summer squash-yellow leaves, stunted, & too many flowers
Help...My summer squash has yellow leaves (that began green), stunted growth, and a ton of bloom. They look mighty strange. What in the world is happening? Can anyone help me?
Well- do you possibly have a squash vine borer? Does it look like anything bore into the stem of the plant ? It's just about that time of year for them. Is the entire plant going, or just part?bugme wrote:Help...My summer squash has yellow leaves (that began green), stunted growth, and a ton of bloom. They look mighty strange. What in the world is happening? Can anyone help me?
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rainbowgardener
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Squash vine borer damage is quite distinctive. It doesn't cause yellowing leaves or stunted growth or excess flowering, just the whole plant wilts and then shrivels up over a period of just a few days.
Some pictures of your plant might help. Are these in the ground or in containers? What is your soil like? Yellowing leaves, stunted growth, and excess of flowers/lack of leaves sounds like it could be a nitrogen deficiency.
Some pictures of your plant might help. Are these in the ground or in containers? What is your soil like? Yellowing leaves, stunted growth, and excess of flowers/lack of leaves sounds like it could be a nitrogen deficiency.
Ok...the soil is pretty good. It started out clay years ago and I have worked it and amended it into pretty good stuff. I also dig large holes and amend that for the new plants I set. I put the squash plants out about three weeks ago and fertilized them with Plant Tone 5-3-3 for vegetables and flowers. They started growing quickly and very soon after started turning yellow. I decided to fertilize them again. They essentially stopped growing but set about 10 to 12 buds per plant which are now flowering. In all of this they have never grown in a trailing fashion. There are three plants and they are each a clump of leaves and buds/flowers. There is no evidence of borers, mites or some such.
What do you think?
What do you think?
I'm thinking of three things. Squash doesn't like to be transplanted, rather it prefers to be directly seeded in the garden. It's probably pretty hot down there right now and that can add to the stress of transplant shock. Rainbow mentioned nitrogen deficiency and it sounds like you fertilized once with 5-3-3. That's not alot of nitrogen and it was probably washed away after a couple of weeks.
Now, for the life of me, I can't remember the third thing I was thinking. Dog-gone-it.
Now, for the life of me, I can't remember the third thing I was thinking. Dog-gone-it.
I have to say, the nitrogen idea was bugging me so I watered them with Miracle Gro this morning and we will see what happens.
One other thing that may be part of the mix... tomatoes were planted in this spot last year and they became diseased...fungus I think or really know. So I've also sprayed them with a fungicide. Wish me luck.
Oh, and let me know if you think of the third thing.
One other thing that may be part of the mix... tomatoes were planted in this spot last year and they became diseased...fungus I think or really know. So I've also sprayed them with a fungicide. Wish me luck.
Oh, and let me know if you think of the third thing.