Evaluation of Alternative Insecticides for Squash Vine Borer Control on Summer Squash, 1995

‘Multipik’ summer squash were direct seeded 6 June, in Storrs, Connecticut. Weed control consisted of the stale-seedbed technique, using paraquat as a preplant application, supplemented by hand and mechanical cultivation. Plots consisted of 12 plants in a single 24 ft long row, with two ft between plants. Rows were spaced four ft apart. Five treatments were replicated four times in a RCBD. Treatments consisted of two applications per week of Safer Insecticidal Soap Concentrate, MVP and Bio Vector on 7, 12, 14, 19, 21, 26, and 28 Jul and 1, 4 and 8 Aug, five weekly applications of Ambush beginning on 7 Jul, and an unsprayed control. Applications were directed at the foliage and stems by spraying plots from the top and sides with a CO2 backpack sprayer at 50 psi with 40 gallons of water per acre. The water used in the spray mix on 7 Jun was 77°F with a pH of 7.1. Fruit from five plants per plot were harvested, counted and weighed every three to four days from 20 Jul through 15 Aug. Five plants from each plot were dissected on 15 Aug and SVB larvae were counted.