Quote:
Originally Posted by zeroma
What you think is the squash vine borer isn't. You are picking off Squash bug eggs, they will lay eggs on and under leaves in little clusters of brownish red color. The adult of the svb looks like a wasp/moth. The svb has a different lifecycle from the squash bug.
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It's possible to pick off SVB eggs. They're quite visible down by the base of the plant, but they don't get laid in clusters. However, they can lay the stray egg further up or on a leaf or down just under the soil line, and you only need to miss one to lose a plant.
Quote:
Originally Posted by zeroma
What you wrote:
"The SVB, there's not much I can do, they are too fast and too many. They are still out there laying their eggs. This is late for them compared to last year. I have pulled out a good 50 worms from my plants. About 6 a succumbed to their death from the borer, unfortunately."
My question, what is it that you are saying are too fast? a bug or a worm? When do you "see" the SVB? It isn't the SVB that lays the eggs. I think you are still seeing something other than SVB which is the larva (worm) which doesn't lay eggs, but grows inside the stem of the plant.
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My understanding was that "too fast" meant the speed at which the borer takes the plant down. They really do seem to kill plants overnight. One day, the plant looks fine. The next day, everything is wilting, and even doing SVB "surgery" only has a small chance of saving the plant. It seems like the borer just reaches a critical size one day and kills the plant overnight as opposed to in a way that gives you warning symptoms in time to do something.