Helping Plants Survive the Heat
Epsom Salt Once a Month! – Quick hit!
Squash Vine Borer – Enemy Number 1 of Cucurbita’s
If you love growing squash then plan for this insect; because the squash vine borer moth is a bad one! There is nothing worse then walking around your garden and seeing your beautiful zucchini or summer squash healthy and strong and returning the next day to find it wilted and gone; and, that is about how fast it seems to happen! As such, anyone planning to grow plants in the squash family needs to be aware of the Melittia cucurbitae moth, also known as the squash vine borer! This ensures you have a chance of stopping these moths from destroying your plants or at least lets you know what they look like so you can just beat them to death when you see them ha!
About
Native to North America the squash vine borer could actually be confused with a beneficial insect. After all, unlike most moths, it comes out in the day and flies with very quick bee like movements. It has a bright orange and red body that I could almost say is pretty. However, after years of fighting these suckers I firmly believe their color has one purpose, so you see them and know that evil is upon you! These borer moths love squash, zucchini, pumpkins, and gourds all of which I am growing in my garden! I think it is safe to say that I pretty much hate them; yet, as you can see from this quick video the borer does not care, it still loves my garden!
Squash vine borers will grow in a brown cocoon in your soil, living there through the winter. They emerge in the summer months and fly around laying their eggs on your food! Larvae hatch within 7 to 14 days and proceed to bore their way into the hollow stems of your plants where they eat them from the inside out for another 14 to 28 days. If you have missed the egg stage, you may also see the small white worms with a black head on your stalks. These worms do not stay small long.
Tips
There are several organic things you can do to manage the squash vine borer.
- Look for the eggs of the borer; and look for them often especially during their season, this will help you stop the damage before it begins! Eggs can be found on the underside of the leaves in clusters and can also be found on their own on the stems of the plants. I have read some things that say they are at the base of the stems, they are! These moths will place their eggs wherever they land so they can also be found at the top and the middle and everywhere in between!
Looking for the Squash Vine Borer – Quick Hit!
Quick Hit! – Trimming your plants lower leaves!
Quick Hit! Caring for your Daisies
Zucchini – Black Beauty Squash
About Black Beauty Squash
By far one of the most beautiful vegetables ever! The Black Beauty Squash earns its name with dark glossy green leaves growing as large as 12 inches across and bright beautiful yellow flowers known to grow up to 6″ across. The fruit is no slacker either with its dark green skin and creamy white flesh it’s what I like to call a Forest Gump vegetable. You can fry it, boil it, steam it, bake it, grill it, put it on a burger, put it in a casserole, make bread out of it and freeze it to have it all again later!
Its only down side is that morning is the only time those beautiful flowers show themselves. This of course just gives us the perfect reason to take that cup of coffee and wander to the garden for a look (as if we needed another one!).
How to Grow
The Black Beauty is a hybrid plant and according to Bonnie Plants started in 1957. It is a part of the cucurbita pepo family which includes acorns, pumpkins, gourds, crook neck squash, cocozelle, scallops and marrow. Growing this zucchini is not difficult. It needs consistent but not over watering with well-drained soil and full sun.
- Soak the seeds in water for about 30 minutes.
- Start indoors three to four weeks ahead of time or sow it straight in the ground once the soil temperatures reach at least 70 degrees.
- Pick fruit when it is about 6-8″ long. You can grow it longer however the uses decline as the seeds get large and the flesh is not as soft.
Tips
- These babies need full sun up to six hours. However, as with other full sun plants if you’re in the South don’t make the mistake of thinking it will take your 100 degree days; it won’t! Plan accordingly and have some partial shade in the afternoon to help it out.
- My Zucchini has done well with good compost to get it going and a bit of Epsom salt and coffee grinds mixed in with the soil monthly.
- Zucchini is subject to power mildew so avoid watering the leaves of this plant; water from below.
- Check daily for fruit! Watch for them! these critters can hide on you under those big leaves and before you know it you have a monster on your hands.
Humans are not the only ones to love Zucchini; and, more than one Gardner (myself included) has been brought to tears over two of its arch enemies the Squash Vine Borers and Squash bugs. Be on the lookout for these insects and plan for quick action on managing them. Natural plant companions that also act as repellents to the bugs and borers include:
- Radishes (Iceberg Radishes especially)
- Parsley
- Nasturtiums
- Peppermint
Other Companion Plants Include
- Corn
- Beans
- Beets
- Lettuce
- Lovage
- Peppers
- Spinach
- Squash
- Tomatoes
- Do NOT grow with Potatoes!
- Squash Vine Borer – Enemy Number 1 of Cucurbita’s
- Quick Hit! – Looking for the Squash Vine Borer
- Squash Bug – Cucurbita’s Arch Enemy 2 (coming soon)
- Fighting Powder Mildew (coming soon)
Insects – The Sunflower Moth
About the Sunflower Moth
For those that love Sunflowers be on the look out for this pesky insect! It’s a small white sandy colored moth in the genus Homoeosoma. There are two types, the American Sunflower moth (Homoeosoma electellum) and the Eurasian sunflower moth (Homoeosoma nebulella). They show up in May to August time frame (depending on your region) and are most prevalent in the twilight hours, (figures it would be right when we all love to be in the garden) where the female lays their eggs on the sunflower head.
The spawn of this devil will hatch in about a week’s time and burrow themselves down into the the seed head and attempt to eat to their heart’s content with no concern what so ever to your precious plants (how rude!). To make matters worse this pest can also effect your Marigolds and your Echinacea as you can see from the picture below where some of my own were impacted. Signs of damage appears as a rotted area right in the middle of your flowers. If you pull the seed head apart you will most often find the worms, (I’ll add a pic of that).
Tips to Avoid and Treat
Like so many of the insects we deal with in our gardens there are a few natural enemies of the sunflower moth.
- Wasps will attack the larvae as well as eat the eggs of the moth reducing its impact.
- Ground beetles can attack the overwintering pupae and pirate bugs will also feed on them.
- Insecticidal soap as well as dawn dish soap (1 1/2 tsp per quart) mixed with water and sprayed on the plant’s seed head can be used.
- Organic insecticides such as BT and Neem can be used.
- I personally have had good luck using Neem Oil (the 100% organic cold pressed kind that you mix yourself) to detour them. Simply spray the seed heads while spraying the rest of the garden.
- Tilling your soil well for winter as well as again in spring and using nematodes is a good practice. This helps remove any overwintering little critters, (get them while they sleep!)
There are also several synthetic sprays that can be used. However its best for our bees to try the natural methods first as there are so many organic options available to control this pesky insect. If you find them on your plant cut and remove the flowers impacted and do not compost!
Growing Dill
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