Borers

How do you guys deal with them? They seem to get worse every year at my patch. I've come to find out they come from a moth that lays eggs that hatch to larva..which corkscrew into stem and destroy plant.

Spinosad weekly

I had them once in late flower. Thought i had a deficiency, then found the entry hole at the base and more at nearly every node with alittle pile of sawdust on each underlying stem.
Was lucky it was so late and i still got some flower out of it.
Dont know if they are more susceptible, but that plant was hollow stemmed to begin with.

Im no expert, but I've learned a lot from @thumper60 about borers. They start hatching from the ground in Northern New England mid June

I'm not sure borers and cut worms are the same but I use diatomaceous earth, it will help if you get those "cucumber beetles" later in the summer too

If they’re corn borers spinosad will work. DE, spread over the top of the soil will kill the instar stage.

bt-k, spray in evening after sundown from above the canopy, week 3 of flower, again week 4, should be good for the rest of the year.

Corso312 said:

How do you guys deal with them? They seem to get worse every year at my patch. I've come to find out they come from a moth that lays eggs that hatch to larva..which corkscrew into stem and destroy plant.

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google squash stem borer the adults look an act like bees you see them flying around time to start sparying spinosad once a week or after each rain. In the northern US the adults emerge from the ground mid june thur mid july then they are one an done laying but it takes weeks before the dreaded wilt comes. In the south they can cycle 2-3 times a summer.

Not sure if it's corn borer or squash borer, probably don't matter as far as treatment, the patch is surrounded by corn farms, they rotate crops to soy beans every other year.

Anybody use tanglefoot on stalk to stop bugs from getting to plants?

I bought a bunch of mosquito netting, I'm going to net most plants off to keep the moths from laying eggs.

Corso312 said:

I bought a bunch of mosquito netting, I'm going to net most plants off to keep the moths from laying eggs.

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Damn, that's brilliant. The first year I've had tomatoes actually tomato and now something I can not see is eating leaves. THAT would be brilliant. Thank you, heading off to Amazon now

European corn borer, and squash borer adults, neem oil doesn't work as well on them or the grubs.
Spinosad as a contact killer, or IPM.

Xentari Bacillus thuringiensis aizawai (BT-a) strain works better than BT-k on squash grubs, also better on Diamondback moths and armyworms.
Permethrin or essential oils at the lower base of the plant couple times a week can discourage them also

curious2garden said:

Damn, that's brilliant. The first year I've had tomatoes actually tomato and now something I can not see is eating leaves. THAT would be brilliant. Thank you, heading off to Amazon now

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They sell half inch and 3/4" clips to secure the netting to pvc pipe too.

Corso312 said:

They sell half inch and 3/4" clips to secure the netting to pvc pipe too.

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I'm using cattle panels and I have a couple dozen small metal clamps that would hold it to my cattle panel trellis. This is the first time I'm serious about trying to grow something. I majored in killing tomatoes and now I'm paying a little more attention I found an army worm in about it's 2nd instar I have bt and a new sprayer OTW and of course I took a dab and forgot to get netting..

Back to Amazon LOL Oh the trials and tribulations of smoking pot. Thank you again.

Mosquito nets is a great idea. Let us know how it works out. I see it being a hindrance during wind, but I'm up to watch someone else's experiment

natureboygrower said:

Mosquito nets is a great idea. Let us know how it works out. I see it being a hindrance during wind, but I'm up to watch someone else's experiment

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We have a lot of wind here. Now if I can remember to buy it I'll report back LOL

I use a blend of D.E. neem oil, and a surfactant mixed with water as a general pest deterrent during veg. works well at slowing down mites as well.