My next door neighbor grew more squash than she could eat -- and it
was delicious! :-) -- last summer. She used raised beds and had
chicken wire and a weedblocker at the bottom of them. I'm not sure
where she got her dirt from, but I'll find out. I wouldn't give up on
squash!
Sarah
On May 13, 2011, at 12:16 PM, Vanessa Van Horn wrote:
Don't give up on squash! My neighbor swore that
he's never been able
to grow squash in the 40+ years here, but it can be done.
Squash bugs, which struck hard last summer, will eat and mottle the
leaves, but the squash vine borer will dessicate any soft vine
squash too.
Last summer Ann Quarles and my kids dissected our plants to find
little grubs burrowed in our vines and at the base of the plant near
the soil line.
Their entry points are marked by their waste product known as frass
and if you split the stalk open you maybe be able to catch the white
grub.
The adults will hover around squash and look like a wasp…
Squash bugs are easy to kill and they will lay their brown eggs on
the underside of the leaves or flowers.
Tape can easily peel the eggs off and wacking the bugs into a bucket
of soapy water is an easy organic remedy.
If you watchout for their nymphs you can kill dozens at a time.
The adults retreat to the soil at the end of the day and hide below
leaves or decaying matter,
so keeping this area clean can reduce their habitat as well.
My old-time Cherokee father-in-law mixes firewood ash into his
squash beds and has never had a problem with his summer squashes, so
I am going to try that method this year.
Just don't grow any beans in the same bed or they'll be stunted.
Beneficial nematodes will also eat SVB grubs and Ann tried the
injection method last year.
Tilling last year's squash bed also helps to kill over-wintering SVB
larvae.
One alternative to fighting the squash vine borer all summer is the
moschata species of squash which have a tougher, hardier vine than
the other cucurbits.
I managed to successfully grow Musquee de Provence pumpkins last
year despite the squash bug invasion too.
I also noticed that vines that climbed had very little, if no squash
bug damage on their leaves.
Sorry if this is TL;DR, but I learned the hard way last summer!
Best, Vanessa
I've copied and pasted moschata info from an email exchange last
summer below:
Hmm… wrap stems with foil?
From
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/cornucop/msg0615371013837.html
One way to combat the borer without resorting to the chemical
arsenal is to plant forms of squash that are resistant to it because
of their hard stems. The varieties that belong to the species
cucurbita moschata are like this; other cucurbita species, including
the common cucurbita pepo (which is what most zucchini is), will
succumb to the borer. This applies also to winter squash and
pumpkins. For summer squash try the Italian tromboncino squash.
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/heirloom/msg0722284526386.html
Not sure why, but it seems to me that the blossoms from c. moschata
are more perfumed. I am basing that on having used butternut,
musquee de provence and TR blossoms, which are all c. moschata.
Other moschatas:
Patterned leaves
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/93034/
Zuke-like:
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/56773/
Pretty French heirloom:
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/91873/
Tatume - completely unprotected, no infestation, vining variety,
great taste
Tromba d'Albenga/Tromboncino/Trombachino - completely unprotected,
no infestation, vining variety, great taste
Gialla Nostrale - completely unprotected, one infestation but still
survive and produce well after BT injection, one no infestation
(hunch that they would do OK without the BT), vining variety, great
taste
Mayeras - completely unprotected, one infestation but still survive
and produce well after BT injection, one no infestation, vining
variety, excellent taste, very productive
Serpente di Sicilia - completely unprotected, no infestation, gourd,
vining, unknown taste
Lemon - completely unprotected, no infestation, unknown taste, vining
Kamo Kamo - completely unprotected, no infestation, vining OK taste
Coosa - semi-protected, no infestation, bush/semi-vining, Lebanese
zucchini, excellent taste
Romanesco - semi-protected, no infestation, bush/semi-vining,
excellent taste
Odessa - semi-protected, no infestation, bush/semi-vining, unknown
taste
On May 13, 2011, at 10:56 AM, Sue Sturgis wrote:
Squash bugs:
http://bit.ly/kwzHAO
I gave up on zucchini for the same reason.
On Fri, May 13, 2011 at 10:41 AM, Ryan Parker <kennethryanparker(a)gmail.com
wrote:
Greeting to all you soil diggers,
I just sent an email to Mark Turner regrading the squash and
zucchini he is growing and then realized that he started a list so
I will repost the info here and hope to hear back about how your
garden's are doing:
Mark,
Let me know how your squash and zucchini turn out. I gave up on
them two years ago because they were tragically devoured from the
roots up. The plants would grow for several weeks becoming massive
and start to bloom. Then, the stalk near the soil would become
brittle and start to collapse effectively killing the plant. I
have been told it is a cut worm that lives in the soil and begins
to eat the plant from the bottom up. So instead of blasting the
soil with pesticide I just decided to venture into non-squash
territory. This year it's Better Boy Tomatoes, Cantaloupe (would
trade for your watermelon), bush beans, jalapeno and sweet banana
peppers (will also trade for squash) and burpless cukes. Good luck.
Thanks,
Ryan Parker
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If it is a rose, it will come into bloom sooner or later.
~Goethe
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