Re: [gardeners] Squash vine borers
George Shirley (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Tue, 02 Jun 1998 19:25:50
At 05:22 PM 6/2/98 -0500, you wrote:
>Hi George,
> How effective is BT for the borers. I don't have any yet. Years ago
>down in Galveston Co. I had borers every summer. I have used BT with
>good results on catapillers,horn worms and loopers.
> I don't know if I'm going to need to worry too much about pests if it
>doesn't rain soon. The temp has been in the 98-100 range for the past
>week. Today it is 100 again. The heat index is higher than that.
> I have a sandy-loam soil. The top 2-3 inches is like dry beach sand
>right now. It doesn't want to absorb water very readily either. I have
>been using drip irrigation and mulching. I guess that is what has saved
>us so far.
> If any one has a sure fire rain dance or spell I'd like to borrow it.
> Hoping for rain,
> Allen
> Bastrop Co.,Tx.
> Zone 8
>
I can't really say how effective Bt is on squash borers. This is my first
year to use it as I'm trying to avoid the use of insecticides, chemical or
organic. I'm having a heckuva time trying to stay ahead of them on the
vines. We've lived here 10 years, 8 in this house, and have always had
squash borers. When we lived 30 miles away in Texas we seldom had them. In
desperation I've taken to tilling the ground 3 or 4 times a year trying to
turn them up to the top to die.
Heat index here today was 105F. I stayed in except for one hour from 0600
to 0700 this morning. Just went out and watered the stuff in pots to keep
it going. The city asked us to go on water conservation hours today, trying
to hang on to enough water in the gravity towers to fight fire if
necessary. Looks like the farmers are gonna have another bad year.
George