Thanks, rjinga. Good to know I'm not the only one. DH says I can't rip up the yard for a large scale vegi patch so I'm stuck in containers which makes for a smaller number of plants. They've destroyed all but one and that one's not producing yet. I'm about to move it into the screen porch and hope it gets enough sun.

I even had to go to the grocery and buy four zucchini and stick them among the plant so my four year old would think he grew vegetables. *sigh*

Ohhhhh, that's sweet (and sad) I had planted so many seeds that ALL grew that I ended up potting up about 12 or so maybe more in gallon containers...all of those were actually doing pretty well...WELL, I went to take a closer look and those #*@(*#*!_$ SVB and stink bugs/squash bugs, were all over them too. I had been dusting their main base stems with sevin dust up til about a week ago...when it just got too hot to get out there to do it...

have you looked into square foot gardening? in raised beds? might be worth a look, you could end up with more space to plant in (that would "look" ok to DH)

THe only place to do that would be in the back yard with the dogs and everything dogs do.....I don't think this would be what people have in mind when they say "water often". Looks like I'm stuck in containers for a while.

Hey, just in case you know, I looked at my other unaffected containers and I saw little flee like things jumping around in there and going in and out of the soil....could these be little squash bugs just waiting to grow up?

Ok, so I just looked up SFG. I could SO con him in to letting me do this in the drive way.

However, would all of the boxes I'm seeing be deep enough to hold the root system?

Yes, so they say...most plants need only 6 inches of soil...I personally used 2x10's for mine. And they were situated on top of real soil, so eventually they material I used inside, will break down and join with what's below the boxes.

There are some veggies that need more than 6 inches and from what I've read, you can actually just build up that particular section...imagine a box and then you put another box on top of that, but the second box is smaller to just deepen a particular section...hope that makes sense.

PS: could be flea beetles? google squash bugs and you'll see what their babies look like. ditto with flea beetles and see if that's what you are seeing.

Im in Lilburn, Georgia, and have the same problem; and when i lived in Commerce it was just as bad. however, I think i have found the solution that works for me. Since the moth is only active at night, I cover my cucumbers with fine netting (from Joanns or Michaels) and uncover in the morning so the bees can pollinate. I cover them around 5-6 pm, because sometimes the moths are out a bit before sundown, tho usually after. I uncover around sunrise. Voila! Problem solved.

Then, Johnnys Select Seed has a yellow summer squash (Golden Glory) which requires NO EXTERNAL POLLINATION (parthenocarpic variety), and has a high percentage of fruit set-- i think it was over 90%. So, I hoop house those and cover with fine netting, and then harvest the squash! Fruit set was pretty good for me this year. I have lost none to pests.

There are also parthenocarpic cucumbers, but i dont know how good they are, i.e. if they are bitter or seedy. I grow the lemon cucumbers because they are never bitter. Maybe I will try the Corinto cucumber next year, which is parthenocarpic, just as an experiment.

Because we are in the deep south, we get 2 batches of squash borer and pickleworm. Covered plants are the only way to go for me as I like to go organic. I have 4 beehives, so i dont want to use pesticides. Melons and pumpkins would be difficult, as the plants are SO big that netting and un-netting would be tedious and time-consuming. I dont grow those anymore so i cannot say how it would work out.

Pickle Worms show up about July 4th around here. I intended to cover some of my cucumbers (parthenocarpic) before the 4th but I forgot. I also grow Partenon Zuchinni which is parthenocarpic but some animal put a hole in my tulle which was covering the bed.. So I ended up throwing away all cucumbers, squash and zucchini sitting on plants. Hoping that would rid me of the plague. But no, I forgot about the Tromboncino squash which were also distroyed by the pickle worms.

Has anyone tried to cover the fruits with panty hose (knee highs) to see if the pickle worms will leave the fruits alone.