Every year my squash plants are ruined by the squash borer - HELP!

http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/insects/find/squash-vine-borers/

https://www.growjourney.com/prevent-stop-squash-vine-borers/

Cover your squash with row covers until they start blooming. (Just to be extra-vigilant, you should probably cover them earlier than when the squash vine borer is supposed to emerge.) then start monitoring the plants looking for brown eyes. Check the leaves and base of the plants. You might see the above eggs which are squash bug eggs. And then- put aluminium foil or knee high panty hose around the base of each plant in June. good luck!!

You are In Central Illinois ...do you get 1 generation or two of those menacing scourge? Start your plants from seed. Cover w floating row covers or a sheer curtain, weighing the edges down well WHEN YOU PLANT THEM. Cover them up. The adult SVB is a very pretty orange ish wasp..pretty enough that you stop to look at it...it lays its eggs here in the NE around 4 th July. Just about when your squash plants start producing. Rarely do you see the eggs because they are translucent and in the joints and connection of leaf to the stem or on the crown. If you scout daily in your garden, you might find them. If you don't see them until they have bored inside the stem.you must act quickly. I use a turkey baster with the needle or you can use an old syringe...mix up some liquid Bt and if you hold the stem up to the light you can see the grub inside. Inject above the opening where they entered. The bt must make contact with the grub to work. ..but I was able to save all my squash plants for two years running this way.

Most open pollinated squash need the bees when they start producing blooms so you have to take off the covers when they are at that stage or you won't get fruit. Some gardeners just spray w bt weekly to keep it from ever getting inside. Since I garden as organically I wait until I see the problem before I treat. Good luck. I asked if you have 1 or 2 generations because if your area has 2, just spray the plant because that's even harder.

what is BT

Bacillus thuringiensis(Bt kurstaki) its for caterpillar stage ...a Bt kurstaki is the correct formula it's a variation on the Bt mosquito dunks that you use for standing water. It's formula is ORMI approved.

There are other things that are used like kaolin clay that is sprayed on plants too. It's marketed as surround. I e used the kaolin clay but I perfer to identify the pest and use the Bt. Because I can purchase small amounts of BT but you have to buy 25 lbs of the kaolin clay.