Zucchini borer

[rile]

I have seen many ideas of dealing with the borer that kills the plant just as it starts to come on well. The one I'm interested in trying is putting netting over the plant during the time the moth is laying its eggs. That sounds like the easiest and maybe the most efficient technique. If anyone has tried this, when did you put it on and how well did it work? What kind of netting did you use and where can it be found? All ideas are welcome.

[simy1]

bird netting, of course, will not work. You need a floating row cover, weighed down well. What I do is use the row cover through june, and I put a peony ring around the plant so as to support the row cover and let the plant develop vertically. The borers still get the plant, but by then it is usually late august and the garden is full of other vegetables. I guess I protect them against the first generation but not the second.

[rile]

Thanks for the advise. I have another question though as I've been pondering the problem. How do the blossoms get pollinated when they are covered by the netting? Do the borers attack early in the season like late May through June?

[simy1]

Of course when blossoms come you take out the row cover, unless you want to do it by hand with a paintbrush. I have room in the garden and I don't like fussing about plants in the summer, if one plant dies I will remove it and plant kale in its place for the fall. Also, the first blossoms are all male and go in omelettes (they really are the most exquisite of all vegetables), so you can leave the cover until you see the first female blossom (about two weeks after first bloom).

In Michigan the borers attack in waves, with the first wave in June. All in all I am happy with the arrangement, typically out of four plants I lose 2-3 in August, with the borer probably getting into the plant in july, and they give me 15-20 zucchini each before dying. 1-2 get spared and I have a few zucchini for soup later in the season.

[tenacity]

Thanks for mentioning the flower timing. I didn't know that, and I was standing outside this morning, scratching my head about a gourd plant covered with male flowers. I thought he'd just gotten carried away with the nice warm weather. :)