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Not much takes the wind out of our sails like a wilted plant.
Zucchini is a prolific, easy-to-grow vegetable that produces harvests nearly all summer long.
Here are four problems that crop up in the zucchini patch and how to prevent or fix them.
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Under Watering
Zucchini leaves often wilt down in the hottest part of the day.
Soil moisture is the first thing to check before you dive in looking for pests or other causes.
Zucchini are not drought tolerant and underwatered plants develop yellow leaves that eventually turn brown and dry up.
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If it comes out dry, you should probably water.
Zucchini need at least an inch of water each week.
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A layer of mulch helps keep soil moist and cool.
This day-flying moth has a distinctive, black-spotted, orange abdomen and emerges in late June after overwintering underground.
Squash vine borers lay eggs singly at the base of your zucchini plants.
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Starting out, your zucchini plant may wilt only in the heat of the day.
But when leaves appear wilted in the morning, yellowing soon follows and the plant will succumb and die.
Signs of squash vine borer activity include a sawdust-like build-up at the base of the plant called frass.
Organic alternatives includediatomaceous earthand the deterrent BT.
When the plant already shows signs of infestation, removing the grub can sometimes revive it.
Use a sharp knife to slit bring up the top of the vine.
Be careful not to cut through the bottom.
Gently launch the vine until you find the white grub.
Scrape it out with your knife but attempt to limit damage to the vine.
Bury the opened part of the vine under the soil and check to see if the plant recovers.
That’s because adult females lay reddish-brown eggs in clusters of 15 to 40 on the undersides of leaves.
Sap-sucking nymphs hatch out in numbers and can damage leaves quickly causing yellowing and wilt.
Adults also feed on developing fruits.
How to Treat Squash Bugs
Once they establish squash bugs are hard to get rid of.
Squash bugs feed on cucurbits only while stink bugs are more often found on tomatoes and beans.
Both pests can be treated with the same methods.
It’s an airborne fungus that thrives in high humidity even in dry weather.
Downy mildew causes yellow spots to form between leaf veins and a brownish-gray fuzz on the undersides of leaves.
It’s resulting from a pathogen rather than a fungus and appears in wet, humid weather.
Zucchini are less vulnerable to these pathogens than cucumbers and melons but can still be affected.
How to Fix Downy and Powdery Mildew
Bacillus Thuringiensis.
