So, I found a hole on my stem

[abellote]

Hi all,

Two days ago I came home to find part of my plant with a lot of seared leaves. I thought it was lack of water so I gave some. The other day the situation got worse, so I remove the mulch and found that one of the stems had a hole in it!!
The pictures are not great, but you can have an idea.

So, anyone knows what causes this? The other stems look perfect without any sign of damage..

Anyway I trimmed the leaves, cut the stem above the hole and stuck it back into the earth hoping it will regrowth.

I just want to know what it was so I can avoid it from happening again.

Thanks,
Andre

 

[SnakeRidge]

Could be a vine borer. I get them in my squash plants pretty often. Is there a little dusty pile of yellow/orange stuff around the hole? If so, that is called 'frass' and you have a little worm living in the vine.

Some info: https://utextension.tennessee.edu/publications/Documents/SP503-A.pdf

 

[abellote]

Could be a vine borer. I get them in my squash plants pretty often. Is there a little dusty pile of yellow/orange stuff around the hole? If so, that is called 'frass' and you have a little worm living in the vine.

Thanks for the help. I haven't found any 'frass' but my best guess is that it was some kind of larvae. I cut the stem and stuck it back into the ground to promote new root formation. Do you think I should open up the stem with a knife to see if I found anything?

 

[rekoob]

Do you think I should open up the stem with a knife to see if I found anything?

That's what I would do.

 

[mlafnitzegger]

That sounds painful...

 

[SnakeRidge]

Thanks for the help. I haven't found any 'frass' but my best guess is that it was some kind of larvae. I cut the stem and stuck it back into the ground to promote new root formation. Do you think I should open up the stem with a knife to see if I found anything?

It's possible to take razor sharp knife and cut a slit to dig the bugger out, but I've never been able to save the plant. I would cut that bine back and let the crown put up a new one if it were me. If it is a vine borer and it copletes its life cycle, they will come back every year. You can also wrap the bottom 4 inches of tin foil to help protect the bines