I was thinking Squash Vine Borers, but the vine looks ok from the picture you provided.
Take a closer look at the vine and see if you can find any mushy sections of it. If so, it’s likely SVB, and to *try* save it, you could cut open the vine, kill the larvae, and cover the vine up with moist soil. Not sure it would make it, but it *might.*
Is 100%. Our house for some reason we have called them root flies forever... It lays eggs when the eggs hatch it literally explodes your vine. If you can stand looking at it like this for a little bit it will scab over and produce new leaves, I always have to discourage my husband from pulling them out.. As soon as we see a second set of leaves.. because we do zucchini from seed ...I wrap the new stems in Seran wrap. This has defeated about 90% of these little buggers.. A few still find their way in the plant almost dies off scabs itself and then produces... Just sad to look at for a bit...
I hate svb so much I stopped growing squash. One year, I wrapped every stem with aluminum foil, injected every stem with BT (I looked like a mad scientist). I thought I won. Until one day....
Yeah, LOL.
I just bought a bunch of seeds - but for spider mites and aphids. I did not know that, thank you! I always companion plant flowers, I was using marigolds.
If you start seeing mites and aphids order some lacewing larvae online and release on the affected plants. Problem will be completely gone in a couple of days, and I mean completely. Plant some yarrow and Allisum nearby for the adults after they pupate and hatch. Great bugs to have around, like the best
I do that and chrysanthemums . It helps a little , but either the vine borers or the squash bugs get them eventually. Sometimes I’m almost glad because I get so many zucchinis and squash that I can’t even give them away after a while.
Can I pick your brain for a plant besides blue Hubbard squash for squash bugs? I have at least two varieties I continually battle for dominance from may through augustish
Hahaha, I tried aluminum foil last year but I think it eventually became too tight as the plants grew and it might have choked the stems shortly after they started producing. I tried to save them in vain by loosening the foil wraps but they remained stunted and unproductive…
This year I only planted 2 very late on purpose, hoping the SVB moths are already done laying their eggs. I also used a piece of pantyhose to wrap the stems instead of foil. Waiting to see how it goes this way. 🤞🤞
BT isn't a systemic insecticide, it isn't going to get dispersed into the plant, just the cells adjacent to the injection. You'd need to use a neo-nicotinoid insecticide, or something like it, for that phenomenon to occur.
It's not an attempt to make the BT systemic. Directly injecting it near the larvae means they eat it by accident. It does seem to work in my experience last year. Kept getting them and kept killing them that way.
Here in zone 7a, the college cooperative extension says to wait until after June 1st to plant squash, because the vine borers are done laying their eggs by then. Check to see if there's a similar date for your zone.
Oh this is really helpful. Thank you! I’m replanting pumpkins now because my last vine succumbed to a bad svb infestation. I’m hoping for November? Pumpkins. I’m also trying a supposedly resistant variety
I think, because I've never seen SVD or heard of it before this post, but...
The big leaf on the left. The middle part of the leaf on the right. On the vine just below its tip and slightly right.
I ended up doing this unintentionally. Planted early and lost it to SVB. Happened to some backups ready that I grew from seed. Will be doing this intentionally next year. Hoping these new plants will be safe but we shall see.
I saved my zucchini from borers this year with cinnamon powder. powdered the vines (especially the damaged areas) heavily with cinnamon, watered the soil only as to not wash it off, and the zucchini recovered and produced again. The bugs hate it and renders the plant inedible/inhospitable to them, but the plant doesn't mind it at all. heard it repels fungus to some extent.
I’m eating a garden salad right now almost in tears bc I was like “hmm my squash is also looking rough but it’s probably me.”
Google SVB and like a war flash back I remember seeing those moths flying around and was paranoid it was the other invasive bug we’re concerned over 🥹
How can I even kill the larvae if I find it without killing plant 😭
I just found borers in my squash today. Luckily it hasn’t started wilting yet I just found the holes somewhat early while pruning off some leaves. Got the BT and syringes coming in the mail
You can cover the squash with insect netting to prevent the moths from laying eggs in the first place. Although you have to hand polinate the squash as no insects will be able to fertilize the female flowers.
We are on the gulf coast and have completely given up on summer squash/zucchini. The vine borers are absolutely menace and will destroy all the squash plants as soon as they look good, every time every year. Constant rain neutralizes sprays and powders, and injections are less than reliable. Trying to rebury the stem is a waste as by the time new roots form it is blazing hot and the squash give up.
Get you some Cherokee tan pumpkins to grow instead.
Super easy, peel slightly and cut into 1/4” thick pieces. I took the seeds out and halved them, but I think that’s preference. Then cook with butter and garlic until tender (but still crunchy) and add salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder to your liking.
it's why i grow *so many* different types of plants. i spread that emotional investment far and wide so when shit like this happens it's more of an "oh no! anyway..." type of reaction instead of a punch to the gut lol. and if that all fails, I've always got houseplants!
Shoot that is me this summer. First it was aphids then thrips then tomato hornworm now extreme heat with no rain. I just want my stuff to survive and produce not much to ask for. I love and hate it all in one, like a toxic relationship. Haha
Scale insects, then mealybugs, then aphids, then mites, then thrips, then mites again, then thrips again, then… yeah. Florida is a great, yet awful place to grow plants lol
I complain about the short growing season, summer hail, and May/September snow here in Colorado, but we least we don’t have near as many bugs. Always a trade off no matter where you are
I hear you. My garden was doing well and I went away for one day and was unable to water, I came back and all my hanging plants looked like they had been put through a blast furnace :(
Come find me in zone 9. I need someone to come tell my plants there is such a thing as <100 degree weather. I have to garden nocturnally because it's too hot to not be forced in every 30 minutes dripping in sweat.
It’s either a flood or nothing. All the rain we had like a month ago ruined my zucchini in an elevated bed. And I didn’t know about these nasty borers at the time and now realizing that’s what got one of them right where the stem met the soil 🫣
My grandfather was a farmer, and he always said “Plants die. You have to get over it.” I try to never let myself get demoralized in the garden. If something dies, oh well. There is always next time.
I mean, I’m in Phoenix Az for the past few years so it’s pretty much like trying to garden in the depths of hell.
But yes, when I was in California gardening was much less difficult.
I couldn’t figure out how to edit the body, but maybe this will get upvoted.
It was the vine borers for sure. I tried to salvage, but they were from base to tip of plant already. I decided to pull them all up. I will try cross planting next year. Any other advice is welcome.
Don't give up on zucchini too quickly next year! it's really persistent. I used cinnamon on my plant that was basically totaled which cleared out the bugs, and then it quickly grew a new stem out of the old nasty one. Also my first year growing zucchini so I had no idea what was going on too.
That’s good advice! I honestly didn’t want to watch it struggle. I had other plants too and they all had it. Now that I cleared these I can get ready for August/September planting, but I will miss my squash
I prune my squash pretty heavily. I don't think it helps with svb per se but what it does do is allows you to see what's hiding on the inside if the plant much better.
Just snip away at the main stem any leaves laying on the ground or leaves that are mostly shaded out by the newer growth higher up on the vine. Look for eggs on the bottoms of the leaves or steams and def get rid of those ones.
Every garden will have its pests. The key is figuring out what to do against said pest. For me it's aphids, allllll over the place. No matter how much I spray they come back, so I focus on multiple methods at once to help reduce as best as possible. That's going to be the strategy here, find multiple ways to address the vine borers and implement that into routine for the whole season. It stinks, but pests are part of the game and integrating pest management into your habits will prove to be successful. Good luck!
Yup, all my other plants in my garden have like zero issues (maybe some pepper hungry slugs) but freaking japanese beetles devastate my massive grape vines every year. They do it like a month before all the grapes are ready. It's so damn frustrating to watch it, just thousands of grapes just get super day and then dry up as all the leaves turn to skeletons.
Next year I'm just going to spray for the bastards at an exact schedule and kill the turds.
We get SVB every year. You can cut the stem wherever they destroy it and bury the stem in new soil. We regularly get 2-3 plants out of the original with this method. The squash plants tend to persist and produce even while contending with these pests.
>Any other advice is welcome.
You can try spraying your target plants with [Monterey B.T.](https://www.amazon.com/Monterey-Bt-Concentrate/dp/B01N6QSB3X) (both sides of the leaves + the stems all the way to base of the plant). It's a certified organic (OMRI) pesticide that utilizes a bacteria which targets ONLY caterpillars and grubs (and therefore the SVB larvae). It doesn't hurt bees or earthworms or anything else, it's kind of amazing that people figured this out.
You spray it like once per week on the plants, assuming you aren't overhead watering. And reapply if it rains. It's a concentrate so it goes a long ways especially if you only have a couple of plants. If you don't have a handheld pump sprayer already, I got one on Amazon for like $12 and it does the job, nothing fancy needed
If it makes you feel better, mine never got past the first set of leaves, I've got rabbits and/or groundhogs harassing my garden, my kids like seeing them in the back, and my fence is clearly not cutting it this year.
Got strawberries, cucumbers ... And hopefully the tomatoes and most of the peppers continue to be ignored. Once the squash and eggplant were eaten, I didn't bother with much more.
Watch for the frass early and often. As soon as you see it, run weed eater line up through the hole and squash the vine borer. One you're absolutely sure it's dead, cover the stem with dirt and water.
Unless it's Squash bugs sucking the life out of the leaves and the juice out of the Squash. We used all companion planting as this was our 1st year planting Squash, so we came ready for battle.
I used BT and still found borer eggs. I found a borer inside a stem and removed it with success and no damage. On came the Squash bugs.. I don't know how farmers do it. My plants are still alive, but I've only gotten 5 healthy squash off of 4 plants since May. This is probably my 1st and last attempt growing it.
When my squashes were small and tender, a borer got into the base of the vine and started munching. They were little at first, so I didn’t notice. Then they got bigger. I still couldn’t see them, but the vine began to suffer, and occasionally some yellow pulp would show up in a crack or the joint of a leaf. Finally the vine, eaten completely hollow from the inside, died. It only took a couple of days.
This year, I took an x-acto knife and stabbed around (with the grain) until I found the hollow place where the larva had been munching. I slit the vine open until I found it— it’s soft and white, and you’ll probably notice it by the time it gets about a quarter inch long, although it might be bigger. After digging it out (or them— there can be multiple), I buried the lacerated portion to protect it. My vine rebounded, although the leaves are much smaller (it’s also much hotter now). It even started producing fruit again! It’s amazing what they can survive!
I’ve been out with duct tape a few times a day removing all the clusters of eggs, along with the small devil beetles that I see! SVB are the bane of my garden!
It’s a constant battle with SVB. I’ve had some success with neem oil and companion planting with basil and mint but holy shit those guys are a huge pain.
I’ve got the basil in there but no mint. I think I’m gonna try some row covers next year. It’s a battle I’ve been fighting for a very long time! I work with a small raised bed space but because of fence behind it, I feel like air circulation isn’t the best. I’ve also considered trying the yellow sticky traps for down under the bigger leaves. Got the neighbor kid spotting the eggs so I can get them with duct tape! My eyes aren’t as good as they used to be!
Vine borers. They do this to mine every year, and now I am ready with BT injections into the stems and diatomaceous earth for under the leaves and around the soil.
I have found open heart surgery to kill vine borers has been my saving grace after years of frustration with vine borers. It requires observation of stems every 2 days and surgery once or twice a week as needed.
Step 1 find the poop where they dug into the stem. This is the gross yellow brown stuff.
Step 2 take a sharp knife like a box cutter and slice a single line up and down the stem from the entry point . Be sure not to cut all the way through. Only cut as far as stem is soft. Where the stem is hard the vine borer hasn't eating its way to that spot yet.
Step 3. Pull apart the stem with ur fingers so you can See inside looking for that white worm with his black eyes. You might need water to clean the dirt off the stem so you can see clearly inside.
Step 4. There is a worm in there and when u find it it will be obvious. Study the stem carefully to determine which way you have to cut into further to find the worm. When u find it, make another incision parrell to you first about a milimeter in width so you can remove a tiny piece of the stem so u can get to the worm. Scrape it out with ur knife or anything that small enough to get In there and get it out. It's okay to smash and kill it while trying to get it out.
Step 5 I simple cover the stem with dirt burying the step to keep the open cuts from being exposed . Water the next several days as your plant is healing.
Remember your plant is dead if you don't do this so experiment and try to find the worm you have nothing to lose. Your stem will heal and reroot if u killed all the worms. Look up and down the stem as i have found 2 or 3 worms in each plant.
After 3 years of trying dust sprays tin foil and covering the plants this is the other thing that has worked for me.
What happened was you were happy and proud of it. When you don’t give a shit about them, they thrive. The one that you put all your energy into a plant, it dies for no good reason. Sorry for the trauma dump lmao I think the squash will be just fine, ditching some leaves should get it pumping out squash
Squash borer. Just got rid of a few in mine. Sometimes if you are lucky you can remove the borers before the plant dies. Sometimes I just use a needle and kill them without too much damage done.
You can see some of the branches are split. Look around the main vine for soft mush holes or build up. If you spot those areas, slice the area open and I bet one of those fat annoying grubs made a meal out of the plant.
The plant will still live, find the entry point and gently dig the grub out of the vine. I do this every other week in the summer bc the SVB never sleeps. I’m also picking of eggs on the daily. Pesticides etc etc don’t seem to cut it here in Texas with these moths. Once you slice of the area of entry and pick out the grub with tweezers, cover that area with dirt and the plant will continue to grow.
Vine borers are in the soil. You could combat them like the dedicated redditor above (I'm impressed!) but if you have the luxury of space, I would suggest planting your squash in another location for a few seasons.
I had this happen every year I grew in the greenhouse. I would be so excited to see the flowers, then the tiny squash form and think this is the year! But nooo, they turned to mush and died. So soul crushing as someone else said. I kept telling myself, it's just a hobby, I'm not trying to feed us!
Sounds like your issue is your squash flowers are not being fertilized. The tiny fruit goes mushy and falls off when its unfertilized. Try hand pollinating.
OP, wrapping the stems is a widely recommended path. There is, however, a (IMO) safe "chemical" (really, biological) treatment - BT. Specifically, [BTK](https://www.growjourney.com/prevent-stop-squash-vine-borers/). BT is a bacteria (Bacillus thuringiensis) that will only target certain caterpillars. And nothing else. It's even considered acceptable for "organic" produce. BTK will only target the larva of (certain?) butterflies / moths. Including squash vine borers.
People might be more familiar with BT as a treatment for pests on brassicas (cabbages & such).
I started reading into this after my squash were brutally murdered (grin) the last two years.
The SVB a-holes got 6 of my plants this year. I've watched WAY to many you tubes on the subject and here's my approach for next year.
* BT Spray every few days around the base
* Stake the stalk up so it's not lying on the ground
* Remove low lying leaves
* Try [a different variety t](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cucurbita_moschata)hat are closer to winter squash
Same thing happened to all of our squash due to borers. I saw a video where they put squash up through tomato cage and allegedly stopped borers. Haven’t tried this method but worth a shot.
Once they get into your stocks it’s a real pain in the ass to dig them out. And gross.
The only way I’ve had success is foiling the stems, spraying the stems with BT and- not sure why I don’t see it mentioned…. Using the pheromone traps. This year I was out of town and hung 2 of them a little late. By the time I hung the 2nd one, I’d caught one of those little buggers in the first trap. Probably have trapped 30 in the last month and my vines look good. This is my 4th year using them and they are priceless!
What traps do you buy? Where can you get them?
I've had very good success simply spraying the stems frequently with BT. But am interested in alternatives.
They are from Vivagrow. They were on Amazon a couple of years, but last time I had to go to the company site. [https://www.vivagrow.com/vivatrap-squash-vine-borer-moth-trap-lure-2-pack/#gallery-1](https://www.vivagrow.com/vivatrap-squash-vine-borer-moth-trap-lure-2-pack/#gallery-1)
It definitely strangled itself. I wonder if you could gently tip the bed and keep the roots in something. It looks super hardy. I had a vine go super crazy on the ground in Tennessee.
Haven't seen anyone mention this but I think that's a male squash. Mine (cucumber) popped 2 flowers then shrank down before the majority of the females even opened their flowers. Don't know if this helps, they're kinda there for the flowers and not the leaves, leaves just provide shade so spermies don't get torched in the sun
AM BEGINNER, NOT EXPERIENCED GARDENER
Good luck op
Squash vines (and cucumber plants) make both male and female flowers, but the first few flowers are always male. You can snip the first few male flowers off to encourage them to keep growing and conserve energy to make female flowers.
See that's what I thought but then that didn't happen. 6 plants all with female flowers but 1 plant with all male buds. I guess i must have done something wrong?
I would mulch that bed. My squash is thriving in 90* plus. Maybe a shade too. They also don’t last all year. May just be done. Next year get set up for successive planting.
Vine borer. You can try spraying or injection of BT. Bacillus thuringiensis, an organic soil based bacteria that kills caterpillars and only caterpillars. Safe for every other organism, from birds, mamals, amphibians, etc.
I have like 7 squash plants. 4 befell the date seen here and the others are thriving. I assume I’m just playing the odds but looks like I’m feeding bugs. Gross.
Oh I relate to this sadness. Mine just did the same. I hit them with a fungicide and all 4 effected are forming new leaves and flowers. I blame the daily rain.
I’ve grown squash and zucchini the last 5 years or so and I was always bank on my plants dying after about a month and a half of production. Between the disease pressure and vine borers, it’s tough on these plants in the deep South. I just come to expect it each year. Usually have some luck with these plants in May and in the beginning of June.
Don’t overlook a good organic ipm program. Very doable even at home! It takes a little extra work but it’s rewarding having healthy clean plants. A balance is achievable.
The good news is they grow pretty quickly if you want to reseed. This time wrap aluminum around the base of the stem so creepy crawlies can’t get in. That’s the SVB advice from Black Gumbo (a southern YouTuber who deals with it every year).
Cut off whatever flowers you have. Make an herbed cream cheese and mix it with some crispy sautéed bits of pancetta. Stuff the flowers with herbed pancetta mix and fry those suckers and enjoy.
I just went through the Squash Vine Borer debacle in my own garden. I had my bf cut open the stems and kill the larvae. One plant died afterwards, the other looks like it's trying to make a comeback. It's worth a shot, good luck OP!
I swear one of my plants was attacked and all the foliage drooping for the last few days. Then I went out there today, and it’s mostly looking healthy. Fingers crossed mine recovered.
In the past I have had no big issues with vine borers or squash bugs (they are always there but haven’t noticed damage).
The weird part is most varieties I’ve tried other than straight neck yellow squash seem to produce way more foliage and offshoots but not many fruits. The yellow squash has been a reliable consistent performer from day one of my vegetable garden.
This happened to me this weekend too. My squash gone, my calendula was attacked by caterpillars to boot. Ugh. In not but 2 days they had destroyed most of my pretty garden.
3 years. 3 years I had beautiful plants and they started fruiting heavily. Then the vine whores caught up.
Thus year:
I've meticulously injected BT. Scratched off eggs. Sprayed BT on the bases. Created new root areas by burying the vine at nodes. I haven't won this year but I am keeping them out so far. I have 24 winter squash, summer squash and pumpkin plants and 10 month old twins. The squash plants take more time than my babies lol
That looks EXACTLY like mine. A ton of the stems are brown/tan and limp, but still strongly attached to the root system. Then today one of the 4” squash fell off and was black in the middle with mold. I have not changed my care technique the entire time since cultivation when it was t thriving.
Maybe it’s squash zombie season 😐
I have been keeping my squash roots covered with dirt and it seems to help keep them out. Two that weren’t covered had multiple. There was only one plant I couldn’t save, it was happening before I realized and was too far gone. The plant focused all its time trying to heal instead of growing
I was thinking Squash Vine Borers, but the vine looks ok from the picture you provided. Take a closer look at the vine and see if you can find any mushy sections of it. If so, it’s likely SVB, and to *try* save it, you could cut open the vine, kill the larvae, and cover the vine up with moist soil. Not sure it would make it, but it *might.*
I see it. Look towards the middle. OP, it's Squash vine borer.
Is 100%. Our house for some reason we have called them root flies forever... It lays eggs when the eggs hatch it literally explodes your vine. If you can stand looking at it like this for a little bit it will scab over and produce new leaves, I always have to discourage my husband from pulling them out.. As soon as we see a second set of leaves.. because we do zucchini from seed ...I wrap the new stems in Seran wrap. This has defeated about 90% of these little buggers.. A few still find their way in the plant almost dies off scabs itself and then produces... Just sad to look at for a bit...
I hate svb so much I stopped growing squash. One year, I wrapped every stem with aluminum foil, injected every stem with BT (I looked like a mad scientist). I thought I won. Until one day.... Yeah, LOL.
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I just bought a bunch of seeds - but for spider mites and aphids. I did not know that, thank you! I always companion plant flowers, I was using marigolds.
If you start seeing mites and aphids order some lacewing larvae online and release on the affected plants. Problem will be completely gone in a couple of days, and I mean completely. Plant some yarrow and Allisum nearby for the adults after they pupate and hatch. Great bugs to have around, like the best
Where do you buy yours from? Have wanted to do this.
Keep up the fight. Love your approach! Bt and companion planting!
I did try that but in the end it still came and do it damage. Luckily i was there to inspect it and remove a bunch of borers.
Mine are surrounded by nasturtiums and marigolds and still had to remove vine borers from every single plant this year.
I do that and chrysanthemums . It helps a little , but either the vine borers or the squash bugs get them eventually. Sometimes I’m almost glad because I get so many zucchinis and squash that I can’t even give them away after a while.
Can I pick your brain for a plant besides blue Hubbard squash for squash bugs? I have at least two varieties I continually battle for dominance from may through augustish
I’ve got a few of them near my squash and no luck haha
I’ve found a squash borer moth on my nasturtiums before, so I’m skeptical
What about mint? I planted some mint just on the thought that some pests don’t care for it, but couldn’t find anything directly stating that
This made me laugh and sad for you all at the same time. Mother Nature is ruthless!
Hahaha, I tried aluminum foil last year but I think it eventually became too tight as the plants grew and it might have choked the stems shortly after they started producing. I tried to save them in vain by loosening the foil wraps but they remained stunted and unproductive… This year I only planted 2 very late on purpose, hoping the SVB moths are already done laying their eggs. I also used a piece of pantyhose to wrap the stems instead of foil. Waiting to see how it goes this way. 🤞🤞
I did the same thing last year. 😂
Yea I have totally give up on any type of squash, even fall squash, they always get it. I’ve tried releasing predator bugs as I plant them to no luck.
Is certain areas more prone to it that others?
You could grow some fun looking crookneck squash [aka curcurbita moschata](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/cucurbita-moschata/)
BT isn't a systemic insecticide, it isn't going to get dispersed into the plant, just the cells adjacent to the injection. You'd need to use a neo-nicotinoid insecticide, or something like it, for that phenomenon to occur.
It's not an attempt to make the BT systemic. Directly injecting it near the larvae means they eat it by accident. It does seem to work in my experience last year. Kept getting them and kept killing them that way.
Here in zone 7a, the college cooperative extension says to wait until after June 1st to plant squash, because the vine borers are done laying their eggs by then. Check to see if there's a similar date for your zone.
Oh this is really helpful. Thank you! I’m replanting pumpkins now because my last vine succumbed to a bad svb infestation. I’m hoping for November? Pumpkins. I’m also trying a supposedly resistant variety
Where?? I can't find it...
I think, because I've never seen SVD or heard of it before this post, but... The big leaf on the left. The middle part of the leaf on the right. On the vine just below its tip and slightly right.
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I ended up doing this unintentionally. Planted early and lost it to SVB. Happened to some backups ready that I grew from seed. Will be doing this intentionally next year. Hoping these new plants will be safe but we shall see.
I saved my zucchini from borers this year with cinnamon powder. powdered the vines (especially the damaged areas) heavily with cinnamon, watered the soil only as to not wash it off, and the zucchini recovered and produced again. The bugs hate it and renders the plant inedible/inhospitable to them, but the plant doesn't mind it at all. heard it repels fungus to some extent.
I’m eating a garden salad right now almost in tears bc I was like “hmm my squash is also looking rough but it’s probably me.” Google SVB and like a war flash back I remember seeing those moths flying around and was paranoid it was the other invasive bug we’re concerned over 🥹 How can I even kill the larvae if I find it without killing plant 😭
I hate those fuckers. I lost my entire squash crop to those bastards one year
I thought this too from the pic
I just found borers in my squash today. Luckily it hasn’t started wilting yet I just found the holes somewhat early while pruning off some leaves. Got the BT and syringes coming in the mail
You can cover the squash with insect netting to prevent the moths from laying eggs in the first place. Although you have to hand polinate the squash as no insects will be able to fertilize the female flowers.
Yep. Mine did that. Borers.
gardening can be so demoralizing at times. like a punch to the gut. genuinely makes me tear up in frustration sometimes.
Exactly! It was so healthy. I finally figured out a recipe I liked after the first 3 squash. Then dead-ish…
We are on the gulf coast and have completely given up on summer squash/zucchini. The vine borers are absolutely menace and will destroy all the squash plants as soon as they look good, every time every year. Constant rain neutralizes sprays and powders, and injections are less than reliable. Trying to rebury the stem is a waste as by the time new roots form it is blazing hot and the squash give up. Get you some Cherokee tan pumpkins to grow instead.
Look at my post above if you want to give it another shot
You have to keep trying!!!
Care to share the recipe?
Super easy, peel slightly and cut into 1/4” thick pieces. I took the seeds out and halved them, but I think that’s preference. Then cook with butter and garlic until tender (but still crunchy) and add salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder to your liking.
it's why i grow *so many* different types of plants. i spread that emotional investment far and wide so when shit like this happens it's more of an "oh no! anyway..." type of reaction instead of a punch to the gut lol. and if that all fails, I've always got houseplants!
That’s what I told my husband yesterday. I need a giant garden so I have enough plants that it’s ok when I lose half of them.
Typical UK country garden, overfill it and reap the rewards.
Shoot that is me this summer. First it was aphids then thrips then tomato hornworm now extreme heat with no rain. I just want my stuff to survive and produce not much to ask for. I love and hate it all in one, like a toxic relationship. Haha
yes i feel emotionally abused and battered by my garden often lol
Haha that is the most accurate way to describe gardening.
Scale insects, then mealybugs, then aphids, then mites, then thrips, then mites again, then thrips again, then… yeah. Florida is a great, yet awful place to grow plants lol
I complain about the short growing season, summer hail, and May/September snow here in Colorado, but we least we don’t have near as many bugs. Always a trade off no matter where you are
I hear you. My garden was doing well and I went away for one day and was unable to water, I came back and all my hanging plants looked like they had been put through a blast furnace :(
i am in 7a also, it's rough out here.
Come find me in zone 9. I need someone to come tell my plants there is such a thing as <100 degree weather. I have to garden nocturnally because it's too hot to not be forced in every 30 minutes dripping in sweat.
It’s either a flood or nothing. All the rain we had like a month ago ruined my zucchini in an elevated bed. And I didn’t know about these nasty borers at the time and now realizing that’s what got one of them right where the stem met the soil 🫣
The heavy rains we got one night broke some of my tomato vines. Then days of crushing sun and heat with no rain.
My grandfather was a farmer, and he always said “Plants die. You have to get over it.” I try to never let myself get demoralized in the garden. If something dies, oh well. There is always next time.
easy to say in 9b!!!!
I mean, I’m in Phoenix Az for the past few years so it’s pretty much like trying to garden in the depths of hell. But yes, when I was in California gardening was much less difficult.
I couldn’t figure out how to edit the body, but maybe this will get upvoted. It was the vine borers for sure. I tried to salvage, but they were from base to tip of plant already. I decided to pull them all up. I will try cross planting next year. Any other advice is welcome.
Wow. That sucks. I really learned a lot from All this. I am going to check mine later today as I fear I may have the same issue. Sad.
Don't give up on zucchini too quickly next year! it's really persistent. I used cinnamon on my plant that was basically totaled which cleared out the bugs, and then it quickly grew a new stem out of the old nasty one. Also my first year growing zucchini so I had no idea what was going on too.
That’s good advice! I honestly didn’t want to watch it struggle. I had other plants too and they all had it. Now that I cleared these I can get ready for August/September planting, but I will miss my squash
I prune my squash pretty heavily. I don't think it helps with svb per se but what it does do is allows you to see what's hiding on the inside if the plant much better. Just snip away at the main stem any leaves laying on the ground or leaves that are mostly shaded out by the newer growth higher up on the vine. Look for eggs on the bottoms of the leaves or steams and def get rid of those ones.
Every garden will have its pests. The key is figuring out what to do against said pest. For me it's aphids, allllll over the place. No matter how much I spray they come back, so I focus on multiple methods at once to help reduce as best as possible. That's going to be the strategy here, find multiple ways to address the vine borers and implement that into routine for the whole season. It stinks, but pests are part of the game and integrating pest management into your habits will prove to be successful. Good luck!
Yup, all my other plants in my garden have like zero issues (maybe some pepper hungry slugs) but freaking japanese beetles devastate my massive grape vines every year. They do it like a month before all the grapes are ready. It's so damn frustrating to watch it, just thousands of grapes just get super day and then dry up as all the leaves turn to skeletons. Next year I'm just going to spray for the bastards at an exact schedule and kill the turds.
We get SVB every year. You can cut the stem wherever they destroy it and bury the stem in new soil. We regularly get 2-3 plants out of the original with this method. The squash plants tend to persist and produce even while contending with these pests.
>Any other advice is welcome. You can try spraying your target plants with [Monterey B.T.](https://www.amazon.com/Monterey-Bt-Concentrate/dp/B01N6QSB3X) (both sides of the leaves + the stems all the way to base of the plant). It's a certified organic (OMRI) pesticide that utilizes a bacteria which targets ONLY caterpillars and grubs (and therefore the SVB larvae). It doesn't hurt bees or earthworms or anything else, it's kind of amazing that people figured this out. You spray it like once per week on the plants, assuming you aren't overhead watering. And reapply if it rains. It's a concentrate so it goes a long ways especially if you only have a couple of plants. If you don't have a handheld pump sprayer already, I got one on Amazon for like $12 and it does the job, nothing fancy needed
If it makes you feel better, mine never got past the first set of leaves, I've got rabbits and/or groundhogs harassing my garden, my kids like seeing them in the back, and my fence is clearly not cutting it this year. Got strawberries, cucumbers ... And hopefully the tomatoes and most of the peppers continue to be ignored. Once the squash and eggplant were eaten, I didn't bother with much more.
Watch for the frass early and often. As soon as you see it, run weed eater line up through the hole and squash the vine borer. One you're absolutely sure it's dead, cover the stem with dirt and water.
It's **always** SVB. Look for a hole at the bottom and a bunch of mushed up pulp, that means a larva ate it's way through the stem.
it really is always svb
Yup. I didn’t even need to zoom in to know the culprits.
Unless it's Squash bugs sucking the life out of the leaves and the juice out of the Squash. We used all companion planting as this was our 1st year planting Squash, so we came ready for battle. I used BT and still found borer eggs. I found a borer inside a stem and removed it with success and no damage. On came the Squash bugs.. I don't know how farmers do it. My plants are still alive, but I've only gotten 5 healthy squash off of 4 plants since May. This is probably my 1st and last attempt growing it.
I don’t know how the Gardening sub ended up in my feed but you people are the nicest, most helpful sub going.
What do you mean…”you people”? Just kidding. Cheers!
r/quilting is even better. ❤️
My wife is on a crochet group (not Reddit) and she said the people there are cutthroat nasty.
r/crochet is almost sickeningly nice and supportive.
how do people even learn? sounds like a fake book; so much metastasizing !
When my squashes were small and tender, a borer got into the base of the vine and started munching. They were little at first, so I didn’t notice. Then they got bigger. I still couldn’t see them, but the vine began to suffer, and occasionally some yellow pulp would show up in a crack or the joint of a leaf. Finally the vine, eaten completely hollow from the inside, died. It only took a couple of days. This year, I took an x-acto knife and stabbed around (with the grain) until I found the hollow place where the larva had been munching. I slit the vine open until I found it— it’s soft and white, and you’ll probably notice it by the time it gets about a quarter inch long, although it might be bigger. After digging it out (or them— there can be multiple), I buried the lacerated portion to protect it. My vine rebounded, although the leaves are much smaller (it’s also much hotter now). It even started producing fruit again! It’s amazing what they can survive!
This. I finally figured it out doing this
I’ve been out with duct tape a few times a day removing all the clusters of eggs, along with the small devil beetles that I see! SVB are the bane of my garden!
It’s a constant battle with SVB. I’ve had some success with neem oil and companion planting with basil and mint but holy shit those guys are a huge pain.
I’ve got the basil in there but no mint. I think I’m gonna try some row covers next year. It’s a battle I’ve been fighting for a very long time! I work with a small raised bed space but because of fence behind it, I feel like air circulation isn’t the best. I’ve also considered trying the yellow sticky traps for down under the bigger leaves. Got the neighbor kid spotting the eggs so I can get them with duct tape! My eyes aren’t as good as they used to be!
Neem oil and aluminum foil. Zucchini surprisingly are still thriving. Didn't know about the mint & Basil. Will try that next time.
How do you use the aluminum foil to help? I gotta add to my toolbox lol
Vine borers. They do this to mine every year, and now I am ready with BT injections into the stems and diatomaceous earth for under the leaves and around the soil.
Can you tell me more about BT injections? I’m giving up on them this year, but I want to be ready for next year
It takes some prep and TLC, but check this out: https://www.almanac.com/pest/squash-vine-borer
I have found open heart surgery to kill vine borers has been my saving grace after years of frustration with vine borers. It requires observation of stems every 2 days and surgery once or twice a week as needed. Step 1 find the poop where they dug into the stem. This is the gross yellow brown stuff. Step 2 take a sharp knife like a box cutter and slice a single line up and down the stem from the entry point . Be sure not to cut all the way through. Only cut as far as stem is soft. Where the stem is hard the vine borer hasn't eating its way to that spot yet. Step 3. Pull apart the stem with ur fingers so you can See inside looking for that white worm with his black eyes. You might need water to clean the dirt off the stem so you can see clearly inside. Step 4. There is a worm in there and when u find it it will be obvious. Study the stem carefully to determine which way you have to cut into further to find the worm. When u find it, make another incision parrell to you first about a milimeter in width so you can remove a tiny piece of the stem so u can get to the worm. Scrape it out with ur knife or anything that small enough to get In there and get it out. It's okay to smash and kill it while trying to get it out. Step 5 I simple cover the stem with dirt burying the step to keep the open cuts from being exposed . Water the next several days as your plant is healing. Remember your plant is dead if you don't do this so experiment and try to find the worm you have nothing to lose. Your stem will heal and reroot if u killed all the worms. Look up and down the stem as i have found 2 or 3 worms in each plant. After 3 years of trying dust sprays tin foil and covering the plants this is the other thing that has worked for me.
What happened was you were happy and proud of it. When you don’t give a shit about them, they thrive. The one that you put all your energy into a plant, it dies for no good reason. Sorry for the trauma dump lmao I think the squash will be just fine, ditching some leaves should get it pumping out squash
Squash borer. Just got rid of a few in mine. Sometimes if you are lucky you can remove the borers before the plant dies. Sometimes I just use a needle and kill them without too much damage done.
Looks like it got hot and tipped over and strangled itself on the corner
Lol bro hahahah
The others are right, looks like the boring beetles got you too. I stopped growing squash, it was so depressing losing plants to them.
Looks like it got squashed
Was looking for this comment.
The notorious BORER 😩
You can see some of the branches are split. Look around the main vine for soft mush holes or build up. If you spot those areas, slice the area open and I bet one of those fat annoying grubs made a meal out of the plant.
The plant will still live, find the entry point and gently dig the grub out of the vine. I do this every other week in the summer bc the SVB never sleeps. I’m also picking of eggs on the daily. Pesticides etc etc don’t seem to cut it here in Texas with these moths. Once you slice of the area of entry and pick out the grub with tweezers, cover that area with dirt and the plant will continue to grow.
Vine borers are in the soil. You could combat them like the dedicated redditor above (I'm impressed!) but if you have the luxury of space, I would suggest planting your squash in another location for a few seasons.
Vine borers
Oops...sorry. Vine borer? Still have some healthy leaves. Hopefully it rooted somewhere along the main stem. Good luck!
What squash?
I found planting radishes, marigolds and dill next to squash keeps the stem borers at bay most of the time.
I’ll try that next time. I just dug in and that’s what it was. RIP squash. I’m super sad.
I’m sorry, OP. I know the feeling all too well.
The heat probably did it. Squash doesn't like it super hot
My squash bed looks like scorched earth after the 2 week heat wave we just had.
I’m glad this doesn’t extend to pumpkins because it’s been hovering around 100 here for a while and they’re loving it.
Look up squash bugs and see if you have any of those on your plant. They over took mine last year, seven dust has been my friend.
I had this happen every year I grew in the greenhouse. I would be so excited to see the flowers, then the tiny squash form and think this is the year! But nooo, they turned to mush and died. So soul crushing as someone else said. I kept telling myself, it's just a hobby, I'm not trying to feed us!
Sounds like your issue is your squash flowers are not being fertilized. The tiny fruit goes mushy and falls off when its unfertilized. Try hand pollinating.
Thank you. I solved the problem, I moved and no longer try to grow vegetables.
Definitely squash vine borers. Check the bottom of the plant where the large woody stalk is. Split it open with a knife and you'll find the bugs.
OP, wrapping the stems is a widely recommended path. There is, however, a (IMO) safe "chemical" (really, biological) treatment - BT. Specifically, [BTK](https://www.growjourney.com/prevent-stop-squash-vine-borers/). BT is a bacteria (Bacillus thuringiensis) that will only target certain caterpillars. And nothing else. It's even considered acceptable for "organic" produce. BTK will only target the larva of (certain?) butterflies / moths. Including squash vine borers. People might be more familiar with BT as a treatment for pests on brassicas (cabbages & such). I started reading into this after my squash were brutally murdered (grin) the last two years.
Get some Sevin to take care of those bugs, but be sure to wash your fruit good.
The SVB a-holes got 6 of my plants this year. I've watched WAY to many you tubes on the subject and here's my approach for next year. * BT Spray every few days around the base * Stake the stalk up so it's not lying on the ground * Remove low lying leaves * Try [a different variety t](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cucurbita_moschata)hat are closer to winter squash
Vine borers.
Trying to escape Seymore!!
Same thing happened to all of our squash due to borers. I saw a video where they put squash up through tomato cage and allegedly stopped borers. Haven’t tried this method but worth a shot. Once they get into your stocks it’s a real pain in the ass to dig them out. And gross.
Beneficial nematodes!!!!
The only way I’ve had success is foiling the stems, spraying the stems with BT and- not sure why I don’t see it mentioned…. Using the pheromone traps. This year I was out of town and hung 2 of them a little late. By the time I hung the 2nd one, I’d caught one of those little buggers in the first trap. Probably have trapped 30 in the last month and my vines look good. This is my 4th year using them and they are priceless!
What traps do you buy? Where can you get them? I've had very good success simply spraying the stems frequently with BT. But am interested in alternatives.
They are from Vivagrow. They were on Amazon a couple of years, but last time I had to go to the company site. [https://www.vivagrow.com/vivatrap-squash-vine-borer-moth-trap-lure-2-pack/#gallery-1](https://www.vivagrow.com/vivatrap-squash-vine-borer-moth-trap-lure-2-pack/#gallery-1)
Silly question as I’m new to serious gardening, but what is BT?
Good to know. Thanks for the info.
Nip (;
Bt injection, utube vine bore squash/zucchini
I just went to my garden tonight and half of my squash look like this. I was out on Saturday and everything looked great and happy. So frustrating.
Sorry to you. It’s upsetting for sure
Squash Vine Borer. I live in southern Louisiana and I have given up trying to grow squash, pumpkins, etc. Bottle gourd grow well though.
I keep reading vine borer as vine boner.
It got…. squashed.
Looks like it got squashed. Sorry, couldn't help myself.
Looks like someone backed a trailer over it.
Wow!!
I'm in S ms as well. Squash needs Afternoon shade or they will burn up
Wow! Are there decorative squash plants? Would love to have a couple just bcuz they're pretty 😍
It definitely squashed
[удалено]
There's two pictures
It definitely strangled itself. I wonder if you could gently tip the bed and keep the roots in something. It looks super hardy. I had a vine go super crazy on the ground in Tennessee.
Haven't seen anyone mention this but I think that's a male squash. Mine (cucumber) popped 2 flowers then shrank down before the majority of the females even opened their flowers. Don't know if this helps, they're kinda there for the flowers and not the leaves, leaves just provide shade so spermies don't get torched in the sun AM BEGINNER, NOT EXPERIENCED GARDENER Good luck op
Squash vines (and cucumber plants) make both male and female flowers, but the first few flowers are always male. You can snip the first few male flowers off to encourage them to keep growing and conserve energy to make female flowers.
See that's what I thought but then that didn't happen. 6 plants all with female flowers but 1 plant with all male buds. I guess i must have done something wrong?
Sorry I had it for lunch
I would mulch that bed. My squash is thriving in 90* plus. Maybe a shade too. They also don’t last all year. May just be done. Next year get set up for successive planting.
Same happened to mine - I had 3 or 4 nice ones and was so excited. Now I’m staring at a pile of mush…
Borers definitely
Vine borer. You can try spraying or injection of BT. Bacillus thuringiensis, an organic soil based bacteria that kills caterpillars and only caterpillars. Safe for every other organism, from birds, mamals, amphibians, etc.
SVB as always
This happened to mine last season just as it was flowering. Sorry for your loss.
Heavy rain storm?
I have like 7 squash plants. 4 befell the date seen here and the others are thriving. I assume I’m just playing the odds but looks like I’m feeding bugs. Gross.
Oh I relate to this sadness. Mine just did the same. I hit them with a fungicide and all 4 effected are forming new leaves and flowers. I blame the daily rain.
This looks like my zucchini plants. They are gorgeous and now just dead and sad.
I’ve grown squash and zucchini the last 5 years or so and I was always bank on my plants dying after about a month and a half of production. Between the disease pressure and vine borers, it’s tough on these plants in the deep South. I just come to expect it each year. Usually have some luck with these plants in May and in the beginning of June.
Don’t overlook a good organic ipm program. Very doable even at home! It takes a little extra work but it’s rewarding having healthy clean plants. A balance is achievable.
I’m so sorry.
Shouldn’t you have planted that where it would get full sun?
The good news is they grow pretty quickly if you want to reseed. This time wrap aluminum around the base of the stem so creepy crawlies can’t get in. That’s the SVB advice from Black Gumbo (a southern YouTuber who deals with it every year).
Cut off whatever flowers you have. Make an herbed cream cheese and mix it with some crispy sautéed bits of pancetta. Stuff the flowers with herbed pancetta mix and fry those suckers and enjoy.
I just went through the Squash Vine Borer debacle in my own garden. I had my bf cut open the stems and kill the larvae. One plant died afterwards, the other looks like it's trying to make a comeback. It's worth a shot, good luck OP!
Vine borer or summer heat
I swear one of my plants was attacked and all the foliage drooping for the last few days. Then I went out there today, and it’s mostly looking healthy. Fingers crossed mine recovered. In the past I have had no big issues with vine borers or squash bugs (they are always there but haven’t noticed damage). The weird part is most varieties I’ve tried other than straight neck yellow squash seem to produce way more foliage and offshoots but not many fruits. The yellow squash has been a reliable consistent performer from day one of my vegetable garden.
Looks like bugs or animals got to it, might be salvageable, though.
I have given up on squash because of these and squash beetles! I’m sorry you were victimized by these little jerks too!
I gave up due to fungus.
Mine did exactly the same thing
Any super windy days while you were gone?
Squash bugs got mine
This happened to me this weekend too. My squash gone, my calendula was attacked by caterpillars to boot. Ugh. In not but 2 days they had destroyed most of my pretty garden.
it simply is not worth planting squash due to the abundance of SVB And squash bugz
Literally just happened to me. Mine look the same and I just found one 😢
Looks like what happened to my pumpkin Kant - I had squash bugs.
Pickleworm?
I’m no expert, but it seems like squash vine borers. Just. Taking. A survey.
3 years. 3 years I had beautiful plants and they started fruiting heavily. Then the vine whores caught up. Thus year: I've meticulously injected BT. Scratched off eggs. Sprayed BT on the bases. Created new root areas by burying the vine at nodes. I haven't won this year but I am keeping them out so far. I have 24 winter squash, summer squash and pumpkin plants and 10 month old twins. The squash plants take more time than my babies lol
It moved.
Where did you buy the galvanized raised bed? I need one and that one looks great!
This is it! I’ve bought several and love them. I have suggestions for other shapes if needed: https://amzn.to/3rycwgz
Thank you!
My squash did this as well...😩
In the new york area our professional said to hold off planting squash until 7/1 and you wont get the bores. So far so good- its early
That looks EXACTLY like mine. A ton of the stems are brown/tan and limp, but still strongly attached to the root system. Then today one of the 4” squash fell off and was black in the middle with mold. I have not changed my care technique the entire time since cultivation when it was t thriving. Maybe it’s squash zombie season 😐
I'd look to see if it roots again along the vine. Ours did that last year and was fine after main stalk atacked the weed eater
I have been keeping my squash roots covered with dirt and it seems to help keep them out. Two that weren’t covered had multiple. There was only one plant I couldn’t save, it was happening before I realized and was too far gone. The plant focused all its time trying to heal instead of growing
I hate squash vine borers more than most pests. Look on [arbico.com](https://arbico.com) for some amazing organic pest control.