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Post by octave on Jun 14, 2015 19:52:15 GMT -5
Today I spotted the dreaded moths hovering over my zucchini plants. I attempted to catch them but they were too fast. So now I know that from today on I must expect the borer to make its appearance. I am going to mark the date on a calendar and see how long a zucchini plant can survive once "infected". In the meanwhile I'll start more zucchini plants, so I can replace those which will be gone. The hard part is timing. I must have a zucchini plant ready for transplant as soon as the previous one dies. I also need to take the days of maturity into account. For the variety I am growing that will be 48 days. Any suggestions?
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Post by pepperhead212 on Jun 14, 2015 21:17:00 GMT -5
Before I gave up trying to grow squash varieties susceptible to SVB, I had some that began wilting before they had a single squash forming, and the most I would get before the plant would totally stop producing was 3 or 4. This is why I gave up on them.
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Post by kimmsrđź•Š on Jun 15, 2015 5:46:42 GMT -5
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Post by tbird on Jun 15, 2015 8:12:08 GMT -5
last year several of us sent BT down the hollow stem of one of the leaves, with good results.
It was difficult to determine if it was the BT or if the numbers were reduced due to the previous winters' polar vortex, but we all said we'd do the same again this year....
for manual control, get some kind of racket. tennis, badmitton, whatever has the closest string settings. that was what I planned, but I haven't seen any lately.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Jun 15, 2015 8:27:18 GMT -5
I read a similar article years ago, stating that they stopped laying eggs in July, so I planted some in August. They ended up with SVBs in Sept., so this is not true, at least in NJ.
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Post by brownrexx on Jun 15, 2015 12:11:50 GMT -5
According to Penn State's Entomology Department, the eggs are laid on the stems close to the ground and take a week to 10 days to hatch. I have NEVER seen a SVB egg so I am thinking that they are really tiny or not very obvious.
After the egg hatches and the larva bores into the stem it supposedly feeds for 4 - 6 weeks so that is how long the plant should live after infection. Obviously if the plant dies before the larva is mature the larva would die also.
SVB adults show up around here in mid to late June so that is why I don't understand the theory idea of waiting until later to plant zucchini. I plant mine as early as possible so that the plants are as big as possible by the time the adults appear. I usually wait about 3 weeks from when the adults appear to plant my second crop. That way if the first crop lasts a month, then my second crop is starting when the first ones die. This gives me a couple of week break in between crops so that I don't get tired of zucchini.
I may also inject some bt again this year. It seemed to work really well last year as tbird says.
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Post by lilolpeapicker on Jun 15, 2015 12:21:24 GMT -5
You use that bt when you see the damage? That would be the early wilting?
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Post by brownrexx on Jun 15, 2015 12:26:08 GMT -5
No, you need to use it before then. Once the wilting starts - the plant is a goner. You can usually see that the plant is infected before the wilting stage. Just look for the fass (yellow borer poop) on the side of the stem and then inject above the point of infection since the liquid will run downhill through the stem.
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Post by tbird on Jun 15, 2015 12:50:14 GMT -5
No, you need to use it before then. I had gotten a bag of dry bt stuff a few years ago - would yu know if it was still good or should I get new for this year?
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Post by brownrexx on Jun 15, 2015 15:21:55 GMT -5
I don't know how to use the dry stuff but if it's something like a spore of bt then it might still be good. Does it have an expiration date? Just because it is a couple of years old may not mean that all of the bt is dead but it wouldn't be as active as a fresh batch. Kind of like using old seeds. They are less viable than fresh ones but some will still grow. I don't know how long dry bt is good for.
I buy a liquid product called Thuricide and I make a spray for bagworms with it as well as using it on my summer squash. I also use another product called Actinovate on my tomatoes for Blight prevention. It is a dried bacterium and they give it a 1 year exp date.
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Post by tbird on Jun 20, 2015 8:40:45 GMT -5
found this pic of the egg - very tiny!
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Post by lisaann on Jun 20, 2015 9:21:23 GMT -5
I stomped a borer adult this morning. I MUST go back out and see if I see that!
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Post by lilolpeapicker on Jun 20, 2015 9:40:04 GMT -5
found this pic of the egg - very tiny! That is from the squash vine borer? Is that brown or orange?
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