“I plant a new crop of squash every couple of weeks to stay ahead of the squash vine borers,” he said. UGA Extension consumer vegetable horticulturist Bob Westerfield says he “wouldn’t be surprised to see (resistant) squash varieties soon.” Until then, Westerfield chooses to share his squash crop with the pests.
She turned to an alternative variety called snake gourd or Cucuzza, which is resistant to vine borers and readily available to grow from seed. “I sometimes plant so early that I may at times have to cover seedlings with a bucket if there is a frost warning,” said Lisa Ames, an entomologist with the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.Īmes stopped growing zucchini due in part to vine borers. To stay ahead of the pests, plant squash as early as possible so the plants are producing before the 6 to 8 summer weeks vine borers are active. There is no tried and true successful method to control the pest, but University of Georgia experts do offer tips for gardeners who choose to put up a fight. As water flow is cut off, the plant wilts and literally collapses. After about a week, a pale larvae hatches and eats its way into the plant stems near soil-level. The tiny destructive pests love to lay their eggs on summer squash, zucchini, winter squash and pumpkin plants but seldom attack cucumber and melons. When the adults emerge from the soil, they lay eggs on the base of the stems of susceptible plants. Squash vine borers overwinter in the soil, usually where squash or zucchini plants were planted the previous season.
Since they are hidden inside the plant, most home gardeners have no idea the pests are there until the plants wither and die. The small larvae burrow through squash plant stems, wilting and eventually killing what appear to be lush, healthy plants. Backyard squash growers may not agree on which variety is best, but they do agree on one thing – squash vine borers are the enemy.
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