Decided to try some squash again in my little garden area. Last time my squash and zucchini got wiped out by borers. What’s your go to method to fight these bastards

I had to quit planting it because of the damn SVB

They've gotten mine the past 2 years too. I hate those damn things

I try various products but when I have the best luck i start spraying early and all around the base of the plants but yeah they hard to control

I've tried everything but one of those traps with no luck.

We lost all of ours last year - I’ve done quite a bit of studying on them. It appears that the key is to remove the eggs from the base and/or I’ve read articles about wrapping the base of the stem with aluminum foil. Once they have bored into the plant - some folks have cut them out and covered the stem with soil (mostly poor results).

This year - at the first sign of them, I’m going to inject the plant with BT - so as the larvae consume it, it will kill them (or so I have read) and the plant will recover.

I wish us all luck with these dang things.

I've tried the aluminum foil around the stem, piled dirt around the stems, injected them with BT, cut the stalks open and fished the larva out and spent countless hours looking for the damn eggs. The BT will kill the larva and if you catch it quick enough you can save the plant but they are relentless. I pulled 8 worms out of one plant year before last. The make a pheromone trap that is about the only thing I haven't tried yet. I just stopped planting it at the house. If you figure out a fool proof way then please let me know.

7 dust , and start it when plants are very young. before any sign of them.

I’ve tried soapy water spray around the stem and ground. (Spray every other day or so.) Neem oil around the stem ( read about neem oil) not to be on the fruit before picking. Spray what ever you use in the evening or at dark. spraying in the morning might get your spray in the open bloom. Both have worked for me. I still loose a few plants.

I ordered a couple of the pheromone traps. Have Sevin and Bifenthrin sprays. At this point I could buy a fair amount of squash at the farmers market.

I have a friend that grows the hell out of it. I grow the hell out of peppers, so we trade peppers for squash but I would still like to grow some squash without it getting killed.

I gave up. Every time I planted it, I would lose.

I’ve seen them walk through seven dust. Malathion is the only thing that’ll kill the adults but still won’t kill the eggs imo.

Me too

I put one of the sticky traps out, there were 4 yellow/black wasps in there yesterday. I hope it's doing it's thing.

I wanted to give an updated on our squash and zucchini - in regards to the SVB.

We have about 18 squash and zucchini planted in two areas (raised beds 10'x4'). Last year we may have gotten 10-lbs before our plants were completely wiped out. Given that it was our 1st year doing the raised beds - I was very ignorant about SVB and had no idea what they even looked like or what to look for. I did quite a bit of research and happened upon several videos and articles for a solution that at least seemed possible.

Starting in late April early May - I would inject the base and every two inches or so of the plant with 2cc of BT mixture (up to about 6-inches from the ground - 3 shots total 6cc) EVERY WEEK. To date - we've had only one visible incident of the SVB and after another round of shots - it appears that the squash is still healthy and no more evidence of activity. We've also picked about 30 or so pounds of squash and zucchini - and they are still producing very well.

I know this method may not be practical for large gardens and it is a pain in the rear, but we love squash and zucchini so HOPEFULLY we will be able to continue to harvest for a while.

We use this product: BT Southern Ag