[hellinahandcart]

I’m just the opposite. I’ve tried to grow zucchini for six years, and the bugs get them every time.

This is the last year I’m going to say “next year” about squash.

[Ellendra]

I’m just the opposite. I’ve tried to grow zucchini for six years, and the bugs get them every time.

Squash vine borers? If so, you might get better results planting squash from the C. moschata branch of the squash family. They tend to have vines solid enough that borers have a hard time getting in. "Zucchetta Rampicante" is a good one. It makes a great zucchini, and if they get too big you can also let them ripen fully and use them as a winter squash.

[metmom]

Squash vine borers can be defeated by wrapping the stems in foil just at ground level.

Also, as the plant grows, every few feet, bury part of the stem under dirt and weigh it down with a rock. It will put out new roots there and if the vine borers get the stem the new roots will provide the water and nutrients the plant needs to keep it alive.

There is also the factor of timing. Start the plants in large peat pots and don’t put them in the ground until after the vine borer egg laying time is over. It will be a later crop, but you will still get one.

Plus there is the option of row covers over the plants until vine borer season is over.

Another thing to help stop pests is to burn plant waste at the end of the season and if, when you are digging in the garden, you find the grubs in the soil, squash them.