So I was more or less expecting the SVB in this, my first real garden, so I was saddened but not surprised to lose my pattypans and bush delicata. Conclusion: butternuts and trombocino next year it is.

But this dastardly pickleworm caught me by surprise and took out about half of my spaghetti squashes (the ones I decided to leave until the vines died. The others I harvested, perhaps prematurely, when they went yellow and undentable, but I guess that saved them.)

So my question is, to protect next year's crops and perhaps still be able to grow SVB-susceptible varieties, can I grow them under cover and depend on the ants, of which there were very many crawling in my squash blssoms this year, to do the pollinating?

(I don't want to plan on hand-pollinating, as I would probably drop the ball on that one)

Thoughts?

Thanks!

~Emily