Is this squash vine borer?
 

I have this white area at the base of a pumpkin vine. It hasn't open up and revealed the sawdust stuff. I don't want to cut into it if there's no borer. Nobody so far is able to tell me if that's what I'm dealing with.

[url]https://gardening.stackexchange.com/questions/34529/is-this-discoloration-on-a-pumpkin-plant-stem-caused-by-squash-vine-borer[/url]

Looks like it may be. Here are some other photos:

Better to split the vine and see than to let the plant croak as it surely will if you dont and it is.
The surgery wont hurt anything.
Worth

[QUOTE=Worth1;655051]Better to split the vine and see than to let the plant croak as it surely will if you dont and it is.
The surgery wont hurt anything.
Worth[/QUOTE]



I agree. I've come close to completely severing a zucchini stalk hunting down a SVB, and the plant survived and kept producing right up until frost.

I just killed my first SVB moth this morning. It was sitting on a cucumber leaf. It's time to start looking for frass!

Mike I don't see any sign of SVB but that doesn't mean they haven't started. It will only become obvious when you see frass coming out or a rotted looking stem. The best way to prevent them is to lightly dust the base of the stem and up a few inches with Sevin dust. As long as it is on them you will not get SVB. I pulled my squash a week ago and the vines were at least 10 ft long with no SVB. I have been treating mine with the Sevin dust on the lower stems for years with no SVB as long as I replenish it after a heavy rain or watering. One precaution is that you don't want to get Sevin on or in the blooms as it is harmful to bees which love the blooms so make sure to limit it to the lower stems only.

I used to plant two full beds of squash in order to get enough to eat because of my loses from SVB were so bad every year. Now I only plant 3 to 5 plants and they are way too many for just my wife and me. We usually are quite tired of squash by mid June when we are eating it several times a week. I used to never have to worry about squash plants getting too big because the SVB took care of them fairly young; but now my plants get so large and unmanageable I can't walk between the beds by early June and by July they are taking over.

Bill
'

Either way, I see what might be a SVB egg on the branch left and kinda below the main stem. It is the branch all by itself right on the straw. The small roundish brown dot. I check my squash/pumpkins each night and remove any eggs by squishing them between my fingers/fingernails/stem.

Another suggestion is to bury the vines as the plant grows. It will root at each node and will help from any borer destroying your plant so that your kids can each have some fun with them. Also with the extra soil covering the vines, the borers will not be able to get in. An added bonus is that sometime more roots means larger fruit.

Agree with Worth and FD. That swelling and the crack that's starting--that's could be from a SVB. I would split the stem further where it's already starting to split and hunt down the SVB. If you don't find one, as long as you've kept your cut parallel to the fibers on the stalk (vertical), you should be able to mound dirt and/or compost over the cut part and the plant will be OK. If you wait until a SVB causes the stem to burst, it's too late to save the plant.

So I sliced in and found no work and no frass. So I'm still stumped about the discoloration at the base of the stem. I added a pic of the inside of the stem. [url]https://gardening.stackexchange.com/questions/34529/is-this-discoloration-on-a-pumpkin-plant-stem-caused-by-squash-vine-borer[/url]

The stems do get old and woody as they age. Yours just seems to have swelled in the process. I would still advise you to cover all of the stems of the vine as it grows to prevent this nasty from taking over your plant.

You sliced the wrong way you are supposed to slice with the grain not across it.
what ever you cut off is now going to die.
The part you want to slice with the grain is the main stem.

Worth

Worth I don't know what you're talking about. I sliced it vertically just like every YouTube on the subject demonstrates. If I sliced the other way it would sever the whole vine.

I dont know what I'm looking at then.
Worth

[IMG]https://i.imgflip.com/1sqjy5.jpg[/IMG]

[QUOTE=jmsieglaff;655591][IMG]https://i.imgflip.com/1sqjy5.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE]

True that! I'm not growing any zucchini squash next year. Too much trouble keeping the SVB away and takes up too much space besides. Just not worth the effort to me.

Mikescleveland, you sliced correctly. Glad you didn't have borers, in my experience those are certain death of the plant. Usually there is more than one and they can be difficult to extract unless you keep extending the incision which of course is detrimental as well.

Worth, it's called sleep deprivation :lol:

[QUOTE=jillian;655592]True that! I'm not growing any zucchini squash next year. Too much trouble keeping the SVB away and takes up too much space besides. Just not worth the effort to me.[/QUOTE]


It is not that hard to keep them away. Just do what I said in the above post. I use a small bulb duster and it only takes a minute to treat a few plants. I usually have to reapply the Sevin five or six times depending on how much heavy rain we get. I haven't lost a single plant to SVB in the last five years and it hasn't cost much money or much effort. Before I learned to do this I was about through messing with squash down here.

I have found a yellow zucchini that is fantastic and produced like crazy called Butta. Burpees has also brought back butter bar or butter stick and it is a great yellow zucchini. I think I am going to limit myself to only three plants next year and if two of them are doing great I will remove the third. Actually one plant doing well will provide more than enough squash for us. Since I started treating the base of the stems with Sevin dust I have been reducing the number of plants each year. If this keeps up I may end up planting only one but I just don't trust zucchini enough because every once in a while you get one that makes a big plant and almost no squash.

Bill

Bill

I assume that my squash will be infected with SVB so I inject the stems with bt to kill the larvae inside the stems and I have more squash than I need.

Jillian if you plant it mid July or later you won't get any svb. Their lifecycle will be over.

[QUOTE=mikescleveland;655744]Jillian if you plant it mid July or later you won't get any svb. Their lifecycle will be over.[/QUOTE]

In North Carolina, there may be more than one generation. Probably borderline. Further north, there is only one generation, usually.

This year, the SVBs are late here in PA. I just saw my first one in the garden yesterday.

So planting late AND using insect cover until the first flowers bloom is probably necessary.

If you only grow a few plants, just check daily when SVBs are active in your area (for me, that's the month of July) and remove any eggs you see on the plants. Spray with BT or spinosad. If you find any holes at all, inject BT/spinosad.

Injecting the stems can work for hollow-stemmed squash. For solid-stem squash, it's not an option. And contrary to internet lore, borers WILL attack solid-stemmed squash as well, and, although the damage they do is slower and the plant is more resistant to it, they can still kill a solid-stem squash, especially if you grow up a trellis, which limit re-rooting. But if you are diligent and pick off eggs and constantly re-spray the bases of your plants, you'll more than likely succeed in keeping the borers from surviving after they try to first bore into your plants. They do chomp into the surface of the vine when they're first trying to bore into it and will consume the pesticide at that point.

Gorbelly that is right. Last year after I lost my plants to the borer I planted two more mid July, hoping they were gone for the year. A month later the wilt began. I mercilessly ripped the stems open and there they were.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I have one plant now, Dunja it's a monster but I tend to it like a child. Next year I will give that space to something that doesn't require as much fussing over.

Down here I don't think the Squash Vine Borer leaves til it freezes. I have had them invade plants set out in early fall worse than in the summer.

Bill

We got them this year. We've starting injecting BT straight into the stalk. Seems to work.

I am constantly pulling and replanting from the SVB. grrr! I am waiting on them to not come back but not holding my breath. thats for sure. as soon as they are gone in comes the powdery mildew. if it isn't one thing it is another pressure killing them off.

I don't think that planting late will avoid the borer because they are around all season BUT since it takes several weeks for both the egg to hatch and the larvae to do enough damage to actually kill the plant, people may think that the plant is not infected. The weather turns cold before they see the plant wilt and die from the SVB damage.

I will be planting more seeds today in the hopes of harvesting a few late summer squash.

[QUOTE=jillian;655592]True that! I'm not growing any zucchini squash next year. Too much trouble keeping the SVB away and takes up too much space besides. Just not worth the effort to me.[/QUOTE]


I am new to gardening and tried lots of things and I agree about Zucchini. After a full season I finally was able to get a couple fruited by doing my own paint brush pollination. Lots of pollen, but the flowers only stay open about 1-2 hours in early morning..
I had a few plants die and learned about he borers. I have saved a few plants by cutting them open and removing the worms. I did not think to Sevin on the base soil?

I think I have learned more about insects in my first year than growing plants. :)

Its all part of the fun and learning, but I am realizing that Nirvana image of beautiful plant covered with perfect fruit is only in the marketing pictures.. I have a way to go..

[QUOTE=HoustonHeat;657728]

Its all part of the fun and learning, but I am realizing that Nirvana image of beautiful plant covered with perfect fruit is only in the marketing pictures.. I have a way to go..[/QUOTE]

Absolute truth. take a look at cherry falls tomato... the one and only picture I have seen for this variety... that is the epitome of plant nirvana. absolutely never are you going to achieve that planter you see in their picture.
[url]https://www.totallytomato.com/P/00184/Cherry+Falls+Tomato[/url]

[QUOTE=HoustonHeat;657728]I am new to gardening and tried lots of things and I agree about Zucchini. After a full season I finally was able to get a couple fruited by doing my own paint brush pollination. Lots of pollen, but the flowers only stay open about 1-2 hours in early morning..
I had a few plants die and learned about he borers. I have saved a few plants by cutting them open and removing the worms. I did not think to Sevin on the base soil?

I think I have learned more about insects in my first year than growing plants. :)

Its all part of the fun and learning, but I am realizing that Nirvana image of beautiful plant covered with perfect fruit is only in the marketing pictures.. I have a way to go..[/QUOTE]

You might actually achieve those pretty looking plants and fruit once in a while for a very short while but down here in the deep south it won't last for long. You need to use fungicides and take preventive measures before things get too bad and they usually do get too bad if you take no action. As to pests like SVB they are a constant threat down here from spring til fall as are hundreds of others. You just have to keep a close eye on the plants and act fast when some of the more bothersome creatures start attacking them. Waiting to act only gives them time to reproduce and multiply making the problems so much worse.

I got a little bulb duster that is great for applying a little Sevin to just the base of the plants without getting it all over the plant. It isn't very good for dusting a whole plant but it is great for limited dusting of small things like the stems of squash.

Bill

[QUOTE=jillian;655592]True that! I'm not growing any zucchini squash next year. Too much trouble keeping the SVB away and takes up too much space besides. Just not worth the effort to me.[/QUOTE]


I have found 3 SCB in my 2 plants and pulled them out. I have blooms all the time and even paint brush them for pollination. On occasion I get small zucchini that grows to about 4 inches and then turns yellow and dies. I just cannot grow zucchini.

BTW thanks for the pic above. I just happened to see these flying around and landing last weekend.

All I can say is thank good for okra. If it was not for okra I would feel like I have a black thumb.. a nod to the farmers... this is not easy..

[QUOTE=HoustonHeat;658682]I have found 3 SCB in my 2 plants and pulled them out. I have blooms all the time and even paint brush them for pollination. On occasion I get small zucchini that grows to about 4 inches and then turns yellow and dies. I just cannot grow zucchini.

BTW thanks for the pic above. I just happened to see these flying around and landing last weekend.

All I can say is thank good for okra. If it was not for okra I would feel like I have a black thumb.. a nod to the farmers... this is not easy..[/QUOTE]

If you don't mind yellow zucchini then I have found two that do well here in the south. The best one is called Butta which I found while trying to find a substitute for one that Burpee had quit carrying called either Butter Stick or Butter Bar. Now Burpee has it again so I will be planting a couple of each from now on. Both of these squash are massive producers if the SVB are kept at bay.

Another trick that helps a lot with zucchini besides the Sevin on the stem is to keep them well mulched. Still another is to spray the undersides of the leaves with the diluted bleach spray whenever you have to use it on your tomatoes and it will keep the mildew at bay. I also spray them with copper fungicide anytime I am using it on my tomatoes or peppers.

Bill