Vine crops dying quick this year.

[Bobberman]

My zucs have been producing ne fruit then die quick. I even cut the zuc off with a knife so as not to move the plant much! Should I spray the stem with something? I had several really nice plants that dropped over dead the next day!I have about 50 new plants coming so I want to do something to protect them like what?

[sheeshshe]

no vine borers at all?

[striperbware]

My cucumbers went from productive to nothing overnight. Maybe just stopped producing al at once due to days in the ground.

My Ambrosia cantalope have a different problem. It is too wet lately nd I am losing a lot of premature melons to rot. A lot of the vines on these have also rotted.

[rainbowgardener]

RE: My cucumbers went from productive to nothing overnight. Maybe just stopped producing all at once due to days in the ground.

Probably not days in the ground. I'm with sheeshe, did you check for vine borers? Check the stems, especially near the base for holes, with sawdusty looking stuff around them.

[Bobberman]

My one zuc. has 6 set of orange tiny eggs on it . I sprayed the eggs with garden raid. Will see what happens! Iguess I have to get some severins dust.

[rainbowgardener]

You can just squash all the eggs. I had a bunch of them on mine. They looked just like this:

[img]https://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/images/sbeggs.jpg[/img]

As long as you keep inspecting for them and squishing them, you don't need poisons. They are kind of hard. I found it easiest to tear off the piece of leaf with the eggs on it and stomp it.

[Bobberman]

Squash the squash bugs. Ya those are the bug egg. I also see some black ones that turn into something like spiders!!

[jal_ut]

That's weird. First you need to discover what killed your plants. That sounds an awful lot like how quickly vine borers can kill a plant. Healthy one day and dead the next.

Do you have cutworms there? They can also kill a plant quickly by cutting the root and separating it from the above ground plant. I think they are probably more of a problem on young plants?

Your problem doesn't sound like a disease. Diseases make the plant look sickly for a time before it dies.

I like what you said about harvesting by cutting the stem with your knife. That is how I do it too. Not so much to protect the plant, but to keep the squash looking good. You can scratch them up badly when picking because they are so tender, and sometimes the squash itself breaks instead of the stem if you just twist it off. Yes, I have broken or pulled plants before trying to harvest the fruit. It happens.

I have only seen vine borers a couple of times. Most years they don't make it here. They cannot winter here because of our harsh winters and must move in from warmer climates, but the times I have had them they caught me off guard and about wiped out my squash.

My zucchini put on quite a bit of squash, then took a vacation. They are blooming again and I expect they will produce more. My squash usually all make it till frost, when they quit immediately. If they didn't grow till frost, I Would be looking for a reason.

[Bobberman]

Picked some nice zucs tonight. Pulled out several dead or dying plants before they attract all the bugs! Usually they will not come back once they start dying! Try some of the hybrids they seem togrow well!