Sunday, September 26, 2010

What's wrong with my squashes? Part II


OK, so I have given up on actually harvesting any squashes this year, but what is going on here?? I have pulled out all but one of the squash vines because they all looked very similar to this one.


The leaves look almost like there's powdery mildew or some other kind of fungus on them, and they've yellowed and withered. This is (I believe) Trombetta D'Albenga, but all the other varieties suffered the same fate. This vine has stayed around this long because it actually began producing squash, but before they suddenly rotted before maturing.


So my question is, is this an infestation like vine borer or some other bug? I haven't seen any bugs crawling around but with all my traveling this summer I definitely could have missed some evidence. Or, is this a disease of some kind that will restrict my squash growing for the next few years?

If you have any idea of the identity and whereabouts of this criminal, please leave your information in a comment! And if this is a disease, should I not grow squashes/cucumbers for three years? Help!!

3 comments:

Commonweeder said...

My squash problems were all about deer eating young plants, and my forgetting where I planted which reseedings. Lots of yellow squash and only one winter squash. I can't identify your problem, but I have hopes for solving mine. Next year.

Rose said...

I can't give you a definitive answer either, Rose. Last year my squashes had powdery mildew, but it didn't seem to affect the harvest. I've had what I call squash beetles some years--don't know if they're the same as the vine borer--but usually the plants go into a very rapid decline if it's an insect problem. My plants withered and died because of lack of water this year. Could it be a moisture problem or lack of sun?

I wouldn't give up just because of this year; every year it seems something different occurs in my veggie garden.

garden girl said...

Looks like mildew to me Rose. Squash and cucumbers are really prone to it late in the season. It shouldn't be a problem as far as replanting in that spot.

I'm sorry you didn't get any squash.

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