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
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 :)
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.
@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.
deleted by creator
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 @gardening Wikipedia is telling me this is an American bug so not a concern (yet) elsewhere
@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.
@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 😭
@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!