zucchini leaves are yellowing and dying

The leaves on my zucchini plants are getting yellow and eventually dying. New growth leaves are fine but eventually they get yellow. I live in Austin, Tx and its already getting pretty hot. The plants get full sun during the majority of the day then shade in the evening. Ive had someone tell me they get too much sun. I was wondering if that was true or if it was something else?

I water most every day. I have tomatoes and eggplant in the same bed and they are fine.

this is also happening with my cucumbers.

any suggestions?

Do you fertilize ?? Just wondering if they need some iron perhaps ?? Dunno.....I'm a beginner too...so I don't have much experience. However...my gardenias had yellow leaves and they needed iron.

ive fertilized once with an all pupose fertilizer. my plants get wilty everyday in the hot afternoon sun. but i wonder whether my nutrient level in the soil is bad.

thanks for the input!

Both cukes and squash wilt down very badly in the heat of the day in a hot climate. that's normal. You may be watering shallow to often which impedes root development. It is best to soak the soil to a depth of at least 6 inches no more than twice a week. There are of course virus and soilborne diseases which are always a possibility. If it is just a few old leaves, and the new growth is fine I would not worry too much. But if it is advancing up the vine, you have a root or stem problem.

Farmerdill,
How do you know how much is "soaking to a depth of six inches"? I have never figured this out!

It is 30 C where I live right now and I am watering everyday and am just not sure.
Thanks,
cinski

Cinski just dig down 6 inches if its wet it is wet enough.

Doesn't that make sense!

If you don't have one, invest in a water meter. It's a little meter with a probe on top. You can stick it in the ground and it'll tell you how moist your soil is. I have mine marked at the 2" mark. If it's wet or even registering moist, I don't water. When it gets to the dry side, then I water deeply.

yeah, they seem to spring back after i water them. Also my neighbor who does alot of outdoor planting, just not veggies, said i should mulch, so i may do that as well. cool guys, thanks for the input!

I'm in Austin also.

You HAVE to mulch. Your stuff won't make it through the summer without it...especially cucumbers and squashes.

Aside from the water saving side of mulching, your plants will do much much better because you're actually A) protecting your soil and the nutrients therein and B) protecting the good bugs and bacteria that are in your soil. When you mulch, all of your good bugs are right at root level. When you DON'T mulch, all of those good bugs go much deeper (where it's cooler and moister), and they're not able to do what they're supposed to be doing at root level.

You HAVE to mulch, or you may as well just run the hose on your plants all day long.


Dylan