I planted a couple of zuchinni plants this spring and they were producing nicely. Then, within a couple of days, they were dead. I've heard of a borer that might cause that but how can I tell if that's what happened and how can I prevent the damage next year?
I've removed 5 - 6 of the little buggers. Look around the stem close to the soil. If you have squash bore there will be a small hole then along the stem there will be what looks like chewed up stem. It's hard to explain the chewed up stuff so if I get a chance, I will post a pic on alt.binaries.pictures.gardens. Take a sharp knife and carefully slit from the hole until you find the bore. It will be white with a dark brown head. Grab that critter out of there, toss it on the ground, and stomp it until you get rid of any anger you might have ;) Then carefully cover the cut on the vine with damp soil. Keep an eye out for any more. To prevent the squash bore next year I'm considering a mesh cover for that raised bed. It would prevent the moth from landing to lay the eggs that become the larva that causes the problem. I've used fine mesh to successfully combat birds from eating sunflower seeds - I only want seeds from one flower for next year. The birds can have the rest. I've used fine mesh successfully on cabbage to prevent cabbage worm too. I'm figuring the mesh will work good to prevent the squash bore.
A second possibility is mildew (?). The leaves get a powdery mildew on them and if the infection is bad enough it will kill the plant. Signs of this are yellowing leaves and visible greyish mildew.
the stuff looks like wet sawdust. When slicing the vine, go up the vine from the hole. I don't particularly like to wade through these huge plants, stepping onto loose compost, and the borer is small compared to the vine, and it is difficult to fish out unless you catch it as soon as it has entered. I think the best defense is to have a mesh tent up until the 4th of July. Two things: the zucchini will still get a later generation of borers, but they will die a month later, early september instead of early august. Second, the young zucchini plant can not push successfully against the cloth, so the tent should be high enough to allow the plant to grow. It only takes three weeks of protection to miss the first generation.
Have you used Roundup in the area that you planted? Bill
Crop rotation will help. Water from the bottom and spray liquid sevin on the vines every few days in the spring will help. Be sure and not get any spray on your blooms or you will kill the good pollinators that are visiting your garden. Then you have to watch out for squash bugs. Nothing I know of will kill the adults, but sevin will get the eggs, but you have to get both the tops and bottoms of the leaves. Get on the internet and type in squash bug killer and read what the colleges say about how to do it and what to use.
Dwayne
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