Group: rec.gardens.edible · Group Profile
Author: enigmaenigma Date: May 10, 2008 05:53
"Katey Didd" spamless.com> wrote in
news:g033ht$kp7$1@news.datemas.de:
> The vine borers here get into the main stem and kill the
> plant, not the seedlings. They usually start their damage
> when the fruits have already started to form. I've yet to
> ever see the adults. I've tried to slit the vines to remove
> them and the plants would die anyway. They're not easy to
> find in the vines and slitting the vines seems to kill the
> plants even faster. Have you tried tinfoil collars and did
> the work for you?
the adult is a clearwing moth.
i've never had borers kill mature vines, but i bury vines as
they grow so that they root along the length. i do put tinfoil
collars on young plants of the squash & cucumber family. if
borers are a real problem, you could try floating row covers &
hand pollenate the flowers...
are you slitting the vines where the borers are, or are you
slitting the entire vine looking for them? there's usually a
hole with frass near the borers location, & the moth lays the
eggs at the base of the vine, so the first place to look is at
the base, & then look for the frass.
lee
--
Last night while sitting in my chair
I pinged a host that wasn't there
It wasn't there again today
The host resolved to NSA.
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