For vegetable gardeners , the first sign of an infestation of squash vine borers may be that their plants seem to be wilting . They may find hole in the plant , filled with a squishy orange substance . They may even regain the typical snowy caterpillar that is induce all the price .
Squash vine stone drill are the larvae of a type of clearwing moth and a tumid plague can cause meaning legal injury to summertime and wintertime squash , pumpkins and sometimes even cuke and melons . The blighter are active only a few weeks and there are ways gardener can prevent or halt and infestation of squash vine stone drill .
Lifecycle
A sight no gardener wants to see: a squash vine borer inside a devastate zucchini vine. Creative commons image
The adult borers(Melittia curcurbitae)emerge from the ground in mid - June . At this breaker point , they resemble boxelder bug or milkweed glitch with an orange and blackened body . They are about a one-half inch long . They have two band of wings ; one green , one percipient . The adults lay nut at the foot of susceptible plants . After the orchis think of , the larvae tunnel into the stems and vines of the industrial plant , basically eating their room through the vine , stymie period of water and pop the flora from the interior . They are in the larva stage for four to six weeks , growing into a fat , 1 - column inch long blank to cream - color in caterpillar . Once they are done run , they drop into the ground , make a cocoon and abide there until the next summer .
Prevention
Because they winter in the ground , once you have squash vine borers , you ’ll probably have them again . TheUniversity of Minnesotarecommends a variety of scheme for portion out with the issue . One option is to embed vine crops that the borers do n’t like as much , such as butternut squash , cucumber and melon .
Photo courtesy of Creative Commons
Another option is to apply rowing covers over your flora if you see the grownup fly around . You will want to transfer the covers when the plant have flowered to give bees access to the works for pollination . A third choice is to wait until mid - July to implant out squash . commence the seed indoors or undercover and then move them into the garden in July when the borer have retire for the year . Depending on the diversity , you in all likelihood will still get a harvest .
Tips from a Pro
Courtney Tchida , the MSHS Community Programs Director , has dealt with squash vine borers in the yesteryear and offer two tips .
Prevention for Next Year
If you have an infestation of borers , off the stirred plants as soon as potential to forbid more woodborer from get into your soil . Also , practice crop rotary motion . constitute a vegetable that is not in the squash family(Curcurbit ) , such as love apple , white pepper , unripe beans or lettuce in that area of the garden .
Other garden pests?Check out this mail .
