Voles eating my maxima squash : any resistant traits ?

[davidjoly]

I'm growing pepo, moschata and maxima squashes. My maxima squash vines grow on a hay field. It was scythed earlier this season, but hay has grown back, as usual. But this year, there seems to be a higher number of voles and they are damaging my maxima squashes while they are ripening in the field (I never noticed that in previous year). One of my squash was almost ready and is now badly eaten.

If you have pressure from voles in your squash field, what are your most resistant varieties ?

I guess a hard rind like hubbard-type squashes would help. Is it the case ?

I'd like to introduce some vole-resistance traits in my grexes, so not all is lost if vole pressure increases.

I have not seen damage to my pepo and moschata squash, but I will pay attention...

David

[stone]

Good luck on vole resistance.
The only thing at my house for vole resistance is to have outdoor cats.
Sadly, they seldom eat the voles, or the moles either... And there's a lot of non target killing.

[hornad]

I have seeds that I have saved from a hard shelled turban squash, I don’t know if it is vole resistant because I have never had vole trouble

[galina]

I also had c maxima damage, one where all the seeds were eaten and 3 plants that were severed neatly at ground level. We do get cats, but hoards of voles survive the cats and do damage. Many beans were also cut at ground level. So frustrating. I got a solar mole and vole deterrent which does not work. Bamboo sticks into the newest hill with a rattling plastic bottle inverted over the top may work a little. But this year was bad. It took them 2 years to discover my new garden here, but now they are here too. Commiseration and sorry, I don't have a really good solution either. I collapse their runs by throwing copious amounts of water into them, but when the roots are severed completely, there is little that can be done.

[xdrix]

Slugs can also sever the small plants.

Effectively very difficult.
If it stay the head or a ramification with little roots a cutting is possible for c.maxima and c.moschata.For have a sucess i put the cut in a small planter and i compact at the maximum the potting soil and i watered.Roots appeard a few days later.
If it stay the head without root i have successed a cutting on c moschata but with low vigor (lot of roots but no grow) but never on c maxima.

I never tryed to graft c maxima on c moschata but i think that its possible.

A new seedling is clearely more fast.

Transplanted the squash is also a good solution for avoir voles and slugs damages.Unfortunately if they stay too long period in planter they have more difficulties to start again in fullground.

[flowerbug]

just be glad you don't have groundhogs...

encourage predator species.

[jocelyn]

2 hits of the hard rind gene plus the warty gene helps a lot. it's not fool proof, but decidedly helps.