help zucchini and squash dying

[mikechmi]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to the forums and gardening in general. I had 6 8-ball zucchini plants and 1 regular plant as well as a bunch of different squash plants. The zucchini plant's stems had looked a little odd (about 1-2 inches from the ground), but they had been producing just fine until the middle of last week after a 2 day rain storm. The stems appear yellow to brown, kind of rotten or something, and broke, not sure if they rotted through or were eaten through by some fungus or bacteria. I've lost all but 1 of my zucchini plants and that one doesn't look good. It's also spread to some of my squash plants. I've uploaded pictures of the zucchini plants, the stem of one of the zucchini that died and I pulled up, and the stem of a squash plant that now appears to have the same thing.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikechmi/

If anyone can tell me a) what this is (I believe it may be some sort of fungus) b) how to stop it from killing my other plants c) what to do about it in the future, I'd be extremely grateful.

Thanks

[Roger]

Hi there, Mike. I believe a squash borer is the culprit. You can find out for certain by pulling one of the more severely infected plants, and use a sharp knife to cut apart the damaged vine. Look for a small maggot-like grub within the vine, especially at the area between the damaged and undamaged portions.

[url]https://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2153.html[/url]

[Grey]

I agree with Roger - it looks like squash vine borers. I had them this year too.

[mikechmi]

Thanks Roger and Grey, it was indeed the SVB. I actually remember the red wasp like moths flying around earlier in the year and not being sure if I should kill them or not as, ironically, I didn't want to kill wasps that were potentially eating garden pests. After a few weeks I searched the net and found that there are no red wasps so I started killing them when I saw them, figured they were just some sort of pest that would eat the leaves. Never thought that they'd do what they did. It's like something out of a horror movie. Ahh well. I went through and slit open all of my squash and attempted to find and remove them. Also considered injecting BT but haven't gone that route yet. I'm guessing I'll loose most if not all my plants, I guess I'll be better prepared next year.

[Roger]

I had a few of them lurking around my garden this year too. I think they are one of those things that inhabit the garden all the time, you just don't notice them unless they get too numerous, at which time the plants suffer. I did read that they will overwinter in the soil as larvae, so it is a good practice to lightly turn the soil up at the site of the plant during fall, to disrupt their growth cycle, and to dispose of the more severely affected plants to prevent their spread. And to move the planting location for squash from year to year.