HELP !!!! my plants arent doing well!

[VeganVixen]

I need help ! I already use a homemade pestacide (water ,soap ,cayenne) and sprinkle fine garlic poiwder on my veggie plants ,but these green caterpillers are still eating ,although it has helped .

Also my squash plants leaves are turning yellow ,then black and dying -I try to pick them off b4 it spreads and I water reguarly and have rich soil -can anyone help me!!!!

[sachis2112]

Remember that any pesticide will kill the good things as well as the bad. It sounds like your squash might be getting overwatered (how's the weather?). I think that a good, sharp spray of water on your plants might help with the caterpillars but you'll have to do it and then make sure your anti-bug methods are in place. No natural "pesticide" is foolproof so you will have some trouble. I've read about some gardeners placing a ring of desirable, inexpensive plants around their gardens (like lettuce) to let the buggies feast so that there's no room left for the interior plants. But that's not always fool proof either.

Have you seen the pests? Can you tell me what they look like? They might not be the ones that are eating unless you've seen them actively doing so. They may be harmless with some nocturnal buggy demolishing your beauties.

[sachis2112]

Also, with the squash... the black parts that shrivel up... are they dry or mushy? Are the stems in those area sort of turning woody instead of succulent green? Do the ends of the plant still seem tender and green and growing vigorously?

[VeganVixen]

the caterpillars are green and small (under an inch) and there were black eggs on the leaves ...my squash plants are turning "woody" and the leaves look as thought hey are in a "web" design the way theve been eaten or somthing -but that has stopped ,now they are just shriveling up ....Its quite annoying!

[asil]

Ugggg....I think you've got the dreaded squash vine borer. It's endemic to Texas and there's no hope, if that's what you've got. Even chemical pesticides can't really stop that &^%$ once he's gotten in. early in the season you'll see a moth looking thingy. That's what you've got to kill. I do it by vacuuming them up with a dust buster, while laughing in an evil fashion. If you miss them, though, they'll lay eggs in the vines, and then it's all over but the crying. If you still have any healthy plants, mercilessly kill the unhealthy ones. The others still might have a chance.

Hope this isn't what you have. I battle these devils every year for my beloved yellow squash. :mad:

[VeganVixen]

CALL THE WAAAAHHMBULANCE!!!! :::SNIFF,SNIFF::: I better get the out of the garden asap (they were potted until I put them in there to see if they would get better)!!!! I got them from a reputable nursey .....errrr -my dads homegrown ones are doing GREAT -hope the little time they are in my dads "ground garden" it wont spread!!!! EEK I shall do it tomorow morning!!!
thanks

[VeganVixen]

I think that is it ,but they seem to not be green like the other ones I mentioned (they are eating my mints ,basil ,tomatoes and various herbs
they look like this (the greenfruit worm ) but I dont think that those would eat herbs ...http://www.uky.edu/Agriculture/Entomology/entfacts/fruit/ef214.htm


here is what the squash borer looks like ,I havent seen them but it sounds dead on...http://www.uky.edu/Ag/Entomology/entfacts/veg/ef314.htm

[sweetgoddess]

VV~For the squash borer you can slit the stem at the entry hole of your plants ( look for a sticky gob of excrement—which looks like sawdust sort of—marking the entrance site near the soil line, though they can enter stem leaves too!) and remove the larva. Then cover the damaged area with a shovelful of moist soil to help the plant heal and grow new roots at the site. You can also, since this is a problem in your area, routinely place a shovelful of soil at one or more locations along the stems of each vining cucurbit plant to encourage supplementary root development and increase the plant’s ability to overcome borer attacks.


Another thing you can do in the future, is plant a few early as "traps", and then plant your squash for harvest later than usual.
You can also try the 3 sisters companion planting.

Since your dads are doing fine, I would guess you got some weak plants from that nursery. I know a well fertilized plant can actually withstand a couple of borers, so check on the fertilization. And if this is a common problem in your area, ask for a genetically resistent host plant at the nursery.

good luck!

[VeganVixen]

thamk you very much ,I can see your thumb is VERY green :D