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PickleWorms
#1
So I planted my garden early in the year about February and by June most of my plants had died off, just shriveled up and died, then I replanted my plants and they were doing so well until I discovered what was making my squash and melon plants die...It was the dreaded Pickle Worm!!! Oh my gosh what devastation, I go out every other day and spray the plants and meticulously look at the leaves and blooms and rid of any that look like they may be infested. But there seems to be so many, I can not keep up, I lose more squash the actual fruit than I do picking them, uugh...So does anyone have any good remedies, ideas or thoughts about what I can do to maximize my crop but not to the dreaded pickle worm! By the way I am in the Mountain View area. Mahalo
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#2
Pickleworm doesn't seem to kill my plants but it surely gets my squash, pumpkin, and cucumbers. So I have been growing these plants two different ways.

Bush varieties: I purposely look for bush types. These I grow in cages that are covered with screen and remay cloth. The main problem here is that you have to hand pollinate the flowers. I found some parthenocarpic cucumber seed (no pollination needed) and plan to give this a try, but they are not bush types. We'll see.

Bags: labor intensive but it works. I bag the females when they are very immature. Watch the flowers daily and hand pollinate.

You could use a screened greenhouse.

If you are losing the entire plant could you possibly also have squash borer?

...Su Ba
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#3
I have not had an issue with pollination yet, the plants see to be okay in that area. I am positive that I have the "Pickleworm", I even took one of the worms put it in the glass jar, watched it hatch to the moth, eeh about 1 - 1 1/2 inch big. I am no longer losing the entire plant as I did earlier in the season, just the fruit.
Mahalo
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#4
The lady at the Garden Exchange in Hilo said to wrap the fruit in newspaper to keep the pickle worm away. the problem is you have to replace the paper periodically as the fruit grows.
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#5
I have had pretty good luck putting a "knee-high" hose over the fruit once it sets. (I got 10 pair at Longs for $4.99 I believe.) I close it with a twist tie and watch it grow. I have used it with butternut squash and a few cucumbers. Looks pretty strange, but whatever works! I can't remember where I read this tip.
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#6
Thank you so much I will certainly try the tips and hopefully, I have good success!
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