I've been seeing a lot of posts about vine borers totally destroying people's squash, and it's making me really anxious! I live in Ontario, Canada, which is a cooler climate, so maybe I'm just fortunate that I haven't had any serious damage yet. I've spotted several SVB moths around my plants, but I've always been too slow to catch them. I've managed to find and destroy a bunch of their eggs, and I've been injecting Bt weekly, but honestly, it feels like I'm just poking around aimlessly, since I never see the entry points. I did find one worm inside a leaf recently, but aside from that, my two Black Beauty zucchini plants are thriving and producing loads of zucchinis. Am I doing something right, or am I just on borrowed time?
3 Answers
You might want to check in with a local gardening community. It’s possible that SVB isn’t as big of a problem where you are compared to other places. In my local Facebook group, a lot of folks are growing butternut and tromboncino squash, which seem to be more SVB-resistant!
It sounds like you’re already on top of the preventive measures. Keep up with what you're doing and enjoy those zucchinis! Your vigilance is probably helping you catch any pests before they cause major damage.
Honestly, I’ve never had issues with SVB in my garden, so it could just be that it’s not a problem in your area either. You might be one of the lucky ones!
That’s a solid idea! I’ll definitely look into local groups.