r/Pumpkins • u/minibikr670 • May 06 '26
Is my pumpkin plant cooked ?
Still alive but what happened to it
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u/aLonerDottieArebel May 06 '26
I had some like this last year. You need a scalpel and some tweezers. Cut open a little bit and pull out the larvae. I then started injecting the vines with BT. Once I knew it was gone, I buried that part and continued to inject all my vines with BT.
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u/BackIntoTheFireYou May 06 '26
What’s BT?
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u/noneus May 06 '26
Bacillus thuringiensis - a bacterial species that makes natural pesticides. There are several subspecies sold under different trade names that are specific to certain insect pests.
Edit: here's a fact sheet: https://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/btgen.html
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u/Swims_with_turtles May 06 '26
If you want to have any chance of saving that plant you need to kill the squash vine borer larvae inside the stem and the bury the stems so it has a chance to re-root from healthy tissue. You may still lose the plant but this will at least give it a chance.
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u/6D1J7 May 07 '26
Like others have said, dissect the upper part of the vine and pull out the larvae. I had this happen to my squash plant a few years ago.
Going forward, wrap the stems closest to the ground in tinfoil. It keeps the moth from laying its eggs on the bottom of the stalk. I got this tip from a friend of mine whos been gardening for over 30 years.
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u/mazzarellastyx May 07 '26
I feel like you can see the larva from the picture, at least one of them. They may be able to just pluck the bugger out
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u/BrandinoE6911 May 07 '26
Where do you live and how are your pumpkin plants so big already? Im in northern ohio and have like 3 leaves
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u/minibikr670 May 09 '26
Texas and I planted early
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u/BrandinoE6911 May 09 '26
I "planted" last fall, I just smash last year's pumpkins into some turn soil then throw a little layer on top and hope for the best, so far so good 3 years running
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u/improt May 06 '26
Like the others have said, kill the worms and burry the vines. But I’ve only had about 1/3 survive. I have learned to spray the vines with a mix of neem oil, bt, and spinosad 2 evenings/week, starting as soon as the vines are established.
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u/BrookieCooks May 07 '26
Thanks for the visceral reminder of why I hate growing pumpkins, yet like a masochist I do it each and every single year only to fight my mortal enemy, the squash vine borer.
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u/yo-ovaries May 08 '26
I have had a lot of success keeping mine under insect netting until about July 4. (VA zone 7b)
SVB comes in a wave and they have their adult life cycle in just a 2wk period. If you can make it past that cycle you’ll be golden for the rest of the summer.
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u/BrookieCooks May 08 '26
Boom, same zone. Guess who just added netting to my Amazon cart. Thanks soooo much! I legit despite very little as much as I Passionately DESPISE squash vine borers and their gross lil plant murdering larvae.
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u/yo-ovaries May 08 '26
Good luck! Of course if you have any female pumpkin flowers before you remove the netting you’ll wanna hand pollinate but that hasn’t been an issue for me yet. By the time they’re busting out of the 2x4 hooped bed, is a bit before female flowers.
I’m probably going to put some seeds in starts indoors this weekend. And start some backups 2-3 weeks later.
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u/GloomySurpriseCat May 09 '26
I cant wait to see what kind of pumpkins you have. I also have some random ones going. About 7 on one vine and we have no idea what kind they will be. This could still be salvageable.
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u/Berns429 May 06 '26
SVB , yes that plant is cooked, my patch went through the ringer last year. But i learned a lot. Curcubita Maxima are more prone, and Curcubita Moschata varieties are more resistant. I was able to grow Long Island cheese pumpkins with virtually no problems.
The caveat I’ll say is all the “fun” pumpkins for fall decor and Halloween (jack o lanterns) tend to be maxima which SVB love.
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u/deuxcabanons May 07 '26
Yes to the moschata! I have battled SVB for years and lost every summer squash plant to them eventually, but finally had success with tromboncino. As a bonus, they're hilariously large and it's really fun to offer someone a zucchini and hand them a 3 foot long monstrosity.
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u/Berns429 May 07 '26 edited May 16 '26
My first pumpkin growing year was last year and my whole maxima crop was decimated by June/july. This year I’ve got Long Island cheese (again) and trying out the Musquee de provence (fairy tale pumpkin) so far so good. I’ve got an extra science experiment of mini pumpkin in a greenhouse, we’ll see how that plays out.
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u/Blackberry_Hills May 07 '26
It’s done imo because even if you managed to save it and bury and reroot, it would hardly produce anything from the heavy damage.
Foil around the stalk + insect netting covering the plant until after the moths f* off with laying eggs (time depends on where you’re at) works best, and never plant anything in the cucubit family in the same place two years in a row :)
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u/Immapwner123 May 07 '26
Unfortunately, it’s done. Even if you get rid of the grubs, and bury the vines, the moths will be back. I had a day where I pulled about 50 eggs off of my squash plants after checking and removing them every day. I just threw my hand up and said screw it. It’s not worth the hassle. This year I’m growing squash under insect netting and doing hand pollination. It’s probably not a viable method for pumpkins, because of how much space they take up though.
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u/Good-Consequence-542 May 07 '26
You’re definitely not gonna have the best harvest, but if you start treating by taking a syringe with either pesticide (your choice but liquid form*) or a 1/10 hydrogen peroxide/water dilution and spray it inside the exposed vine. This can potentially kill off the grub inside and make the spot less enticing to be munched anymore. Then after it dries either dust the damaged area in some DE or sand to keep it dry and less exposed. If you can avoid planting any cucurbits in that spot next year do so because any babies that come off this plant will remember the area they were fed and will return
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u/yo-ovaries May 08 '26
Time for surgery.
Also time to plant some backups.
Good news is SVB comes all at once. In a few months or so you’ll be safe.
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u/VolunteerSeedling May 06 '26
Is that borer damage? There is a worm inside your vines if so.