The Leaves of my Butternut Squash/ Pie pumpkin plants are dying.

[drewskimac]

Not all of the leaves, but about 25-40% of the leaves on my plants are dead/dying. No, there is not squash bugs. I check for those every evening. What could be the problem? Do they need fertilizer maybe?

 

[shortgrass]

Do you see any spots? Gray, whitish spots that wipe it wash off then reappear? If so, its powdert mildew, very common problem...

Does it start at the crown or are they vining leaves that are dying? Could be a snapped vine, too...

If its PM, best bet it a fungicide, Neem oil, or milk(haven't got to try that one yet)...

Maybe a picture would help too

 

[drewskimac]

I will try to get a pic after a while, I did notice that the dead leaves are all closest to the crown of the plant. The leaves that are new and further out on the vines look good.

 

[shortgrass]

I would be suspicious of it, then...the outer vines will root down in search of better soil and nutrients as well, both for helping the long vines with easily accessible food, and sometimes in response of a pathogen they will root down to help fight it.

Are the vines still producing well? Or is the fruit rotting on the vine or refusing to o set?

Lol i asked more questions than you did!

I can say, I'm struggling with PM in my vines, they have sicklyblooking crowns but the outer vines look great, production had screeched to a halt; all flowers were dropping off before setting fruit. I got it under control, but my harvest will not rebound in time

I might just be being paranoid of PM in yours because it sounds so similar to mine..

 

[drewskimac]

Yep, there are a lot of fruits but they are rotting on the vine.

 

[drewskimac]

So I can fix that with the fungicide?

 

[keesmom]

Powdery mildew is what usually gets my squash vines, assuming they survive the vine borers.

There is a homemade recipe to deter powdery mildew. I will see if I can find it.

 

[shortgrass]

Yep, sounds like it... I usually use NEEM oil, its my go-to for almost everything, fungus, mites, and insects... But I have read about using milk for PM, just haven't tried it yet... I'll let keesmom find a recipe since they're already looking...

In the meantime, there's another thread only a few days old, about composting mildewy leaves... It has some great suggestions for fighting mildew

I hadn't thought of vine borers... If its borers, the Neem oil will get those too...

Edit* here's that thread, just in case...https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1021325/can-we-compost-leaves-with-mildew#post_15849457

 

[drewskimac]

I actually went to the store this morning and bought some neem oil, and a multipurpose sprayer. That should take care of the problem

thankyou for your replies, my plants would have all died if you hadn't stated what you thought it was.

 

[shortgrass]

Great! I hope it helps and you can get some pumpkins out of them..

Happy to have assisted