A Community and Forum For Aquaponic Gardeners

A bug problem

I was wondering if anybody on Maui has been having the same problem as I'm having here. I just lost an entire crop of cucumbers, pumpkins, and gourds this week. I have been told it is fruit flies stinging my vines and fruit. The plants will grow fine for a while then out of the blue the start dropping branches and dying. On closer inspection I have found worms inside the stems and fruit.

This is a stem that is cut open. There are two different worms inside. The larger green one is plainly visible but there is a smaller whitish one too. The inside of the stem is filled with worms and worm poop.

I'm not finding any good information as to what species of bug this even is and how to deal with it. The local farm and garden store said to spray dipel but that is not effective when the worms are inside of the plant. Has anybody seen this kind of thing? Any tips?

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by sheryl fletcher on July 30, 2011 at 4:33pm

I have always liked Neem spray...doesn't harm plants or people

Permalink Reply by Larry Yonashiro on July 30, 2011 at 6:10pm

I haven't planted cumbers, pumpkins, or gourds yet, but my some of my lima beans had a similar symptom. I cut open some stems but did not find any visible insects. Maybe the CTAHR extension office in Kona can help identify the bug. In case you don't have it,

Kona Extension Office, Hawaii County

Phone: (808)322-4892
Fax: (808)322-4895
E-mail: kona@ctahr.hawaii.edu

Permalink Reply by Rebecca B on July 30, 2011 at 7:06pm

Fruit flies go for the fruit, right? This appears to be some kind of stem borer. I second Larry's suggestion; I've had help from the master gardener's at the college. Your good pictures will help them.

"Growth tips wilted or entire plant wilted; small hole in plant stem at point where wilting begins. Cut out borer, or destroy entire plant if affected at base of plant. Spray base of plant with suitable stomach poison insecticide in late spring and early summer as recommended by a qualified professional. Cucumber, Melon, Pumpkin, Squash." Seems Neem is the only organic choice......

Found this: "Squash Vine Borers. In the larvae or caterpillar stage, they are white with a dark head. They hatch from eggs laid in the soil by wasp-like moths, and then tunnel into stalks and leaf stems to feed. As they tunnel along eating the inner tissues of the plant, they push brown-colored waste out their entrance holes. The boring restricts the flow of water and nutrients to the plants and weakens their physical structure. In some cases, vigorous plants are able to survive the attack if the borer population is limited, but unfortunately, this is seldom the case.

Here are a number of organic methods for controlling them in the garden:

Trying to save infested plants:

Carefully slit open infested stems and remove the borer with a tweezers, and pack dirt around the slit.
Use a medicine dropper to inject infested vines with parasitic nematodes.
At the first sign of trouble, cut out and destroy infected stems or whole plants to reduce spreading.

To control them in the garden:

Interplant garlic and onion with zucchini.
Plow crops under in the fall to destroy pupae.
Release trichogramma (tiny wasps used for biological control) to attack borer eggs in soil.
Use pheromone traps for adult moths.
Use the proper variety of parasitic nematode as mulch around plants.
Cover vines with floating row covers early in the season (you'll need to hand-pollinate).
Plant early or very late to avoid the main egg-laying season.
Plant borer tolerant cultivars.
Clean up debris around the garden in the fall to reduce areas where they can overwinter."

Permalink Reply by Jim Hall on March 16, 2012 at 1:26am

My understanding is the bugs don't like the sugar that healthy plants produce. So whenn they are deficient they get weak. Spraying a compost tea that is made with sugar will drive them off and won't hurt the fish. He is a video of Evan Ryan at the Maui Farmers Union United doing a compost tea demo.
http://magicmauifarms.blogspot.com/2011/08/evan-ryan-maui-farmers-u...
Peppers and sweet potatoes are my main white fly and aphid attractors. I just took out some nice looking potatoe plants. Leave and foliage was full and ornamentally nice, but the underside of the leave were coated with them.
Going to just try to plant things less suseptible. My swiss chard got mildew after the rains and I had to cut it way back.
Some of the yellowing and curlying with the basil and brocolli tell me there are deficiencies. I need a way to test & correct it. Garden shop has some basic test kits for ph and nutrients, but not sure it's worth the money if they are inaccurant. They are used for soils, mixed in water.Waterloo

Permalink Reply by Jim Hall on March 16, 2012 at 1:36am

Another suggestion on the white moths that lay catepillar. My neighbor heard that dangling the little white price tags on the plants has the white moth bypassing the plant and thinking another moth is already there. I'm trying it on my Manoa lettuce right now.

Permalink Reply by Raychel A Watkins on March 20, 2012 at 2:39am

If iron is deficient then leaves turn yellow. You have to use chelated iron though. It is quite expensive.

Permalink Reply by Jim Hall on March 20, 2012 at 11:00am

Where do you get it? Is the type in the garden supply ok? How do we determine how much to use? I'm sure I need in my system.

Raychel A Watkins said:

If iron is deficient then leaves turn yellow. You have to use chelated iron though. It is quite expensive.

Permalink Reply by Larry Yonashiro on March 20, 2012 at 12:49pm

On Maui, HGP, but I couldn't believe their price - $17.55 a pound, 5 pounds minimum. They were going to charge Patty $87.75 when she said stop. She checked with Waimalano Feed on Oahu and they sell it for about 1/2 the price including shipping, and I believe you can order 1lb. Call them at 808-259-5344 or 808-259-5797.

Jim Hall said:

Where do you get it? Is the type in the garden supply ok? How do we determine how much to use? I'm sure I need in my system.

Raychel A Watkins said:
If iron is deficient then leaves turn yellow. You have to use chelated iron though. It is quite expensive.

Permalink Reply by Rebecca B on March 20, 2012 at 1:45pm

Another option is Maxicrop Plus Iron from Amazon. 1 liter is $8.99. I think the dose is 1 tablespoon per 250 gallons.

http://www.amazon.com/Maxicrop-1-Liter-Seaweed-Plus-Iron/dp/B0001YC...

Iron deficiency shows as yellow leaves with green veins. Nitrogen deficiency is lower leaves turn yellow as the plant transfers the nitrogen to the growing part of the plant.

There's a two part pdf called "Diseases, Deficiencies, and Toxicities in Plants."

Permalink Reply by Rebecca B on March 20, 2012 at 1:48pm

What is the pH of your system?

An iron deficiency can occur because the fish use up all of the iron in their food and there is none left for the plants---or because the pH is high and there is a lock out of the iron.

Permalink Reply by Jim Hall on March 20, 2012 at 4:38pm

I'll check today, but the yellow leaves & green veins is the look.

Permalink Reply by Jim Hall on March 22, 2012 at 6:29pm

Stopped by Ohana Greenhouse & they had the big gallon, (I think) size for $25, much more than I could use in awhile. Anyone want to split a bottle?

Rebecca B said:

Another option is Maxicrop Plus Iron from Amazon. 1 liter is $8.99. I think the dose is 1 tablespoon per 250 gallons.

http://www.amazon.com/Maxicrop-1-Liter-Seaweed-Plus-Iron/dp/B0001YC...

Iron deficiency shows as yellow leaves with green veins. Nitrogen deficiency is lower leaves turn yellow as the plant transfers the nitrogen to the growing part of the plant.

There's a two part pdf called "Diseases, Deficiencies, and Toxicities in Plants."