I just sat down and cried over the squash

One day they were beautiful and litterly the next they were almost dead. Now they are gone in less than a day. What happened to them.

Hard to say, but the vine borer can take them out that fast. http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2153.html http://www.uky.edu/Ag/Entomology/entfacts/veg/ef314.htm http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/ent/notes/Vegetables/veg20.html

Oh, Farmerdill I guess I just lost all of the squash I waited for so long for. I had no idea they could go so fast. No squash for me.

If I could make a suggestion for next year, If you are going for summer squash, seed them on your last frost date spring, I have much better luck in the spring than in the fall, when insect populations have built up. If winter squash, plant a c. Moschata type. They are not as susceptible to vine borers as C. pepo and C. maxima. In fact a lot of folks use them as summer squash. http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/56773/index.html is popular for summer squash, but any of the butternuts will work.

I had planted my favorite ones the Kolochoe-Jap. squash which I love to eat. Guess I will have to buy someone elses.

I feel your pain. I have had simular sudden deaths with squash, cantaloupe, and watermelons over many years. They usually are setting on fruit by the time insects or soil diseases hit them...such a shame.

We had very poor crop of watermelon & squash. I blame it on just to stinking hot! Even tho the temp was only around 100º, with no clouds & no breeze, they just plain cooked. Lots of days the squash leaves were hanging limp. Now when we went to pick what was there, they have been attacked & ½ are rotten on the vine. We only got about 200 watermelons from 500 plants!
Maybe next year.
Bernie

Country that is a lot of watermelons.

Indy, where is Alexandria exactly?

Just north of Anderson. We used to play the Millers regularly....till Noblesville grew.

squash is something u always loose some to the bugs and worms, gotta plat more than u need. when we had acres of it, we lost some but it didn't matter bacause we has so much anyway. we was picking up to a ton a day.

I am afraid I don't have the room to plant very many plants.

Makshi, You can try row covers until your female flowers start to appear. It might help you to get some fruit before the borers get them. Also you can spray the plants with BT. not sure how effective it is for vine borers.

Makshi, I once read that if you time the planting of squash after July 1, that you miss the season of the squash borer, plus the best winter squash to plant with that in mind is the resistant-anyway butternut squash 'Ponca'. I don't know if Ponca is still out there, but any of the butternuts with a shorter season might be worth a try. Perhaps, since you're in a colder zone than I am, you could start it, say June 1, and keep under a row cover until it starts to bloom as suggested by Jazzpunkin?

The late planting with Ponca worked for me in the past. For now, I can't compete with the neighbor's increasingly shady trees grrr.

Blue, Thank you for the information. I am going to try again next year I think Lord willing and the creek don't rise.

Makshi, Maineroses is sending out seed of butternut squash for SASBE at:

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/666812/

Good luck with the creek next year - amazing how many equivalents of creek mischief there are

karen

Thanks Karen