Subject: Zucchini & Squash

From: [email-masked] (KSewellMAE)
Date: 24 Mar 1995 17:39:00 -0500

This will be my third year at planting a vegetable garden, and I've had
unfavorable experiences both times.  The first year, I planted zucchini
and squash (my favorite vegetables ever), along with all kind of other
things.  They got so big, they shaded everything else, so nothing else
grew very well (and I was eating zucchini bread until the following spring
-- no complaints there).  
The second year, I planted them at the far end of the garden, and put the
other plants in front of them (they were in front last year and got all
the sun).  Problem was, the tomatoes I planted (which I thought were a
short plant based on my experience with them not growing very high the
first year) grew so big they towered over the 6-foot stakes.  My zucchini
and squash, therefore didn't get any sun and died.
My question is this:  did the plants croak because they didn't get enough
sun? Or is it something else?  They started off great, I had tons of
blooms, then the stems started to rot.  I never saw a bug on them, so I
don't think I had bugs, but I can't figure out where I went wrong.  Should
I do something to the soil this year to improve their chance of survival?
(I normally use peat moss, and a commercially available organic fertilizer
for vegetables.) How can I get the right balance so I can grow other
things besides Zucchini and squash?  After last year, I thought I'd rather
have tons of zucchini and squash and nothing else than no zucchini at all.
The neighborhood cats also use the garden as a litter box.  Could this
have affected my plants (I've read the other areas on keeping cats out of
gardens, so I don't want to start another converation on that)? I just
want success in my garden!  Please help!!

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From: [email-masked] (Kate Maskar)
Date: 25 Mar 1995 13:14:22 GMT

Your squash plants may have been suffering from squash borers. The adult
(flying) form of the borer (I never saw it in my garden either) lays
eggs at the base of the squash plant. When they hatch, the grubs bore
into the squash vines. The evidence of borers is usually a tan colored
pulpy mush along the vines. If you slit the vine where you see this, you
can usually find the borer, dig it out (ugh!), and the plant will
sometimes survive. I've had some success with using aluminum foil around
the base of the squash plant; it's supposed to discourage the egg-laying
habit. Have also heard of people spreaading wood ashes around the plants
to achieve the same effect.
One way to reduce zucchin glut, by the way, is to eat some of the
blossoms. When I was in France one spring, I noticed that they sold the
blossoms in the market and immediately came home and tried some of mine.
They are tasty when sauteed in a little butter and delicious (if a bit
messy) if you stuff them with mozzarella cheese and deep fry them.
Good luck with your zukes!