Re: [gardeners] Squash vine borers
Tom Clothier (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Wed, 3 Jun 1998 08:37:25 -0500
From: George Shirley <gshirley@iamerica.net>
>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.
Bt is one of the strategies to combat these borers, but is effective only
briefly, and must be used at precisely the right time. It is like trying to
stab a fly -- it can be done, and it works some of the time, but that's all.
My article includes many of the anecdotal remedies bandied about
along with what I feel is the proper strategy to employ in areas where
hollow stemmed cucurbits are not grown commercially.
http://www.anet-chi.com/~manytimes/page20.htm
tc