The brown leaf edges can be anything from fertilizer burn to downy mildew. I have seen numerous squash plants do this exact thing when the squash bug is present. These bugs suck the life out of squash plants, and also emit toxins to add further irritation to the plant. I'm not sure about their range in habitat, other than the East Coast. They are large grey bugs about 2"-3" long and have angular shaped heads, and very hard exo-skeletons.

Another, thing that causes leaves to brown off the outer edges is prolonged periods of wilting in the hot sun, or in very cloggy soils as they like adequate drainage.

What type of soil are you using in your buckets?
Are the good parts of the leaves green or some other coloration?
As, for trellising the zucchini is a bush squash and does not climb. You may have to lead the others up the trellis at first, but once the tendrils wind around the rope they should be fine. Tying would be a good safety precaution for the fruits. Have fun with your garden.

I found this on the Square Foot Gardening website about growing squash and zucchini vertically:

"Zucchini
The last is also a summer squash but is in a class all by itself. In fact, it is quite often considered the queen of the garden. Everyone grows zucchini and let me tell you, zucchini loves all the attention. She will take over the garden with her leaves so big that each one will shade out an entire square foot of some other plant. The plants get huge although they do not have a long vigorous vine. Because the leaves are so big and the leaf stem is so long and thick it is very hard to coax them to grow vertically. They want to lay down on the ground and spread out. In fact is very hard to figure out how to grow them vertically.

My Secret

The trick is to have the vertical support whether it be string or netting or just a stake, very close to the plant. You can do that by putting a stake in the ground first and then planting the seed or young plant around it so you don't drive the stake into the roots of a growing plant. That way it is much easier to gently lift and bend the plant end up and tie to the stake or string. After you get it started up your string or netting every few days it will have grown out a few inches. Not up, but out and it will try to lay down again. You just gently talk to it, lift that head up, and tie it again to your vertical support. You just keep doing that every couple of days. "

I think if this method would work in a square foot garden then it should work just fine in containers :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Square Foot Gardening - Growing Squash Verticially

thanks guys for the advise!!!!

"I have seen numerous squash plants do this exact thing when the squash bug is present" no bugs that I can see, thank goodness!!

"What type of soil are you using in your buckets?" I am useing Sta green potting MIX (from HD) with a extra scoop of perlite mixed in for good measure. and I do have dranage holes (I am new so you never know :P )

"Are the good parts of the leaves green or some other coloration?" the dried brown parts has so far only aperared on one leaf of each plant, the first true leaf. the whole leaf is kinda spoted now, but all of the new growth (about 3-4 leaves) look green and healthy.

"As, for trellising the zucchini is a bush squash and does not climb" I ordered zucchetta rampicante tromboncino which grows like a squash and has 5' runners, or so the seed catalouge tells me.

thanks for all the trellsing advise, I still have a bit to go before they are lage enough, but I like to be prepaired. if I can get them all climbing good Ill post pics!

I have started to water them less, and the potting mix seams to stay moiste longer than I expexted, so maybe I was watering them too much. I also only hardened them off for three days (I was excited to get planting) so maybe that was it.

anywho as long as it only afects that one leaf per plant I am not going to get too worried. Again, thanks for all the help.

Kelsey

Every squash plant I've grown came to about 10in. to a foot. Maybe a little more. But don't pick them 2 early. Pick them when there technically 11in. or so.