What did you do in the garden today?

[BReeder!]

seeds might be old. swiss chard likes humidity so water them from above or spray them with water. I had the same situation a few years ago. when the first chards matured I got the seeds and next time I planted them I had plenty of huge, nice looking plants.

Growing swiss chard here for the first time. It is definitely behind the bok choy. I figure it just doesn't like the weather enough yet. In the greens bed, the bok choy is doing the best, followed by lettuce then kholrabi and then swiss chard. Worst of all is the lacinato kale, but that's just because it didn't bother sprouting - year old seeds though.

 

[Cynthia12]

The Rainbow chard did real well for me.

 

[Cynthia12]

Planted a lot today. Pansies, other flowers, put my tomatoes in. Crossing fingers we don't get anymore freezing nights. Never know in Utah until the end of May sometimes. Squash going in as soon as I get them bigger inside. If planted young, the bugs munch them down.

 

[BReeder!]

The Rainbow chard did real well for me.

That's what I'm growing. Was it slow to start though?

 

[jerryse]

no, I doubt it. The vine borer finds the stem, near the dirt, lays an egg. As soon as it hatches, the tiny caterpillar bores into the stem to remain and feed off the plant, eventually killing it. Since it’s inside the stem, it’s not harmed by pesticides.

Last year, I used soapy water in yellow bowls. Super effective for many bugs. But, SVB come out late July here, and I was caring them AND bees in the bowls, so I removed the bowls in favor of the bees.

You can cover the squash with insect netting. This worked well, but need to hand pollinate or let in a bee or two under the netting.

You can plant a “trap crop” -SVB prefer things in the squash group that includes Hubbard squash ( mochata group?), and will preferentially attack them. Last year I inadvertently planted squash in this group (butterCUP squash) and they were preferentially attacked. But, butternut squash are in a different group, and are not preferred. One year I only had a couple of regular summer squash and butternut planted-the SVB did attack the butternut that year. This year I plan to use hubbard squash as a trap crop.

Hubbard is in the Maxima group and butternut is in the mochata group.

 

[jerryse]

Rain showers today. I bought some local ruhbarb and pie today. Yes all that ruhbarb talk got me. Maybe I will repair or rebuild my martin house. It is for my cabin.

 

[LifeSimpleAndSweet]

You are lucky you don’t have problems with them. I’m stuck with them as my neighbor loves to plant pumpkins for the blossoms. Then he gets huge amounts of squash bugs and SVB as he does nothing about them. By the time they are around he has had his yearly fill of squash blossoms, so it is ok to him that the plants die.

When I’ve tried the cut and kill method, it hasn’t worked -too much damage, and usually there is more than 1caterpillar in the stem. But maybe if caught early.

Last year, I trellised the squash, and I specifically inspected the bottom portion of the stems For SVB eggs regularly and frequently - but I never found any, even on the impacted plants. So, I’m apparently not adept at seeing the eggs!

Oh, that's so sad and frustrating!
In years prior to trellising, I tried to eliminate squash bugs by hunting eggs but there were so many.

I just found this blog entry with a lot of ideas for battling them.

Because of the looming economic trouble, I'm planning on planting a whole lot of winter squash this year. I expect to have SVB trouble myself. So I think I will employ as many of these as I can.

https://www.hiddenspringshomestead.com/get-rid-of-squash-vine-borers-naturally/

 

[Sally PB]

I'm going to try wrapping the stem in foil about 6 inches up and burying it a little, see if that helps at ALL.

SVB have never bothered my butternuts squash. I'm not planting B-nuts this year, I'm planting spaghetti squash. So I might be wrapping the stems in foil.

I had really good luck with toothpicks. They do less damage to the plant. I would just stick the toothpick through the stem and worm, leave in place, and walk away. I used a flashlight to see where it was inside the stem without cutting anything.

I may make a video showing how to use the toothpick method first though.

Please do! That would be helpful.

 

[igorsMistress]

Blech. Look at Mon/Tues, beginning of May. So. Cold.
View attachment 3486472

You can come visit us, we’ll be 102 today

 

[Acre4Me]

Oh, that's so sad and frustrating!
In years prior to trellising, I tried to eliminate squash bugs by hunting eggs but there were so many.

I just found this blog entry with a lot of ideas for battling them.

Because of the looming economic trouble, I'm planning on planting a whole lot of winter squash this year. I expect to have trouble myself. So I think I will employ as many of these as I can.

https://www.hiddenspringshomestead.com/get-rid-of-squash-vine-borers-naturally/

Thanks.

Yes, I’ve tried everything in the article, I think…well, except wrapping the stems.

The SVB are rather late here-late July when we begin to see them, and into Aug. the yellow bowls with soapy water are really effective at catching bugs-even some SVB. But…they were catching bees too beginning in mid-July. I’ll still use the bowls this year, but will remove them when bees start to die in greater numbers.

Trap crop: I specifically bought Hubbard seeds for this purpose. I was amazed that the butterCUP squash was the only thing hit by SVB until I removed them bc they were dead. Then they were hitting the patty pan. We had summer squash and pumpkins covered with insect netting, so they were not impacted.

I think I’ll try using pantyhose and foil as recommended for the pumpkins though. Might still cover the summer squash…or I’ll try the pantyhose/foil on them too.