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Old April 28, 2016   #20
LMinAL
Tomatovillian™
 
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Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Alabama
Posts: 46
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I have them here every year. The only thing that works for me is keeping them covered so the moth can't lay eggs as long as possible. By that time, the plant is large enough to sustain some damage.

My routine is to plant out, once seedlings come up I thin them out and put up my pvc hoops and tulle netting. I keep them covered until they outgrow the enclosure then spray spinosad. I also keep an eye out for eggs and handpick them as much as possible. Once you get to this stage, you will be able to tell if a borer has entered early by keeping a close watch on your leaves. If one starts to look discolored or wilty, look on the back of the stem or between the leaf veins and you will probably find the entry. I remove that leaf stem at the base and cover with dirt, then find the tiny bugger in the removed stem and squash it. The plant should be large enough by then to survive having a few leaf stems removed.

This has allowed me to have squash through early July until the pickleworm comes and then I just give up.
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