Is our squash done?

[Brown Thumbs]

Squash...Pull it up, replant, leave it, or neither? That is the question!

I planted kind of late (first part of May) and it was already getting hot by the time plants started flowering. We only picked 1-2 squash per plant and now they aren't producing any. Lots of male flowers early on but few females, not just a few males. It's in the mid 90s every day now and I keep them watered/fertilized, but it seems they don't do well once it gets this hot. Maybe they should call them "spring" squash instead of summer (at least in the south).

Here's how they look now...

[rainbowgardener]

Squash thrives in hot weather. Mine is going to town despite temps in the mid 90's pretty consistently for a month already.

Yours looks like it contracted some fungal disease. The commonest one that squash are very prone to is powdery mildew. I can't tell from your picture if that's what you have or not. It looks white and powdery at first:



But as the disease progresses the leaves do yellow, spot, and eventually tear.




But there are other diseases including downy mildew:

[gumbo2176]

Just to add a bit to what rainbowgardener has already said, check the plants for Squash Vine Borers. They can usually be found in the stems where they lie on the ground. You can see the telltale signs of slits in the stems with a slightly tan colored buildup around the slits. SVB's are notorious in the south and will cause a plant to stop producing while robbing it of nutrients and destroying the stems from the inside out. If you have them, they will be in the stems and look just like grub worms crawling their way in the hollow stems.

[rainbowgardener]

Gumbo is right and I gave up on growing zucchini due to the devastation of squash vine borers (what kind of squash do you have?).

You should keep checking, but I don't think borers are your problem right now. The borer larvae bore into the base of the stem and then start eating their way around inside the stem. In the process they chew up the circulation channels by which the plant brings water and nutrients up from the roots out to the leaves. So the first sign of vine borers is usually severe wilting as the leaves can't get water any more:



Here's what my winter squash plants are looking like after a month of 95 degree weather:

[Lindsaylew82]

I sort of disagree.

There may be some downy mildew in the yellowing leaves. Those yellowing leaves can be removed, and you should prolly start spraying with a fungicide. I use 1Tbsp of baking soda and 1/4 cup of neem oil mixed in a 2 gallon sprayer and spray that weekly (which reminds me....) on the tops and bottoms, and down in the centers.

I have SVB. The damage is significant right now... I'm still getting squash and zucchini, and patty pans. I think the trick is to keeping them watered. If I miss a day of watering, I don't get them, next day I water, I get more. So while I think SVB is bad, and it will eventually take them down, the damage is manageable as far as keeping the plants producing. They need plant food, and they need water. Lots of water.

[Lindsaylew82]

...and the white veining on that one plant is normal. It's sometimes more pronounced in zucchini and yellow zucchini. At least it is here. Powdery mildew is more random in design.

[Gary350]

My yellow crook neck squash and zucchini are both keeping us supplied with more squash than we can eat. I know from past years something usually kills my plants they get some type root rot and die so I like to plant new seeds every 4 weeks to keep new plants coming. It is not too late to plant seeds I planted more 4 more seeds today. In your case I would plant new seeds every 2 weeks. I will keep planting more seeds until mid Sept.

[Brown Thumbs]

I water around plant base daily or every other day when it hasn't rained. I applied 8x8x8 granular fertilizer twice. I spray weekly or biweekly with milk/water for mildew, and occasionally apply sevins dust for bugs on leaves and on ground at the vine bases, but only during late afternoon hours after flowers close (to protect bees).

I will need to pull some up in order to plant seeds since room is limited. Any more suggestions are welcome and thank you all for comments.

[Peter1142]

I water around plant base daily or every other day when it hasn't rained.

And there's your issue in my opinion, your plants are overwatered. Unless it is 100F+ and you are having a major draught nothing needs to be watered that often. That's the first thing I thought of seeing your photo.

[Lindsaylew82]

Here, we are in drought, and it has been REALLY hot. I deep water DAILY.

I disagree that these plants are overwatered. We both live in "the south", as Browth Thumbs has (very generally) labeled his/her location...

I definitely think there's something fungal going on. It does look like the plants have taken up whatever ferts you put out. (I maybe wouldn't feed them again until hey begin to show signs of chlorosis...that can stress them for more water.) They are SMALL for squash and zucchini. My plants are huge.

You don't need sevins. It's not really doing you much good. It does nothing for SVB, and squash bugs show high resistance. As long as it's visible on your plants, it's capable of killing the bees and pollinators that you actual REQUIRE for fruit production. Neem oil is a much better control for squash bugs, without destroying any help you may already have...it, combined with baking soda also makes for an excellent antifungal. Sometimes I put a cup or so of whole milk in with the rest of my mixture.

I think you should give them a week or so of increased watering, think deep, before you pull your plants. Try the neem and baking soda. Remove the affected leaves, and water them deeply. If you're gonna pull them anyway, a week isn't gonna set you back, and they may really come back to surprise you!

I took these pictures of mine today, with pretty severe SVB, and aside from the few Squashbugs I saw at the beginning of the season, I haven't seen any more.



This is the same plant. It's roughly 4-5 feet tall, and wide. You can see that white pattern there isn't fungal disease, just part of the plant, and normal.

[Peter1142]

What fungus are you suggesting? It sure doesn't look like either powdery mildew or downy mildew. As you say, those plants are clearly stunted, and that also indicates overwatering to me. That soil looks fairly heavy to me.

Why don't you check the soil moisture? Stick your finger in the ground and see if it is moist. That is the proper way to do it, not just water like crazy just to see if it sticks, when, agree or disagree on the likelihood, that can definitely be a possibility.

[Lindsaylew82]

It looks very much like downy mildew to me.

[Lindsaylew82]

Also, I think I replied to another post concerning that line of peppers to the side. They were drooping from UNDERwatering...

That was this week I believe?

I doubt they're being overwatered based on BT's previous posts. Look at the green top growth, too. Overwatering would lend them limp and noodley. I agree they're stunted, but stunting is more frequently a sign of inadequate watering.

(Your peppers look happier btw!)

[Peter1142]

Well, it is certainly possible, but that isn't what it looks like to me, but it is hard to see all the leaves up close. Downy mildew leaves a spotted appearance as per the picture above. I don't see that in any of the leaves.

I strongly suggest IMO that the OP check the soil moisture themself... if it is dry then I am wrong and go ahead and water like crazy! If it is fairly moist, that's all the plant needs.

[Peter1142]

Hmm I didn't notice the peppers... thats a good point, they look ok to me. If you were overwatering the peppers would be the first thing to complain. Do you water everything the same?

[Toxic1979]

These are my Zucchinis (Sure Thing), in my greenhouse. One of the plants exhibited a white film on the plant leaves, while the rest did not. Since posting the plant has nearly doubled in size, and seems to be healthy. Not to mention its starting to put out some female flowers (not opened yet), and I water the plant every single day, good and deep. If I miss a day, especially if it gets hot (~ 30-35 celsius), the plant wilts a little on the large leaves. My night temps are about 12-15 celsius in the greenhouse. Average day is 20-25 celsius.

I've asked about the white on my leaves as well because I was concerned about powdery mildew issues. So far I'm not noticing anything wrong with the plants ability to produce or grow. Not is it showing any signs of disease other than the white filmy leaves.

web link to the discussion on mine.. I had responses that helped me understand what it was. Maybe its not the same as your issue, but hopefully it helps.

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/vi ... 0&start=45

Thought I'd share my experience with my zucchinis this year so far. Hopefully you get some zucchinis! OR even just a few flowers so you can eat a some zucchini flower fritters! mmmm.

Cheers!

[Peter1142]

Thats not powdery mildew. Normal for some varieties.

[Toxic1979]

I was told the same thing by other members also.

The members on here are an excellent learning resource!