Squash plant with borer?

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thethorinator Clinton, MA(Zone 5a) Jul 24, 2009

I have a Black Beauty Zucchini plant whose outer leaves just seemed to start slowly shrivelling up and by the time I got to it, all of them were sompletely limp, almost as if there were not enough water, but we've had a TOO MUCH water overall this season. I did fertilize it when I saw it in it's current, limp condition with the oldest and closest leaves near the ground being light yellow. I have heard of a insect which crawls up inside the stems of squash and causes a similar condition. What would cause this, as the plant 2 feet away is or at least appears to be absolutely fine. I did find a BUNCH of what I presumed to be cucumber beetles (ladybug-sized beetles which were yellow with black stripes, were very quick to fly away and, once I sprayed the effected plant with hot-pepper wax, they have completely left it alone so..) I felt no need to spray further. On, and the blossom produced half of a zucchini with the rest being nothing but seeds and that portion was punky and nasty-looking with no flowers left on the plant where there had been a bunch. Can someone please, tell me how to address this pest problem, if it is caused by a pest?

I have a Yellow, Prolific Summer Squash with no symptoms and producing a beautiful squash! I did notice that it has a 1+" crack which is completely clean with no obvious signs of infestation or the looks of a hole...just a crack, parallel with the natural-looking lines that the summer squash varieties have that run up the stems all around them. Could this be caused by too much rain water and, since it IS on the edge of a raised bed--since I didn't know how much room it would take--it may have some weight on the plant/stem. It is not a hugely leafy plant, but the large ones it has, doesn't have that wilted look, but should I do anything as I would like to have at least some yellow squash and zucchini--for that matter--to donate to the local food pantry which is where ALL of my produce is being grown for and I know they would appreciate that as well. :o)

Thanks so much for your answer!

Thor

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