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Connecicut , No. Stonington

i just saw my frst one ever!!! i must have loked like a fool running around the garden chasing it to kill it. My question is what does evervine use to kill them and whats most effective?

7/28/2003 10:53:24 PM

So. Maine

Joey, if you cannot obtain a strong enough pesticide ( like warrier T ) the best time to swat them is afternoon and evening when they rest on top of leaves. I swat them with a fly swatter then hurry up to find them on the ground before it can get its act together and put it in a container or a baggy. Don't try to swat them when they are hovering cause they can fly 100 ft. in about 1 second if you miss. The longer you take to get them the more eggs they will lay for next season. Good Luck, Al

7/29/2003 12:27:15 AM

Ga.

so a svb's eggs are laid and hatch next season? Sorry to be ignorant here,,but always thought the eggs hatched same year..

7/29/2003 7:35:36 AM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

They do hatch the same year the eggs are laid. About 10 days later. The hatchling is the larval or borer stage of this insect. Immediately upon hatching they bore into the vines causing significant losses. Then the larval stages leaves the destroyed plant & over-winters in the soil. They emerge the following summer as adults after a brief pupation period. So both statements are very true.

Winter tilling can kill significant numbers of the over-wintering larvae.

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2153.html

Joey, You can get the same active ingredient as WarriorT (though a very different formulation) in the consumer insecticide called "Triazicide". This will control the adults you found (hopefully) before they lay eggs. Here in CT we should start around the first week in July & spray weekly till they are gone.

Escapes can & do happen even with Warrior T though. For them, a systemic insecticide like Merit (Admire for Pro Agriculture users) should be soil applied starting as early as plant out in the spring. This makes the vines toxic to the young larval stage which we know as the actual borer.

Read Len Stellpflug's article in the how to section for his control strategy using the systemic insecticide Admire which is the same active ingredient (Imidacloprid) as Merit.

Hope this helps.

Steve

7/29/2003 10:23:31 AM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

I should have mentioned that Warrior T (aka Triazicide, Scimitar, & Battle) is utterly useless onece the eggs have been laid. It can't kill eggs though you can physically remove those that are found. And once the eggs hatch & the borer is in the stem, contact insecticides like Warrior are just as useless. Once in the plant, only a good systemic insecticide can control them. But systemics must be applied well in advance of hatching since they take longer to get into the vine even when applied directly to the foliage.

Merit is soil applied & takes a while to make the journey to all the critical areas.

Despite concerns to the contrary, Merit & Admire never make it into the fruit itself. So the pumpkin would still be considered safe for consumption if pies are on the wish list. But do watch those contacts for their edible fruit uses. I know that Merit, Scimitar & Battle are not approved for edible food crops even though Warrior & Admire are. Triazicide is probably the same.

Read & follow all pesticide labels & make sure you understand them prior to use.

Steve

7/29/2003 10:32:00 AM

Ga.

Just a little note on Triazicide..I sprayed day before yesterday with it.It was sprayed in early morning and still managed to burn the crap out of my plant.Manufactor booklet said 1tbs per gallon and that s how it was mixed..I'll never spray in morning again.. :(

7/29/2003 12:27:25 PM

Commack, NY

hey Steve....if the eggs hatch and try to eat vine that has been sprayed with warrior, they wont be affected?
Scott

7/29/2003 1:41:24 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Hey Scott,
Yeah. Great question. Only some of them would. But not enough to insure good consistant borer free results. One of the reasons Warrior T is so much more desirable than the other versions of Lambda-cyhalothrin is it is an Emulsifiable Concentrate in a Zylene range petroleum distilate. The others are all water based suspensions. Safer for applicators & plants. But the Warrior is much more active on the non-feeding adults because when they get into it, the Warrior carrier causes near immediate penetration of the insects exoskeleton. Don't get me wrong. Battle & Scimitar are very good insecticides. And they do knock down a lot of adults before they can lay any eggs. And it is possible that the emerging borers are partly controlled too. But consistant results depend largely on timing if targeting of adults were completely foresaken to just targeting emerging larvae. This is probably why the various Bt preperations are so hit & miss. They only target the emerging borer which once in the vine, are safe from all but injections & systemics.

7/29/2003 6:09:12 PM

KENTUCKY

steve, on your last post, you said about injections?? Is it O.K., or will it work, if you take a needel and inject into the vine where a borer is present instead of slicing the vine open? Just curious, I have none right now, but if...? If so, what to use, warrior?

7/29/2003 9:28:27 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

I honestly don't know. I use disposable hypodermic needles myself every day. Just booted up not 10 minutes ago. The needles would be effefctive for dosing any insecticide directly where needed. The problem I see is one of rate. The possibility of significant cell damage in the area of the injection is possible (likely). Tough I think any insecticide would work well so long as the injection leaves the pest literally swimming in the residue. An off-taget injection of something like Merit would theoretically join up with the vascular tissues & move around the area finding the borer eventually & killing it.

The funny thing is, I am certified to purchase & use Maujet Capsules on trees. But the size of the hole is too great for a pumpkin & I am concerned about the does as well. So as yet I don't have the nerve to experiment until I get a few on. Then I may treat one of the vines to a few rate based experiments. Soon.

Steve

7/29/2003 10:02:30 PM

Long Island,New York

Before warriorT I used to find the borer and inject the area with a 1 tbs/gal mix of methoxychlore.....worked great. After a while I could inject the borer itself I got so good at finding them. And any collateral damage was surely less than a day's munching by the white grubs.....G

7/29/2003 10:15:07 PM

So. Maine

jeff 352, the end of my 1st statement (made after midnight by the way) was ment to say the longer you take to kill the adult moths the more eggs they will lay, then after they all hatch the more svb's you will have in the soil to expand the population boom for next season. So controling them asap will reduce that chance. Go get em Joey !

7/29/2003 11:32:09 PM

Ga.

Al,,I ask cause I didnt know..No disrespect intended..Have never saw an svb,,hope I dont.. :) Hect,,not even sure if we have them down here..
J

7/30/2003 7:33:00 AM

So. Maine

jeff, I sure hope U don't have them down there....... Where is down there.

7/30/2003 9:41:16 PM

Ga.

South Georgia Al...But we got white flies...LOL...

7/30/2003 9:56:00 PM