tromboncino...

Yeah, they've been growing the vining zuke here. The report is that it produces well but is short on flavor, especially compared to Costata R...

Thanks Tom (I was making my coffee in the middle of my post, which is why I missed yours).

Now I remember reading about the milk spray, come to think. Potassium bicarbonate doesn't sound too terrible, I think it's about similar to what one boils out of wood-ash to make hominy corn.

i found tromboncino to have excellent flavor. i usually can't abide raw squash, but really liked tromboncino raw. it's also a bit less watery than most squashes.

tom-- where'd you get serenade? have you tried neem?

Just set out some store-boughten zuke seedlings. So we'll try some timely sprayings of something or other.

My problem has always been the squash vine borer. This year I have been spraying with BT and horticultural oil. Knock on wood it has been going great.

Michelle

tom-- where'd you get serenade? have you tried neem?

Hey, Ill-man, the best price I could find on Serenade was here, it's fairly pricy though, with $9 shipping still cheaper that what's available locally.... I still have some GreenCure left too but I'm open to trying the neem. What do you buy and how do you apply it?

Tom

I must agree with ill-man about the flavor of the Tromboncini .
Castorp also grows this squash . It is yummy !
Try using Ultra-fine horticultural oil , BT , cow's milk and soap - alternating sprays .
You might find this article very interesting . Lots of options offered including milk .

Here is a link that might be useful: Powdery Mildew of Cucurbits in Florida

I have grown the summer squash here for several years and
have been able to get a good harvest. They do better in full sun. Water them only in the morning,never in the evening.Do not over water. Give them plenty of room for good ventilation. I only get the mildew problems
toward the end of their growing season. I use no chemicals
only horse manure and water.
Felix

I have managed to grow squash and zucchini here in central FL but the plants do get powdery mildew usually later in the season. I've also had terrible time with vine borrers, and squash bugs but those are usually also a later season problem.

Downey mildew can be controlled with a milk spray because the change in pH of the leaf surface by the milk but it does not really help against the powdery mildew. Powdery mildew tends to attack squash plants that are suffereing potassium deficiency so the potassium bicarb should help against either type of mildew. Spraying the plants with sea weed fertilizer like maxi crop should help against the powdery mildew since maxi crop is a good source of potassium as well as other trace nutrients.

BT or Thuricide works well against leaf chewing caterpillars but is less effective against the borers since they only eat a small hole through the surface and are less likely to ingest it.

I have found nothing other than a vacuum cleaner to work against squash bugs through neem oil is supposed to work against the nymphs and eggs though it does nothing against the adults.

The best crops I had were the ones planted early in the year in a good bed of mushroom compost with adequate water by micro sprinklers.

I've been trying to grow cucuzzi squash, beautiful leaves and blossoms. Plants are supported on trellas. The vines seem to wilt, fruit developes then start to rot from bottom up. Any ideas?

No real experience on squash myself, but from what I have learned, it could possibly be two things. First is that it is just too humid for them and they rot. Second, and this happens a lot, if a flower isn't pollinated, it will grow the fruit, but not sustain it and the fruit rots. Only a pollinated flower will grow a fruit to the stage of ripeness. The answer is often to have more than one squash near each other so that pollination is more likely to occur. Some people will take on the roll of pollinator themselves to ensure a good crop.

Yeah, just get out there with an artist's paint brush and make sure they're pollinated, for starters. When are you planting? I normally have powdery mildew problems with fall-planted squash, less with spring squash, although this winter is so peculiar I don't expect much of a spring crop, either.

This is what I learned about the end rot on some squash, especially zucchini: it all has to do with how quickly they drop their blossoms. Zukes don't drop blossoms as quickly as yellow squash, so what I did was to go out every morning, pick off all the wilted blooms and brush some baking soda on the tip to kill any fungus. That was the only way I got zucchini in SW FL zone 10a. Besides which, squash blossoms are yummy stuffed, battered and fried, so it was just an extra piece of food from those plants.

Check to see how fast your squash are dropping their blossoms and try my trick. It's better than having to spray them all the time, but if you do decide to spray, I used to use 1/3 cup Murphy's Oil Soap and 1 tablespoon baking soda to 1 gallon of water, and it worked a charm. Even worked for leaf miners on citrus and black spot on roses.

It looks like people have the same summer squash problems in FL we had in TN. In TN vine borers were uncontrollable. I wont get into the fungus's. We finally gave up and bought our squash at the store.

LOL at greenthumbs2. I try every year, and every year I get a handful of squash before the vine is ravaged by disease and pests. I don't know why I keep trying. I used to be completely overrun with squash and zucchini in SC. Gardening there was so much easier. I don't know why I try here, except I think if WE have to use so much spraying, can you IMAGINE how many chemicals they use on commercial crops?

dirty73 - Yes I can well imagine. Or they can grow them up north where they thrive and ship them south. They thrive in areas like NY, PA, CT, NH etc. I had so many when I lived in NY state we couldn't give them all away. No disease and no borers - hence, no need for any kind of sprays. In fact all the veggies grew better in the north than they did in TN. Only Okra didn't do well in NY. I'm thinking FL wont be much different than TN where veggies are concerned. We don't freeze anything but peppers. We do some canning, both water bathing and pressure canning.