From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Canada

Last month I was seeing a few SVB'S around my plants
I applied Sevin "powder" along the vines and leaf stalks
as best as I could, Well Today I noticed sawdust in 2 locations about a foot away from the stump on my BEST PLANT and my ONLY plant thats got fruit set on it. another plant I have with NO fruit which Ive grown for pollen only i noticed the same thing so i took my knife and cut an 2" long slit and what did i find an very tiny larva almost too small to see and it had a black head. so yup ive got borers.

On my best plant with fruit set I have 2 spots with the same symptoms but i REALLY dont want to cut the vine open as i'm scared I'll stress it which will cause my only pumpkins to abort, even worse Kill the entire plant.

My question is

can "powder sevin" be mixed with water and sprayed? on these 2 locations on my best plant I was thinking of makeing a tiny straight 1" long cut and then drenching it with the sevin / water mixture in an attempt to get it down into the vine were the borers are would this work?

hopefully someone with experience can chime in here as I only have one plant with fruit set, and last thing i want to do is make a stupid mistak and kill the entire plant or cause my young ( not even 10 days old yet) fruit to abort

thanks
Dave

7/29/2005 6:21:38 PM

C N Y

i think once they are in your plant the only
remedy is extraction which you have already done-----
i am not experienced, but the only other theing to do is make sure you have extracted all known borers and then
bury the entire plant with soil. others will give you better advice, and good luck!

7/29/2005 7:32:38 PM

Greencastle, PA

sevin is a contact killer, so it only protects where applied. seeing as borers tend to lay eggs in some of the harder to reach areas it's best to use a systemic insecticide which spread throughout the plant and kills anything that bites it anywhere.
Tom

7/29/2005 8:43:50 PM

Northern Cambria, Pa.

Get a syringe and inject insecticide into the vine.

7/29/2005 9:28:21 PM

Picton,ON ([email protected])

Dave
The Sevin you are using is likely a sevin dust, like the old king bug killer. It if is, this isn't designed to be mixed with water. If is is a water soluable Sevin powder it will give you mixing instructions on the package.
Also, Ambush gets SVB. You are going to think I work for the Ambush company of something....lol
John

7/29/2005 9:50:53 PM

Canada

Yup I purchased some Ambush this evening on my way home
at Rona, It doesnt say anything about squash bugs on it
but i see allot of people saying it works.

NOW onto the injection part. will this actually work?
as id rather just pump a little bit of this stuff
into the main vine 2" of eaither side of each hole.
not sure if this is work or not or will it hurt the plant?

Dave

7/29/2005 10:24:15 PM

Canada

John, Yes its a dust.

Dave

7/29/2005 10:25:05 PM

hamilton,Ontario

dave, i injected some chemical a few years ago with a syringe and my plant was a goner a week later....its very hard to know how much too put into the vine and may be overwekming to the plant itself.....this year ive been lucky ive used the sevin liquid as well as Mialathon and so far so good touch wood 6090000000000000 times. Im not saying the inject wouldnt work im worried it may be too much for the plant keep in mind it was a concoction my bro in law made and weell just may have been too strong in the first place..3 of us did the inject thang and 3 of us were out of commision......I hate them vb and every year they nail me....the liquid in a little miracle go sprayer has worked well...i wish you the best of luck kill the fuggers......neighbour!!!!!!!!!

7/30/2005 9:10:59 AM

Rhode Island

my experience.......just mix some insecticide like you were gonna spray .....pump the s@#t out of the sprayer...open the nozzle end to a stream and stick the nozzle right in the borer hole on the vine where you found the sawdust...this will also help you find some other borers, it's like pressurizing a hose and it won't kill the plant!

7/30/2005 11:23:12 AM

Midwest

Inject Beneficial Nematodes into the vine either side. These little 'worms' will attack the larvae inside the vine. I got them from Gardens Alive but there are many organic supply houses. They are microscopic and you diffuse them in water, no chemicals involved. 5 million cost about $25.

7/30/2005 2:46:22 PM

Canada

Ok So i pulled out the knife today and did a slight 2" cut and found one bugger but couldnt locate the second one. maybe there was just one, I donno, but shes out of the main. I then applied some sulphur over the cut and will burry tomouro once the wound heals. If by chance rot sets in this part of the vine. seeing the rest of my main is burried and rooted well into the ground if i did lose the main would there still be enough roots to feed the pumpkins i have growing on this plant? or if i missed the borer and it killed the upper portion of the vine?

Dave

7/30/2005 5:33:12 PM

[email protected]

Last year we discovered that a heavy drench of Merit directly to the nodes nearesr the borer provided control in 24-48 hours. However treating a couple weeks eralier would certainly have worked out better. Funny how hindsight is always 20/20.

7/30/2005 9:28:17 PM

Canada

Ya when I first noticed the SVB month's around the plants
thats when I started to apply Sevin ( powder form ) as thats the only stuff I could find, I now have a product called Ambush which is a mix with water and spray for better coverage. I just hope that the cuts heal and the fruits continue to grow as all the svbs have now been removed.

Dave

7/30/2005 9:41:31 PM

Ohio

I was just about gonna ask what you just posted Tremor,thanks!

Brooks

7/30/2005 10:31:28 PM

Billerica,Massachusetts

svb's can be fished out with a small wire with a hook bent on the end.
Glenn

8/1/2005 8:08:13 AM