One-half of a zucchini plant dying - why??

[socaltavi9]

Hello,

What you're seeing here is ONE zucchini plant that has a healthy side, and a side on which all the leaves have wilted. I took this picture in the afternoon. This morning, when I watered the plant, the entire plant looked like the half on the left. By the afternoon, it looked like this. I did nothing else out in the garden today. I'm at a loss to understand what is happening here. A few other points to note:

It was not very hot outside today.
The stems of the wilted leaves are nice and thick.
The base of the plant is not broken or cut anywhere.

Cannot for the life of me figure out why only half of the plant is affected, and what might be causing this.

[applestar]

Wilted zucchini plant is very often the work of SVB (Squash Vine Borer). I can’t see signs in the photo, but did you examine for masses of brown or green wet squeezed out sawdust anywhere in the hard stem, vine, as well as leaf stems of the plant? Most typically you will find the base of the stem split — generally on the underside where it is difficult to see.

If this plant had set down some roots along the stem/vine, that might be how the intact side is staying alive.

[TheMadOne]

Looking at your photo in full resolution it looks pretty much like the work of the Squash Borer to me. Early on but still that dastardly culprit! I have used the Bt pesticide this season with pretty fair results, but you have to recheck about once a week.

https://www.motherearthnews.com/organic ... 0z1304zkin

Hope this helps you out!

[socaltavi9]

Wilted zucchini plant is very often the work of SVB (Squash Vine Borer). I can’t see signs in the photo, but did you examine for masses of brown or green wet squeezed out sawdust anywhere in the hard stem, vine, as well as leaf stems of the plant? Most typically you will find the base of the stem split — generally on the underside where it is difficult to see.

If this plant had set down some roots along the stem/vine, that might be how the intact side is staying alive.

Thank you for the quick reply. I've looked closely at the plant, but do not see anything that resembles what you've described. Thanks, also, for the info on the SVB - I had no knowledge of this pest.

Fwiw, I noticed when I got up this morning, that the same part of the plant looked healthy again. Here is a picture I took this morning. I'm guessing that what happened yesterday (much like what happened with a few English Daisy plants for a few days immediately after I planted them, earlier in the season) was weather-related, either due to the direct sunlight/heat in the afternoon, lack of moisture, or both. The odd thing about this is that it wasn't particularly hot yesterday, and I had watered in the morning. Also, the other half of the plant wasn't affected. I'm very curious to see what happens this afternoon . . .

[rainbowgardener]

I don't know. My understanding was that there are not squash borers west of the Mississippi. But it does look very much like the work of the squash vine borer. And when the borer has started chewing through some of the circulation tubes, but hasn't finished, they will act like that -- wilt very easily, but perk up when given lots of water (since there is still some circulation).

Here is what you are looking for:



a chewed up area at the base of the stem, just above the ground

[socaltavi9]

Looking at your photo in full resolution it looks pretty much like the work of the Squash Borer to me. Early on but still that dastardly culprit! I have used the Bt pesticide this season with pretty fair results, but you have to recheck about once a week.

https://www.motherearthnews.com/organic ... 0z1304zkin

Hope this helps you out!

Thanks for the advice! I will look into getting some of this. On a somewhat related note, last year I heard about using Neem Oil to spray on my roses to help with the very difficult time I had with Japanese Beetles all over the plants. I've used the oil quite regularly this year, not only on the knockout roses, but also on the leaves of my raspberry, blackberry and grape plants, to much success. I haven't had nearly the trouble with them this year, but those little creatures will stop at nothing, it seems . . . This product (Bt pesticide) sounds like it works wonders.

[socaltavi9]

Thank you, everyone, for the feedback. Upon closer inspection (see photo), which I should have done prior to taking the earlier photo this morning, I think you're all correct: SVB. I've sprayed the affected area with an organic insecticidal soap, cut off all of the affected stems, and placed a couple of pieces of cardboard underneath the affected area to keep it off of the ground. At this point, seeing as how I've managed to already get more than a few decent fruits off of the plant, I'm curious to see what effect the "treatment" will have, I.e. not too concerned if it works or not. Also, fwiw, I noticed another new plant growing out of the stem of the healthy root on the other side.

Thank you all for your help and advice!!

[applestar]

If you are interested, I made several SVB-related posts in this thread — the Linked post and more on the same page.
Subject: Applestar's 2016 Garden

One of the two Butta zucchini plants that have been struggling for about a week now had collapsed overnight. SVB has struck as expected....

— but just skimming through posts from this time frame in 2016, it’s pretty apparent that my garden is not doing as well this year. I’ll need to think about why that is....

[imafan26]

Are you sure a dog, cat or other animal is not using the squash for a bed? My dog used to like to go into the garden and sit on my plants. He figured out how to move the gate. A few leaves would be broken, but most of the time the remaining ones would come up the next day.

[socaltavi9]

Are you sure a dog, cat or other animal is not using the squash for a bed? My dog used to like to go into the garden and sit on my plants. He figured out how to move the gate. A few leaves would be broken, but most of the time the remaining ones would come up the next day.

No, I don't think so. The only animals we have in abundance around here are squirrels (and they do their own damage, on occasion).

[socaltavi9]

If you are interested, I made several SVB-related posts in this thread — the Linked post and more on the same page.
Subject: Applestar's 2016 Garden

One of the two Butta zucchini plants that have been struggling for about a week now had collapsed overnight. SVB has struck as expected....

— but just skimming through posts from this time frame in 2016, it’s pretty apparent that my garden is not doing as well this year. I’ll need to think about why that is....

Thank you for sharing that. Wow, you have some garden! Looking through the pics of your zucchini plants, and reading your posts, I guess I'm a little surprised that in all the years I've grown zucchini, this is the first time I've ever had a problem with SVB. I hope that's not a sign of things to come in the future.