From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Cincinnati, OH

Yep, son of a ditch just got me. Found one today in a secondary vine mowing away. If I have one i'm sure there are others, how do I tell if there are more? I don't see them on the main vine with my pumpkin but the vine I found this sucker in was close to the root, no visinle damage to it yet. I'm sure i'm doomed, it's a shame, I felt I had a good start. looks like I was a mere two days or so late on the insecticide. My 24 inch-11day pumpkin is finished I suppose. Any advice of stopping this would be appreciated. Guess i'll have to wait til next year, if i'm not too discouraged by this that is. I'm pissed!

7/10/2009 8:07:00 PM

Midwest

It's not the end you shouldn't be so down, down dooby down down... you can remove that borer by either using a paperclip and digging or by slitting the vine parallel and digging it out. The vine will be damaged but not out completely. But, be careful. Somehow the other vines got to be inspected, yep, each one.

7/10/2009 10:07:59 PM

So. Maine

It might be a pain to do but if you have the time check every inch of at least the main vine , if you don't have anything strong enough to spray on the vines I'd rub every inch of the exposed main vine and leaf stock on that vine to hopefully remove any unhatched eggs . The eggs are soooo small you can't rely on looking only . I've stood and watched the buggers lay eggs with their little stingers mostly right about where the soil meets the vine where you cannot see them.
Good luck hunting ! AL

7/10/2009 10:16:05 PM

Cincinnati, OH

Thanks for the replies. I gotta go on a hunt today I suppose. (In between raindrops)How big will these holes appear where they enter? What other signs do I look for? If any kind of luck happened, it was in the smallest of side shutes and not the main vine. Now it is clear why some of the leaves were wilting on the ends during the peak of the day. The pumpkin continues to grow and now is 25 1/2 inches. I really enjoy watching this thing grow, i'm amazed how quick these things grow, I feel like jack with his bean stalk. Thanks again for the replies, this is a very helpful sight.

7/11/2009 8:58:02 AM

hamilton,Ontario

watch for sawdust at any point.hopefully u get them prior to this...it looks like the vine is alittle off colour when they first bore therehole kinda wet like in onespot..spend the time now...beleive me i speak with much experience with vine borers........

7/11/2009 10:40:46 AM

Cincinnati, OH

Does it get a little swollen as well? I have found two spots on the main vine that are "suspect" Looks a little yellow and "wet" like you said. I don't want to perform surgery until i'm sure. You guys ROCK on giving me advice. THANKS!

7/11/2009 11:58:54 AM

Cincinnati, OH

Can you kill those suckers by poking needles in the vine where you suspect they are, rather than the "split" technique?

7/11/2009 12:00:22 PM

Pataskala,OH

Get some Bayer Tree and Shrub!

7/11/2009 1:02:34 PM

Bloomington, IN

Like other things prevention is the best medicine when it comes to borers. You'll want to invest in an insecticide to help combat them. But if they are already chewing into your vines, you can get a syringe from a farmer's co-op for a dollar or less to inject the vines with Bt or insecticides deadly to borer larvae.

http://www.bigpumpkins.com/MsgBoard/ViewThread.asp?b=3&p=261276

7/11/2009 2:35:15 PM

Bloomington, IN

here's a dead giveaway of a borers presence.

http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryViewOne.asp?eid=26578

7/11/2009 2:37:40 PM

Cincinnati, OH

I'm lovin' the help you guys are giving. Pumpkin cholo, nice of you to send the link as to their prescence, mine did not look near that bad when I found it. The two areas on the main vine I mentioned above do not look like that either, but they are still suspect. I believe I caught the one fairly early and I will try the needle technique first, if it worsens, i'll do the syringe. I'm holding on to some hope. I do custom pumpkin carvings and for your guys help, I would like to provide you with personalized custom patterns for you to carve yourselves. Anyone interested just email me. [email protected]. Check out one of my carvings for a local news team at:

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=20837931

You can do these on watermelons as well.

7/11/2009 9:19:38 PM

Cincinnati, OH

Poked the areas with a needle several times, I hope this gets them. I am confident these areas were infected, I saw the "sawdust" crap comming out. Some bleeding has occured, should I cover the areas with soil now or will they heal themselves? Pumpkin growth has slowed, only about 1 inch growth last night. My season may be over, but i'm hanging onto a little hope.

7/12/2009 8:54:53 AM

Cincinnati, OH

Originally thought I had 50-50 chance of survival, now more like 80-20..The plant did not do well after surgery, kinda like my shoulder after 4 surgeries and going on #5, failure seems immenint. Leaves have wilted, may recover but i'm prepared to rank her up.

7/12/2009 12:47:05 PM

Cincinnati, OH

It's perking back up looks much better after initial shock. The true story may be told tonight to see if she continues growing or not. I made a few rookie mistakes this year, first I burnt the leaves with insecticide/funguside by useing sprinkler can instead of sprayer, then the fact was I was just a few days too late on applying it in the first place evident because of the borers. No better learning than from experience. next year I will have had my homework done before I take the test.

7/12/2009 4:32:53 PM

Columbus, OH

I did just that last year. I knew it had entered but I wasnt sure where it was, so I took a needle and just poked many times along the vine, and that seemed to work.

7/12/2009 8:40:00 PM

Cincinnati, OH

Looking like it's worked for me as well, that was a close call to death.

7/13/2009 7:25:52 AM

Billerica,Massachusetts

small hooked wire and ya can fish him out

7/13/2009 4:39:52 PM