Squash vine borer. Seems every year I garden in SE Arizona, I discover another pest I never heard of previously. These really hit me hard this year. Just as the plants start to produce well, they collapse and die. I can find the places covered in sawdust where the grubs fed inside the vine. As a retired crop consultant, I use IPM practices, and will use pesticides if biological and cultural controls are not sufficient. My plan is to plant next years squash in containers with new soil so I don't have to deal with overwintering grubs. I do wonder if the adults will fly around enough to find the new plants. I will plant later in the season to hopefully avoid the hatch. I will use spinosad, which will also get the squash bug larva, since I can't seem to find them all to pick off. Even choosing squash varieties selected for resistance to powdery mildew require fungicide because of the cool nights in my high altitude area. Gosh, I was so excited to finally live in a region with a long growing season, but the pests and disease pressure here is daunting compared to where I worked in Colorado.
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I have found that if I start my squash very early indoors, then transplant, I am able to harvest quite a bit before the borers destroy the plants. then when I find the grubs, I will split open the vine and remove it. It is labor intensive, but I seem to be slowly gaining ground.
glennlab
Level 10
Oct 8, 2019
1
@CrazyQuilter I have a similar problem, think in terms of winter gardening for things that are spring crops elsewhere. My tomatoes and eggplants are setting fruit right now that will most likely be harvested before first frost. Beans are a early spring crop, peas are a winter crop, forget all that you knew about seasons and instead look at growing times before heat and drought wipe out the plants.
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