Warning! SVB's have already made their appearance in Atlanta...

Last year I got a first hand lesson in SVB's...my first time gardening AND with a class full of 5-ish yr. olds.

To my (grateful) dismay...a current student's keen eye spotted an SVB moth. Unbeknownst to him, it was my main rival from last summer! They are emerging from the soil now. Luckily we don't yet have any of their usual favorite plants in the ground. We scoured our garden...they were easier to squish as their wings were still wet, but man, can they hop!

We found and stomped on one and I caught one to dry and pin for future reference. Sadly, we found at least 6 empty 'shells.' Which means that some are out and about.

The easiest way to spot them is by first noticing the brown shell...if your lucky, one will have just recently emerged and is still unable to fly.

GRRRR> I feel your pain. Hang in there. Are you planning to put squash in later?

Well, this summer I will not be teaching summer camp as I did last summer, when I discovered the wrath of SVB's. I can warn the summer staff of them...but not sure how involved this summer's teachers will be with the garden. We had two life cycles of them last summer. I am not sure how long the adults are able to lay eggs either. I wonder with the mind winter we have had if they could possibly squeeze in a 3rd cycle?!

Well, it happened already. Had 3 great squash plants that were producing well and all of a sudden they weren't. New ones were dying before they could even get pollinated. I found frass on all three, yanked them up and found the ugly little larvae had invaded all three.

Last year it devastated me (first sfg year). This year? Oh well, I'll sow some more seeds lol. What a difference a year makes lol.

I just had to pull mine for the same reason

Was just reading through this article which suggests additional things to try, including placing aluminum foil on the ground underneath the stem at the base to disorient arriving moths. Hmmm....

I wonder how much foil is needed. i have been saving my yogurt lids which are foil for this purpose. have not used them yet.

I'm two zones behind you all, and have spent the past two days searching, slicing, squishing, and spraying...My precious costata romanesco has been infiltrated pretty hard already, so I am working as best and fast as I can to keep her going. She just now has her first two zukes growing, and now I remember why I had told myself no hollow vined cucurbits this year I just cannot help myself though, I am too competitive and want to beat these suckers!
I do take much solace in reading about everyone doing a second planting though! If nothing else I will be prepared with a second planting waiting in the wings and not waste so much time and effort trying to save a lost plant like I did last year.