.

They're active during the day, look/move more like a wasp than a moth.

 

[Paquebot]

A big problem to overcome is the fact that a single moth is sufficient to cover an entire acre or more. Many suggestions that I've read about don't seem to work. The borers are an absolute plague in our community gardens, so much so that I don't like to plant any vining crops in my main plots. Several new and isolated satellite plots have/had cucumbers, melons, and cantaloupe. 32 cucumber plants are now down to 2 or 3 very sad vines. Only one of 3 cantaloupe varieties remain but watermelon and some honeydews survive. The surviving honeydews had to be squeezed in too close to a solid row of 9 different cherry tomato plants. The tomato plants quickly covered the honeydew plants and it now looks as if the vines are growing from the tomatoes. The moths apparently have been unable to locate the vines among the tangle of tomatoes. Honeydew vines don't seem to mind it and are making fruit. It's something that I'm going to try on purpose next year as a sort of companion gardening.

Martin

 

[GR8PMKN]

OK here is what we do..We start with a systemic Insecticide called Merit. Then when the middle of June rolls around we use a contact insecticide with the same ingredient as Triazicide. Spray every 10 days or as needed. You can try all the orgainic methods you wish, move you garden, they will still come...Prevention is the key..PS we grow for size so we don't play around with pests

 

[Rockin'B]

We've been lucky enough to get plenty of cukes for the pickles. We have about 40 quarts put up and that will get us by nicely. I have 7 hills of cukes and have 3 of them that are now suffering.
Last year we got hit early and had to buy pickling cukes. We can't be without our pickles!

Thanks for the info all. It's much appreciated.

 

[dcross]

The moths apparently have been unable to locate the vines among the tangle of tomatoes.
Martin

Martin, ever tried the radish trick?

 

[Paquebot]

Martin, ever tried the radish trick?

Since this is a relatively new problem in this area, we're hoping that next winter will somehow slow it. Last year, I had one 18x25 plot which was 100% cantaloupe. Never lost a single plant to borers but instead watched the plot change from lush green to dull gray in just a few days due to powdery mildew. However, a few people did lose some squash and pumpkins but only a small percentage. This year, there are few who are spared. At home, I seemed to have been all summer trying to contain some volunteer squash and never ever had lost a single vine of anything to borers. Thus it's even new here and it will be next year when we begin the combat in earnest. If it means planting radishes with them, sounds like a good idea and can harvest the seed pods as well!

Martin

 

[Ernie]

I'd like to know more about the radish method. Companion planting is something I'm not well-versed in and it seems like a great solution for organic gardeners.

 

[marvella]

we've had them quite heavily in this area for about 10 years.

unfortunately, the only people who are still getting crops from their cucurbits are using sevin dust. nothing else mentioned has worked.

 

[MELOC]

i just dissected a few suffering plants and killed about a dozen larvae...and cut my finger in the process, lol. i plan to dig the soil around where the plants were and see if i can find any pupae.

 

[devdragon33]

ok this is gonna sound weird but tobacco water worked here the darn bugs almost killed every one i had and a neighbor gave me tobacco powder you soak it then spray it liberally. The plants don't mind it and the nicotine apparrently kills the bugs ,i also spray it on the eggs if i find them, side note no fungus this year either.

 

[MELOC]

i dug around a few of the plants and while removing the dead pumpkin vine, i found what i think was a few borers in another stage of growth. the brown/black head became a 1/4 inch band of color, the bug had legs and it had 2 prongs out the back much like an ear wig. the bug had also narrowed and elongated a bit. i only found them in squash/pumpkin areas.