Saving my Watermelons from Squash Borers and Squash Bugs

Last year, my watermelons did fantastic for the first few weeks of their life.  Unfortunately, they were wiped out by a predator.  One day I went to the plot, did some work and admired the foliage and the fruit on the vine.  Two days later, I returned and found all the flowers had turned black and the leaves looking wilted.  I was only able to harvest a single watermelon from six plants.

Logically, that means that something had killed everything at the source.

I did a fair amount of research and I have identified two possible culprits: the Squash Vine Borer and the Squash Bug.

The squash bug doesn't appear to attack the melon plant directly, unlike the squash borer.  The squash bug injects a disease called Yellow Vine Decline into the plant as it feeds.  The disease starts to yellow vines, but can and will kill the entire plant.

The squash borer will fly up to the base of a target plant and lay an egg inside the stem.  Once the egg hatches, the larvae feeds on the inside of the stem blocking the water and nutrients from flowing upward killing the plant.  Once it's large enough, the larvae exits the stem and burrows into the soil to become an adult moth at a later date.  I've found some sources that say that the borer will occasionally attack melons.  I think this is a more likely culprit given the rapid death and the fact it came in June which appears to be when the borer moth is said to go active.

Last year, I was applying Seven Dust to my watermelon plants to deter pests.  I can't say that I really applied a lot to the base of the plants, however.

This year, I tried something different.  I had Wifey save toilet paper tubes and installed them as collars around the base of the plants.  I did this for all my watermelons and also put them around the cucumbers just for giggles.

I really hope this works....