I am amazed at how our zucchini plants are reacting to the heat. I have three different varieties; "Burpee Greyzini" "Burpee Green Tiger Hybrid" and a packet I bought from Lowes that were the typical solid dark green variety (I stupidly threw away the packet). The "Green Tiger" is holding up beautifully. The plants are large and lush with a good yield of lovely striped zucchini's. The other two were doing great until the 90 degree days hit. I got a good yield from them and the plants looked good. But now they are really getting beat down from the sun. I've kept them watered and there is no sign of fungus or bug infestation. All three varieties are in the same bed. My yellow summer squash is suffering the same fate. On a sunny day, which is almost everyday, the plants just fall to pieces. When the sun goes down, they all come to life again, leaving a few casualties with burnt leaves. The packets indicate "Full Sun" and they are titled "Summer Squash!" I will grow the "Green Tigers" again next year and try some heirlooms and maybe start them earlier, if possible, to beat the heat.
Left: You can see the incredible differences between the zucchini plants. The background are the "Green Tigers".
Below: Yellow Summer Squash "Burpee Saffron". Has done beautifully up to recently, but not now with our hot days. Is this normal?
Eureka!
Today is the 12th and I was pulling up these two squash plants (on the right in this picture above), and I noticed the base of the stems were mushy. It became obvious that there was definitely something with insects or disease going on. I did a little investigating in one of my plant books, and quickly discovered that the problem was Borer damage. As recommended, I took a knife and dug out the fat white worms and covered the area with soil hoping to save the plant. There is no treatment other than to remove the worm. I went through every plant, and each one had some sort of damage. I can only hope to salvage what plants I have left. Wow, I was so sure it was a heat issue because of the wilting and recovering at night behavior. I won't be fooled again!
RSS Feed
