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market-farming - Re: Sqaush bugs

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Subject: Market Farming

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  • From: Alex McGregor <waldenfarm AT sprintmail.com>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Sqaush bugs
  • Date: Tue, 12 Jun 2001 10:00:35 -0400


I've been plagued by squash borers throughout my gardening career. What
I've come up with is a combination of production and protection.

Since the damage is done by the larvae, I protect the plants from
seeding to blooming. I plant all squash in cells and protect the young
plants by keeping them in cold frames with screen wire covers. I
transplant these into beds and immediately cover them with light weight
floating row cover. I remove the covers when the first blossoms open.

This gives the plants time to fruit before the moths can lay eggs and
the larvae hatch and start killing plants. I plant a succession of each
variety, timed so the second is blooming about the time the first is
starting to die. And so on through the season. As the plants start to
die, I pull & compost them in active piles to kill the larvae and plant
my next rotation in the cleared bed.

This uses a more seed, more work, more space and some money for covers,
but allows me to produce squash through the season. This may sound
extreme to some, but keep in mind that I'm in the Southeast where there
are multiple generations of borers per season.

And it allows me to produce squash without using botanical insecticides
that are allowed in certain conditions by certifying agencies. My
guiding principle is to use no broad spectrum insecticides since these
kill predator species and have a negative impact on soil life.

Alex McGregor
Walden Farm





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