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Squash need extra attention in springtime

Raymond H. Zerba Jr.
Posted 5/18/16

Now is the time we begin seeing lots of disease problems on squash in the spring garden so I thought an article on two common ones would be timely:

Q. The ends of my yellow squash are rotting. …

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Squash need extra attention in springtime


Posted

Now is the time we begin seeing lots of disease problems on squash in the spring garden so I thought an article on two common ones would be timely:

Q. The ends of my yellow squash are rotting. What should I spray?

This is a fungus disease called Blossom Wet Rot. The University of Florida tells us it is carried by pollinating insects, such as honeybees and bumblebees, as they go from one flower to another. There exists no effective spray against it. Important to its control is checking young squash frequently and pinching off – without pinching into the end of the fruit – any blossoms that have started to shrivel or show brown streaking. Don’t just discard the removed blossoms on the ground, but remove them entirely from the garden. At the same time, pick off any fruit that has started to rot and also remove it from the garden. Leaving diseased plant material in a garden once it has been removed from a plant makes little sense because this material may continue to act as an infection source.

Picking squash when they are smaller – yellow squash can be picked at any size and should be picked before they become hard and leathery on the outside – will help reduce loss. Note that Zucchini squash have fewer problems with this disease. When you lose more fruit than you are harvesting, squash season is over for you – pull the vines/bushes up and wait to plant another crop in the fall.

Q. My yellow squash leaves have a white growth. What can I spray?

This is probably Powdery Mildew. It happens when we get late afternoon showers but we haven’t had many of those lately. It also happens when people are watering by using overhead sprinklers that wet the leaves. This is bad for plants like squash, cucumbers, watermelon, tomatoes, peppers, and potatoes that get a lot of leaf diseases. Water these plants only at the ground. Do this by hand, a flat soaker hose turned upside down (so it does not spray in the air), one of those black rubber recycled tire “weep” hoses, or by a low volume drip system. Most fungicides labeled for use in vegetable gardens will reduce powdery mildew infections. Read the label before buying them and make sure both squash and powdery mildew are on their labels.

Want someone to answer a specific plant question for you? Go online to http://clay.ifas.ufl.edu and under the heading “Horticulture” (left hand side of page) left click on “Ask a Master Gardener” and a reply will be sent plus a hyperlink to the appropriate University of Florida Fact Sheets. Please send us a digital picture of the problem. To speak to someone by phone, call (904) 269-6355.