Cantaloupe failure

I planted my cantaloupe against a chain-link fence on my property. For a time, all was splendid; the vine was growing and it was flowering. I think I may have even seen a few beginning fruit.

last week, I noticed one of the vines had a hole in it about eight inches from the tip of that particular vine. Everything started to die from the hole to the end of the vine. I clipped that vine and did a diligent inspection. I did not see any caterpillars or other holes in any of the vines.

I did notice at the dirt level, some long (ranging from 1 cm to 1/4 inch long) grey bugs that sort of looked like medicine capsules. I couldn't tell which end was the front end, except for the direction it was traveling. I have been spraying with organocide and also alternating with a 'critter/bug b gone' spray I found in another thread, but still have those bugs.

I go out to inspect garden today, and the cantaloupe are pretty much done.

I also found similar bugs in the main vegetable bed underneath my crook-neck squash (btw - do you trellis or stake those?).

Three questions:

1: Do I pull the cantaloupe now, sterilize the soil underneath (boiling water?) and replant cantaloupe, or leave it as is?
2: If I leave it as is, can I plant something else there, and if so, what?
3: How the (heck) do I get rid of those ugly grey bugs from underneath my squash?

thank you.

Sorry; I don't have any photos - darn bugs are too fast for me. :)

Your grey bugs, do they roll up into a ball if you poke them? If so, they are Woodlouse - in America they are usually called sow bugs, or pill bugs.

Even though they are supposed to eat only dead stuff, I have seen them eat just about anything - dead or alive!

Sluggo-Plus will kill them. Regular Sluggo will not kill them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodlouse

HbNC - no, never saw them roll up; they'd just run off.

I take it sluggo plus is not organic, eh?

at this point, i just want some bloody fruit - will have to try and figure out organic later.

The Sluggo-Plus label says it's organic, but there has been some research done that says otherwise! Use at your own discretion.

Sorry, but I can't think of what your bug might be. If you could show a photo, perhaps I could help.

Did they look like this? http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/factsheet/ENT-120-08.pdf

Squash bugs can make a plant wilt rather fast if the population is large enough.

Ray - thanks for the link.

No, it's not squash bugs. I'll try to catch one so I can take a photo.

it was grey, moist looking, uniform in shape (cylindrical - like a pill capsule, only skinnier), and had many legs.

I didn't see them in the vine itself; just in the soil.

I have no idea what bug it was that actually sucked a hole in the vine and killed the vine from the inside, although I wouldn't be surprised if it was squash bugs, as I did see some earlier this season in a different area of the garden.

If that's not them then your plant probably wilted from Squash Vine Borers. I assumed the bugs you saw were the culprits. But not the case.

Those bugs you see on the ground sound like what Honeybee thought...a type of pillbug. There's different varieties. Some roll up more readily than others. But I will say they really don't do too much to full grown plants. Definitely wouldn't make it wilt that fast.

So, is there anything I can do? If I replant the cantaloupe, can I expect the same thing? Or should I just plant some type of green bean in its place?

I have a lot of problems with squash vine borers. This year for the first time I am trying something new. I read about sprinkling the plant (where the vine emerges from the soil, that's where the moth lays her eggs) with black pepper and/or wood ashes. I think the smell deters the egg-layer.

Miles: Thanks. Do they remain in the soil? thinking of sterilizing the area with boiling hot water.

Vine borer winter over in the soil. http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/M1209.html

Be sure to rotate the area where you plant the melon every year.