Re: Vine borers are here.....

INside Langevins boook, How to Grow World CLass Giant Pumpkins II, there
is a nice pic of the male , which looks like a red and black wasp/bee,
and is amazing tolook at when you first see it. I remember last season
checking the patch, and one flew up in fromt of my face and landed right
on the leaf in front of me. At first I thought it was one of those killer
bees that was coming from Mexico, but then realized that they all stopped
in Altoona at Marv's patch, and never came any farther north. It wasnt
until later that night I opened the book up and realized what I had just
witnessed. Needless to say, the next day I was all  over that patch with
liquid seven, and since that day I have been promoted to Seargant Major
of the SVB patrol.
    The larvae itself is the critter that does the damage though. This
nasty little white/creamish colored worm hatches from the eggs which are
laid directly on the plant, usually at the base of a leaf juction, and
developes into a one inch eating machine. The borer, properly named, eats
a small hole into the vine (usually right at the leaf junction) and
leaves a small hole and some brownish residue from where it entered your
vine. Once inside, the Borer can go anywhere it wants, consuming vital
veins and slowly destroying your plant, with out you ever knowing until
itis too late.
    Constant inspection of the vines for these little holes and brown
excrement is a necessity, as if they get insde, they are protected from
sevin, and the only way to get them after that is through an emergency C
section of your vine.
    By cutting along the vine with the grain, make an incision until you
can see inside the vine, as close to the hole as possible, but as small
as possible so u do as little amount of damage as posible. The cutting
will keep going up the vine, until you find the worm. Once located,
remove the %%^$%%^&(*&%^  little critter, and promptly take him out to
the shooting range, put him on a target, and blast him into smithereens,
as this little opposition was trying to destroy what it took you months
and months of preparation to achieve. After the execution, go back to the
vine, and treat with captan paste, and bury the vine. After a few days,
it should be good as new.
    Good luck....

JTTE@aol.com wrote:

> In a message dated 6/14/99 11:44:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> LIpumpkin@AOL.COM writes:
>
> <<  vine borer moth  >>
> What do they look like?  Who has a picture?
> Rick
> Cleveland, OH
>
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--
***Rocky Rockwell***

http://home.cyber-quest.com/rocky.r

"Woodchuck - The Other White Meat"


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