My war with the squash bugs and vine borers

This summer I planted some of my zucchini and cucumbers in grow bags. I was so excited to see how big and strong my plants were growing in the bags. In past summers the dreaded vine borers destroyed my zucchini plants in the planters in front of my house, so I was thrilled to see them thrive. But then the mid-summer heat hit. I mistakenly thought the grown bags were drying out the plants and watered them sometimes twice a day.

You really need to get up close to your plants when you see them suffering. The first thing I noticed was that they were being destroyed by squash bugs. The adults look like stink bugs and emit that familiar smell when you squish them. In the photo above the squash bugs are mating on the plants. They lay their eggs on the underside of the leaves and the baby nymphs munch on the leaves until they kill the leaves. The best way to get rid of them organically is to pick them off into a container of soapy water which kills them. I won the battle.

But alas, I was not winning the war. The plants were still dying. Upon close inspection I realized that the squash vine borer moths from the front yard had flown to the back grow bags and laid their eggs at the base of the plant stems. Their larva were feeding and growing inside the stems and killing the plants.

Those pesky worms were feasting inside the stems! In the above photo you can see the larva as well as the pulp debris that is visible outside the vines. If you cut the stems open, you can see the larva and can remove them. Sometimes if you cover the damaged vines with soil the plants grow new roots and survive. 25% of my plants managed to survive this onslaught.

Despite the ongoing war, several great tasting zucchinis have managed to grow, and I have been enjoying them most of the summer. My next post will be my delicious zucchini bread recipe. It is so moist and flavorful I sneak a piece for breakfast some mornings. My theory is if you call it “bread” instead of “cake” then you can eat it for breakfast!