HelpfulGardener.com

I just took a look at my vegetable garden this evening to find that the leaves of my zucchini are wilting, along with the leaves of my cucumber which sits right next to it. I should also note that my pumpkin plant has a few leaves that have sort of folded or curled. I've been watering them almost everyday, and growth has been vigirous.... Currently the dirt is not dry, but has moisture about an 1" down. The weather today was almost 90... I'm not sure what to do.. Any ideas?

One of my zucchini is also wilting - take a look at the base of the plant. There is a critter that likes to eat its way into the base of the plant, and eventually the base just splits. I'm told what you do is keep mounding dirt up over the base as it gets exposed as it grows, to keep that "critter" at bay. I don't know what the troublemaker in question is.

I am currently embroiled in a battle with these little suckers on my squash plants :

[url]https://www.vegedge.umn.edu/vegpest/cucs/squabug.htm[/url]

They especially infect squashes, but also cucumbers, melons and pumpkins. When they get numerous, they can cause excessive wilting of the leaves that look like water-drought wilting. They are good at hiding, but if you see even one of them, chances are that there are many you didn't see. I've been picking them and crushing them by the dozens the past few weeks.

Hey, Grey - I just noticed your location! Is that Summerville, Chattooga County? I was raised in that neck of the woods

I wish those bugs were the problem, at least I could see and try to fix them....

I went out last night with a flashlight and looked around, and didn't see much at all in the way of bugs or pests..

The whole thing that stumps me is the plants physically look fine, no yellowing, holes in the leaves or stems, just their leaves have all wilted or bent over... As of this morning all of the leaves on my zucchini were bent over and laying on the ground. So before I went to work I gave them a massive watering since it's going to get to 100-102 here....

Atari,
One way you might want to check - pull up one of your plants, with a knife cut the stem and root open and look for a bug. You most certainly are having some horrific heat, but I'm betting you find a squash bug or borer. We have had some 95+ heat and my squash are doing fine. You still have time to replant squash, but will need to crank up the sevin dust or spray to keep the critters away. Good Luck, Gardener Don

I think I have the same thing on my zuccini plants, but I'm not sure. Leaves are yellowing and curling up at the edges. They are very young plants and I'd like to keep them pesticide free, but I don't want to risk loosing all the plants (or having bruised up, narly veggies) just to keep it organic. My Pumpkin plant is looking the same...yellowing and curling up at the edges on the leaves. I don't see the eggs nor the bugs, but I do see little white specs on the back of the leaves. Any Suggestions? (I think I'm in denial that it's the pesky zucchini bug).

My zucchini plants dropped overnight. They were cropping beautifully and then they just collapsed. I've just searched the web for a solution and found that it is a real problem. They are moths that lay eggs in the base of the stem near the soil and the catapillars/bugs eat the inside of the stem. Here is the information I found GRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!

what I don't know how to do is the sanitisation of the soil in the winter (organically) Any ideas?

Unhappy Gardener Pauleen

Squash Vine Borers

Squash vine borer adult moths, which have metallic olive-brown wings and an abdomen ringed with red and black, lay large reddish-brown eggs on stem near the soil in late June through late July. They hatch into creamy white, brown-headed insects, enter and feed inside vine stems for four to six weeks. Coarse greenish-yellow excrement, pushed out by the borer through holes, can be seen along the sides of the stem. Plants wilt suddenly and may break or rot from the point of attack. Fruit is poor and small. The insect overwinters in the soil and once it is in a garden, the problem occurs every year.

Treatment

Cultural control: Destroy eggs before they hatch. When vines wilt and the holes of the borer are noticed, slit stem lengthwise and remove borer. Mound soil over injured area and over vines near leaves to promote new root growth from stems. The Butternut variety is resistant to the squash vine borer.

Chemical control: Preventive spraying or dusting of the base of the vines is necessary. Make applications at weekly intervals starting in late June as indicated on the product label. For up to date recommendations on pest management options consult local horticulturalists, Master Gardeners or your local garden supply centres.

I have two zucchini plants--had. I had just grabbed the first veggies off them and a week ago overnight a very healthy one just looked completely wilted, definitely not lack of water. This is the first year I've had this plant in the garden.

Noticed that the base of the stem area just above soil was shredded up. I picked a final vegetable of a medium size and actually found near the top of it, since the fruit was "springy", a grub/maggot about 1/3" long.

Today noticed my other one now suffering same symptoms of wilt today. It's definitely going to die, but no shredding appearance yet. Oh well! Truth is nobody else in the family likes zucchini anyway

Type Squash Vine Borer into the Keyword box that comes up when you click on Search the Forum in the black horizontal menu above and you will get (currently) 145 hits. There's tons written here about them, because they are one of the most destructive and frustrating pests in most people's gardens. (If you have something worse in your garden, I feel sorry for you! )

rainbowgardener wrote:Type Squash Vine Borer into the Keyword box that comes up when you click on Search the Forum in the black horizontal menu above and you will get (currently) 145 hits. There's tons written here about them, because they are one of the most destructive and frustrating pests in most people's gardens. (If you have something worse in your garden, I feel sorry for you! )

Japanese beetles were irritating to me last year I thought squash were about as easy as it is to grow something in the garden. Now I'm thinking peppers or carrots. They seem robust

Yeah, peppers and carrots are good easy care choices. My top easy to grow crop is swiss chard. It just grows and grows, through cold, hot, frost, whatever, produces all season from early frost to late frost. Nothing bothers mine, not insects, diseases, or the resident ground hog and raccoons.

Other easy things to grow are herbs, basil, oregano, thyme, sage. All but the basil are cold hardy perennials, so you don't even have to replant them next year!

The weather today was almost 90... I'm not sure what to do.. Any ideas?

I think you just nailed the problem. I find it is very common for squash and cuke leaves to wilt on a very hot day, even if they have been watered. Do the plants pick up and look perky by morning? If so I would not worry.

Can you find any sign of insect damage, and especially vine borers? I don't know if vine borers are a problem in your area. Some places they are and people just plan on them coming. Here we seldom see vine borers.

jal_ut wrote:

The weather today was almost 90... I'm not sure what to do.. Any ideas?

I think you just nailed the problem. I find it is very common for squash and cuke leaves to wilt on a very hot day, even if they have been watered. Do the plants pick up and look perky by morning? If so I would not worry.

Can you find any sign of insect damage, and especially vine borers? I don't know if vine borers are a problem in your area. Some places they are and people just plan on them coming. Here we seldom see vine borers.

I did bump a four year old thread, for what it's worth

My wilted zucchini was not wilted this morning. I figured it was damaged such that it was still sending a bit of fluid to the leaves and overnight they recovered but would wilt again today, which they did. I'll rip the plant out soon

Skoorbmax wrote:

jal_ut wrote:

The weather today was almost 90... I'm not sure what to do.. Any ideas?

I think you just nailed the problem. I find it is very common for squash and cuke leaves to wilt on a very hot day, even if they have been watered. Do the plants pick up and look perky by morning? If so I would not worry.

Can you find any sign of insect damage, and especially vine borers? I don't know if vine borers are a problem in your area. Some places they are and people just plan on them coming. Here we seldom see vine borers.

I did bump a four year old thread, for what it's worth

My wilted zucchini was not wilted this morning. I figured it was damaged such that it was still sending a bit of fluid to the leaves and overnight they recovered but would wilt again today, which they did. I'll rip the plant out soon

all plants wilt in the heat of the afternoon; if theyre perky again late evening/morning, they're still ok!

rainbowgardener wrote:Type Squash Vine Borer into the Keyword box that comes up when you click on Search the Forum in the black horizontal menu above and you will get (currently) 145 hits. There's tons written here about them, because they are one of the most destructive and frustrating pests in most people's gardens. (If you have something worse in your garden, I feel sorry for you! )

Is there a date after which we can exhale? e.g. a date after which, if there's no dreaded SVB infestation, there probably won't be?

I have 30 pumpkin vines growing, and the prospect of an infestation is just really scary.

For Waterbug: For northerners yes. later in the season there's less danger. For southeasterners, I think they just keep having more generations. But for you in Los Angeles, I really thought the SVB's were only east of the Rockies. I wouldn't have thought you even have to worry about them.

^^
That's a huge relief! Of course there are other hazards besides svb, too.