wisconsindead
Senior Member
Posts: 168
Joined: Mon Jun 01, 2015 7:48 pm
Location: Zone 5b

Squash Vine Borer?

Hey Guys,

It looks like a Squash Vine Borer has bored into the stem of this spaghetti squash. Does that look right to you? Can I try to poke that hole with a pin or a knife to get at the borer? Do you know if the borer goes towards the root or towards the foliage? I assume it bores in and then goes a certain direction. If I can get at it sooner than later, perhaps I can save the plant.
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Additionally, does this leaf damage look like what squash vine borer caterpillar/young would do? I had this problem last year with SVB, and have tried to keep up with the plants. I checked under the leaves a few times for eggs. Saw nothing. But of course squash are fast growing large plants so I couldn't check everything.
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applestar
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Posts: 30504
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

The hole in the stem is definitely SVB — we have an on-going thread about that particular pest — you’ll find many suggestions that have been posted recently

The ragged holes in the leaves could just be from the leaves getting beaten around by wind, if you’ve had particularly windy storms lately. However if you see other leaves that are starting to yellow or wilt suddenly, then I would suspect cucumber beetles or squash bugs/stinkbugs/leaf-footed stinkbugs.

wisconsindead
Senior Member
Posts: 168
Joined: Mon Jun 01, 2015 7:48 pm
Location: Zone 5b

applestar wrote:The hole in the stem is definitely SVB — we have an on-going thread about that particular pest — you’ll find many suggestions that have been posted recently

The ragged holes in the leaves could just be from the leaves getting beaten around by wind, if you’ve had particularly windy storms lately. However if you see other leaves that are starting to yellow or wilt suddenly, then I would suspect cucumber beetles or squash bugs/stinkbugs/leaf-footed stinkbugs.
Thanks applestar. I went to see if I could cut out the larvae and I couldn't find it! :x :x :x

I figured I didn't want to damage the stem too badly so I gave up. I did find a SVB moth as I was trying to cut the stem open. I promptly killed it. I covered up the main stem with a good pile of soil following surgery. Hopefully it was successfull? Idk, I'll post back in a few weeks if I begin to see anything.
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