Why are my squash plants biting the dust?

[theHandpuppet]

Three years now and I've had zero luck with my squash plants. First of all, I get lots of blossoms but almost all of them just drop off. This year I've had an even more mysterious problem -- I finally got a few lovely, lush plants that were just starting to bear fruit when virtually overnight they up and died. And I do mean virtually overnight! I had one acorn squash that was nearly as tall as me and a couple of good-sized squash on the vine, then one morning I went out to weed only to find it had -- OVERNIGHT -- turned into little more than a pile of wilted leaves. Two other container squash died the same way just the previous week.

I'm not having problems with any of my other crops -- beans, tomatoes, all manner of root veggies, kale, cabbage, potatoes et al. But I'm about to give up on squash.

BTW, I've planted five different kinds of squash not only in various parts of my garden but in containers as well, thinking by this method I might find out what I was doing wrong. No luck!

[ernstbass]

1. Cut worms always get mine

They bore into the stem down near the roots and the plant just yellows and dies quickly. I have been told that putting foil loosely around the base of the plant when planted will prevent this ( or a paper cup that has been cut down to about 1-2 inches)

[wryter2000]

2. Don't know about the sudden death

I also used to have problems getting fruit. Turned out the flowers weren't getting pollinated. Hand pollinating took care of the problem. If you only have a few plants, it just takes a minute in the morning.

[theHandpuppet]

3. I'll try both suggestions

Thanks very much for the advice. Next year I'll try the tinfoil and in the meanwhile I'll also try some hand-pollinating, though there seem to be plenty of bees around here!

[HerbieHeadhunter]

4. Fungi get mine from time to time....

and it comes on pratically in a couple of days, taking an otherwise large, healthy and squash being plant to a rotten mass in a couple of days.

It is usually a soil born fungus, so your best bet is to spray the affected plot with a solution of bleach and water....cove the ground with black plastic and let the sun kill the fungus. Next year, plant the squash in a different area and spray it with fungicidal soap every couple of weeks.

Same goes with tomatoes, cucumbers and eggplants.