It's been over a week now so if no one has any suggestions this can slide off.

.....Alan.

Alan,

I hate it when no one pops up with an answer to a question, so thought I'd tackle this one although I am no authority on squash.

I am growing many of the squash you mention, and I don't usually have problems with squash vine borers. Many of mine do root right through the mulch, so maybe that is why they do so well.

When I've grown Amish pie pumpkin, it has grown and produced extremely well, with no disease or pest problems.

Also, I have grown a pumpkin for several years now that I think I originally got from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, although I think Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds has it too. It is native to Florida and is called Seminole. It grows very much like Amish pie pumpkin: a rampant grower that won't quit and resists insects and disease. The fruit are small, maybe 3 or 4 lbs., tan-buff in color, and there are lots of them. Never once have they had a squash borer.

I have seed of Red Kuri. If you'd like some seed so you can try it, e-mail me your address and I'll snail mail you some seed.

Dawn

Thanks Dawn! I appreciate your offer.

The Seminole Pumpkin is my C. moschata selection that I'm growing this year. I alternate it with Waltham Butternut as they both grow about as well, seem well nigh invulnerable to everything and keep better than anything I've seen.

Sure wish I could say the same for my summer squash...

.....Alan.

Oh heavens, let's not even start whining about summer squash!

O.K., let's whine a little.

What are your top two summer squash problems?

Mine are squash borers and squash bugs. I hate them both.
It is a constant battle. Some years I win. Some years they win.

How about you?

Powdery mildew has been my worst problem. Florida in the summer is nothing if not humid. Have tried the baking soda, milk, baking soda/milk recipes with mixed results.

Squash borers have been a problem some years and not other years. I'll be planting new ground this year so I expect they won't be much of a problem, but next year I think they likely will.

Pickle worms have been a problem at times. Even if they don't ruin the fruit they seem to spread a virus or something that causes many of the squash to turn green and/or taste bad.

Squash bugs I've seen but for some reason they're not often a problem.

.....Alan.

I was afraid powdery mildew might be a big problem in your climate. Here it is usually only a problem in rainy years, and we have very few of those.

And even though I always have tons of squash bugs, I never have pickle worms.

BTW, I sent you some snail mail today.

Dawn

My only real problem with summer squash is having too much of it. You'd be wise to not leave your car door unlocked later in the summer, or the zucchini bandit will leave a present. :>)

Vine borers have not been a problem for me; knock wood. I have squash bugs, but control them by hand-picking. Radishes help deter them from the bush varieties, but it's hard to interplant heavily enough with the vining types.

I'm wondering, too, if this thread wouldn't be better placed on the vegetable growing forum?

Now that it's wandering in the direction of summer squash problems the vegetable gardening forum would be more appropriate. But my original questions I felt had more to do with something appropriate for the heirloom forum since most of what I was looking at are heirlooms.

Around here yellow squash and zucchini seem about equally as productive and both susceptible to much the same insects and diseases. You can get a heck of a lot of squash while they last, but the powdery mildew is going to get them sooner or later. I've started succession planting them to get a longer season.

.....Alan.

I agree, your original query certainly belonged here.

I appreciate your problems, Alan. When it comes to insect pests and diseases you're in one of the two worst parts of the county. I think it's amazing you ever get to bring in _any_ crops, given your conditions.

What about growing summer squash as a fall crop? Does that work, given your longer season? I'm thinking if you planted them in, say, August, you might get an October harvest?

I wonder, too, if growing some of the vining marrows on trellises wouldn't help you control pests better?

Florida isn't as bad as all that, you just have to understand the gardening seasons work a bit differently here than most of the rest of the country. I really can grow a lot of squash but the plants are not going to last all summer the way they do in other parts of the country. "Summer squash" is planted in both the Spring and the Fall here with July and August being best for the traditional really heat loving vegetables like okra, sweet potatoes, peppers, and so on.

I'd like to try trellising summer squash, but the few varieties that do run appreciably don't really appeal to me. I like a straight forward yellow squash like Early Prolific Straightneck or Yellow Crookneck. My winter squash like Waltham Butternut and Seminole Pumpkin I let climb. Easier to keep the vines healthy that way and takes up less space.

.....Alan.

Some of the winter varieties (butternut included)can be used the same way as summer squash,just pick them when less than maybe 1-2 lbs.Many times they dont even have seed cavities at that size.There are probably other winter varieties that will yield more or faster fruits then b-nuts I havn't tried many yet but b-nuts were fine picked as summer types.I skipped trying acorns because of the shapes.
Bill

Does anyone grow a pumpkin called Dulce De Horno??
I'm growing it this season, but I've noticed squash by this name listed as pepo, other times muscata or maxima.

Seed To Seed lists it as C. moschata. That book usually is very accurate, so, in the absence of other info, I would go with it.