Spot the squash vine borer egg. This one had the potential to destroy the entire plant, based on where it was located. Check early and often! #gardening #vegetablegardening #zucchini #pest #squashbug @gardening
Spot the squash vine borer egg. This one had the potential to destroy the entire plant, based on where it was located. Check early and often! [#gardening](https://mindly.social/tags/gardening) [#veget
9 Comments
oSeabass@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 3y
I’m a new gardener, can you give an answer where you circle it in red or something so I know what to look for :)
displaced_city_mouse@midwest.social · 3 pts · 3y
Unless I'm missing something, it's the teeny tiny brown dot above the bottom zip tie.
To be honest, vine borers were less of a problem than the GD squash bugs. I swear, last year's crop was all squash bugs, very little actual squash. I decided not to even try squash this year - the only thing they didn't eat were the birdhouse gourds, and I've still got plenty of those.
ljohn44@mastodon.social · 2 pts · 3y
displaced_city_mouse@midwest.social · 2 pts · 3y
I'm in rural southern Illinois, and while we have both types of bugs around here, the squash and shield bugs have done more to stop me being a squash grower than anything. There are so many shield-type bugs around here -- my kale and Brussels sprouts were damaged by harlequin bugs, and I've seen green shield bugs on my tomatoes today. At least I have ways to control the Japanese beetles and grasshoppers -- nothing seems to stop shield/squash bugs short of squishing them.
LKSimone@mindly.social · 2 pts · 3y
@displaced_city_mouse @oSeabass yes, it’s the small rust colored circle. They all look similar so if you get yours eyes trained to see them, they are easier to spot. I have considered not growing zucchini because it’s so time intensive finding and removing the eggs, but the are soooo tasty! Good luck with the pests this year.
LKSimone@mindly.social · 1 pts · 3y
@oSeabass sorry for the late reply! I try to make the second picture more obvious but I could circle it. As someone else said, it’s the small rust colored circle near the tie wrap. Hope that helps!
doomy@mastodon.social · 2 pts · 3y
@LKSimone @gardening the first time i was growing squash i didnt know about svb and i was like "wow what a cool bug!" and had to cull the whole plant 😭
LKSimone@mindly.social · 2 pts · 3y
@doomy @gardening ugh! It is a pretty bug but what damage!!! Every year I perform several surgeries to remove the ones that I miss in egg form. But fresh zucchini is just amazing!
JimmyB@mas.to · 2 pts · 3y
@LKSimone @gardening Wikipedia is telling me this is an American bug so not a concern (yet) elsewhere
LKSimone@mindly.social · 1 pts · 3y
@JimmyB @gardening I hope that’s the case for you! My husband said his grandmother grew tons of zucchini and never had this problem so I think it’s an expanding problem at last in the US.