Zucchini plants dying . . . HELP!

[Bruce 01]

Hi all. This is my first post and I am desperate to save my zucchinis if it's not too late.

I put the plants in the ground the end of May and they have been growing well. They started blossoming 2 or so weeks ago. The problem started about a week ago with one leaf wilting.

I took some leaves to my local garden store and they figured it was a type of fungus. Some of the leaves have brown spots on them and some had small white eggs on the underneath side -- obviously some sort of bug. But the leaves that wilt do NOT have the brown spots, and interestingly, the ones with the brown spots still are firm and otherwise healthy.

Not sure if this is relevant or not, the fruit started growing but NONE of them went beyond maybe 2" and then completely stopped.

They said to try Captan and Sevin. So I applied them several days ago but the plants just get worse and worse.

Here are some pix, I hope someone can help!

[img]https://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w121/branlin2007/Chat/zucchini002.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w121/branlin2007/Chat/zucchini001.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w121/branlin2007/Chat/zuchinni2002.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w121/branlin2007/Chat/zuchinni2001.jpg[/img]

[DoubleDogFarm]

Maybe bacterial angular leaf spot.

https://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/factsheets/Cucurbits_Foliar.htm#Click

Eric

[jal_ut]

That one wilted plant looks like not enough water. It may also be vine borer damage. Look for little holes in the stem near the ground. I don't know what to think about the brown spots on the otherwise healthy looking leaves. In practice, some small damage on leaves is not a big problem. Wish I could be of more help. I don't usually have many probs here with squash.

Welcome to the forum.

[rainbowgardener]

Yeah, agree with jal, could be too hot and dry if you are having summer-y weather. Zucch's need a lot of water. Or it could be Squash Vine Borer. The hole(s) in the stem in that case would be just above ground level and would have a pile of sawdusty looking stuff on the ground near it (frass = droppings). If this is the case, type Squash Vine Borer into the Search the Forum Keyword Box and find tons of stuff written here about them.

Re the fruit not growing. That is probably a pollination issue. Squash have male and female flowers. The female flower comes with a little squash embryo behind the flower. Even if the flower doesn't get pollinated, the mini squash keeps growing for a little while, then shrivels up and drops off.

Was the garden store a big box (eg. WalMart, HomeDepot, etc)? Don't trust their advice. They are not knowledgeable and they are there to sell product. Captan and Sevin are bad stuff and useless if you don't know what you are spraying for. If you have the SVB, they are inside the stem of the plant and nothing sprayed on the outside harms them, but it does kill off honeybees and other beneficial insects (including the ones you need to pollinate your plants so the fruits will develop).

Here's some info about Sevin:

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=137800&highlight=sevin#137800

Here's a couple sentences from the second of the articles I linked:

A wide variety of animals, plants, and bacteria are adversely affected by carbaryl. Not only acute toxicity, but many different kinds of chronic effects have been documented in bees, beneficial insects, fish, birds, earthworms, frogs, crop plants, nitrogen-fixing bacteria, and other species. Some effects occur at surprisingly low doses.

[SPierce]

It looks like it may be under watering, on one of the plants.. but I'm not sure about what the disease is. How often are you watering? Lots of sun, or lots of rain?

[Bruce 01]

That one wilted plant looks like not enough water. It may also be vine borer damage. Look for little holes in the stem near the ground. I don't know what to think about the brown spots on the otherwise healthy looking leaves. In practice, some small damage on leaves is not a big problem. Wish I could be of more help. I don't usually have many probs here with squash.

I don't think it's a water problem. There are plants 2 feet away that are doing fine. Last year I had what I think you described as vine borers in my zuccs. The vine just above the ground turned yellowish and mushy, and the plants died. But the vines look ok now.

Welcome to the forum.

THANKS!

[Bruce 01]

Yeah, agree with jal, could be too hot and dry if you are having summer-y weather. Zucch's need a lot of water. Or it could be Squash Vine Borer. The hole(s) in the stem in that case would be just above ground level and would have a pile of sawdusty looking stuff on the ground near it (frass = droppings). If this is the case, type Squash Vine Borer into the Search the Forum Keyword Box and find tons of stuff written here about them.

A note about vines that I didn't mention in my reply above: some of them are split open but have healed over, or at least that's what it looks like to me. One dying plant does NOT have this, and one healthy plant DOES have a split vine, so I'm assuming this isn't a problem . . . ?

Re the fruit not growing. That is probably a pollination issue. Squash have male and female flowers. The female flower comes with a little squash embryo behind the flower. Even if the flower doesn't get pollinated, the mini squash keeps growing for a little while, then shrivels up and drops off.

Yes, I was concerned about that last week so I googled it and got the same thing you said. Is it a lack of bees?

Was the garden store a big box (eg. WalMart, HomeDepot, etc)? Don't trust their advice. They are not knowledgeable and they are there to sell product. Captan and Sevin are bad stuff and useless if you don't know what you are spraying for. If you have the SVB, they are inside the stem of the plant and nothing sprayed on the outside harms them, but it does kill off honeybees and other beneficial insects (including the ones you need to pollinate your plants so the fruits will develop).

No, it is a small, local, family-run garden store by people I know. They asked me if I wanted to stay organic and I said at this point I need to do whatever it takes to save them. Wow, what a mess. The non-pollination problem started before I sprayed them, but now will probably get worse if it kills bees. But at this point I just want to save the plants.

Here's some info about Sevin:

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=137800&highlight=sevin#137800

Here's a couple sentences from the second of the articles I linked:

A wide variety of animals, plants, and bacteria are adversely affected by carbaryl. Not only acute toxicity, but many different kinds of chronic effects have been documented in bees, beneficial insects, fish, birds, earthworms, frogs, crop plants, nitrogen-fixing bacteria, and other species. Some effects occur at surprisingly low doses.

[Bruce 01]

It looks like it may be under watering, on one of the plants.. but I'm not sure about what the disease is. How often are you watering? Lots of sun, or lots of rain?

I don't think it's a lack of water. See my first reply.