I think I saw a SVB moth in my garden

[sheeshshe]

crud! I really think it was one. GRR! so, now what? is there anything I can do in case it laid eggs? It kept landing on my squash and melon plants but wasn't staying on them long, I lost sight of it after a while. IDK where it went.

[gixxerific]

what did it look like? Like this?


http://www.extension.umn.edu/distributi ... M1209.html

[sheeshshe]

yeah. it did. and I went out this afternoon and there are eggs everywhere. UGH. I'm afraid I'm going to miss some and my plants will be DOOMED!

[gixxerific]

I wish you luck.

You need to be VERY proactive for these little buggers. They devastated most of my squash type plants last year.

There are many things you can do, put cardboard collars around the stems to prevent the larvae from entering etc. Read up on them there is some info on that link I posted though I'm not too sure about some of the pesticides they suggest. But there is a ton of info on the web about these little marauders. If you really want to protect them now is the time to start. If you have seen them it may be too late but with some action you may be alright. If you do nothing I wouldn't expect too much out of your crop.

Don't get me wrong you are not doomed, unless you give up.

Good luck

[sheeshshe]

I've been looking online and it pretty much says that there are all kinds of things you can try but nothing is 100%. it might work andit might not. UGH! these things are TERRIBLE! I called and warned my neighbor to go and check her plants as she had them last year too. makes me mad! stupid things!

[gixxerific]

I've been looking online and it pretty much says that there are all kinds of things you can try but nothing is 100%. it might work andit might not. UGH! these things are TERRIBLE! I called and warned my neighbor to go and check her plants as she had them last year too. makes me mad! stupid things!

One thing to do being proactive is to write down the date they showed up so you can remember next year and be expecting them even more.

[rainbowgardener]

The SVB are the most frustrating pests in my garden. Nothing else so totally destroys a big healthy plant so fast. I don't mind the things that just nibble on leaves... This year I gave up on growing zucchini, which the SVB's always get eventually, despite my best efforts. I put tin foil collars around the stems of mine last year, but they still eventually got it ( a little slower than other years and I did get a few zukes first, but still).

This year I'm growing acorn squash. I realized later that butternut squash is the one that is resistant to SVBs (because no hollow stem) not acorn. But all my squash plants are planted in the middle of lots of other stuff and so far are doing fine... Will report more later.



Here's another article about SVB control:

solutions for SVB

A couple things it doesn't mention are kaolin clay, sold as Surround, which is sprayed on and "acts as a physical barrier preventing insects from reaching vulnerable plant tissue. It acts as a repellent by creating an unsuitable surface for feeding or egg-laying. The uniform white film may also disrupt the insect’s host finding capability by masking the color of the plant tissue. Furthermore, particles of kaolin act as an irritant to the insect. After landing on a treated surface, particles of kaolin break off and attach to the insect’s body triggering an excessive grooming response that distracts the pest." http://web.pppmb.cals.cornell.edu/resou ... kaolin.php


There's also trichogramma wasps which can be purchased on-line and which parasitize the eggs of the SVB's

I'm thinking I will try zucch's again next year with a couple of these methods. In the meantime, not much point at being mad at Mother Nature for being who she is. We just have to find ways to co-exist.

[sheeshshe]

and............. I TOTALLY meant to spray kaolin clay. UGH! I keep saying I'm going to spray my trees and my squash and have I done it yet? um, no. and now its probably too late. GRR! I need a day without kids LOL

[gixxerific]

I understand where Rainbow is coming from. I almost didn't plant a few things because of SVB. But I went ahead and did it anyways. I did see the svb adults earlier in the year and I haven't seen them since. So hopefully I may be in the clear. We shall see.

Good luck again.

[wacky-gardner]

The dreaded SVB! They have devastated by garden for two years and this year I am determined to win. Its quite a battle. I would have thought they'd be done laying eggs by now I have found one dead but there is another one hanging around that I cant catch. Here is what I have been doing to combat these guys. it takes patience and understanding that it is a war and each day is a battle.

I started the year with paper collars around all the curbit crops. I scouted the plants every day looking all over the plant and near the soil for the eggs, picking them off one by one. I noticed that the collars were making the eggs be laided higher up on the plant, but on a few there were eggs laid inside the collar (i will make it tighter around the plant next year)

one day when scouting i noticed that the moth had laid eggs on the collars so i removed all of them to get rid of the eggs. I continue to check the plants everyday and they are much bigger now and harder to check every inch but I still try. I still find a few eggs a day and some tiny just hatched worms.

The eggs are starting to hatch now so i have injected all the plants with BT which seems to help, i find hole started but the worm dies. One thing i have noticed is that many times the worm has entered through the leaf stalk (maybe because the collars prevented lower laying of the eggs). I just cut off that stem and move on. no need to cut open the base of the plant. So far this is working but it is a daily battle. Hofefully only for a few more weeks. ill post a pic of what a stem looks like that has a worm. basically it has a small sunken mushy spot, and the leaf will usually have started to yellow. You can slice open and check if you want just take to a table and not your garden in case it falls out. They are very tiny at this stage and hard to miss. look for a black spot that is the head and you'll see them .

Sorry for the long post but anyone who battles these guys knows you cant explain in a few sentences.

[Binkalette]

Would beneficial nematodes help kill the larva in the fall so they wouldn't come back the following year??

[hendi_alex]

In most areas the solution is fairly simple. Plant a fresh grouping of squash right now. It takes several weeks for the SVB to kill a plant, so the young plants will be up and near production before that happens. SVB are active in waves, so with a succession of perhaps three plantings, at least one will likely develop during a period that the SVB moth is not active. Also, covering the young developing squash plant with tight mesh netting or reemay cloth will keep the pests away until the plants are large enough to give a several week harvest even if an attack comes at some point.

Be sure to dig out the larvae on any infected plant and kill them, so as to prevent the next generation of adults from infecting the next batch of plants.

[rainbowgardener]

Update: the biggest healthiest of my acorn squash plants just bit the dust. Went from healthy to totally wilted over just a few days. I was hoping maybe it was just wilting from the heat, but checked it over and found the SVB signs... I guess they like acorn squash too.

I have left another acorn squash plant, that is struggling because something different is eating the leaves and I have a couple of volunteer squash of unknown varieties growing out of my compost pile. It's pretty shady over there, but one of them has managed to crawl out onto the patio and is rapidly crawling towards more sun. I'm leaving them to see what they turn into and if the SVB's get them too.

I haven't done anything this year to try to protect them from SVB, just seeing what happens.

[sheeshshe]

that totally stinks Ihope your others make it!

so far none of mine have died.. I'm hoping I got all the eggs.