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ariel_5b

Pumpkin leaves—normal or not?

13 days ago
last modified: 13 days ago

Ive noticed that pumpkin leaves are sometimes look like this but i dont remember if its always the same variety, but i assume its not the way they are supposed to be?? I believe this is a musquee de provence. I have several other varieties very close by that dobt look like this!

I’m in northern Indiana, zone 6a, i think!




Comments (14)

  • 13 days ago

    Interesting! I used imadacloprid (systemic—not sure if it’s used any other way!) when it was pretty small. i don’t remember if it was before or after the silvering appeared but the silvering has continued as its grown. Does that mean that mean that its more likely to be natural rather than whiteflies? As well as that there other pumpkins nearby that are untouched.

  • 13 days ago

    There's nothing wrong with your squash. It's natural silver mottling of the leaves. It's caused by genetics. Different varieties of squash (even different plants of the same variety) will display different amounts of it. Some won't show any at all while others will be very variegated.

    Silverleaf whitefly damage causes entire leaves to have a silvery green appearance and it looks very different from what you are seeing. More info here: https://entomology.ca.uky.edu/ef319

    Powdery mildew is, as the name suggests, powdery. It is a white-ish fungus that grows on the leaf and can be rubbed off. It's a very common squash fungus but again, not what you are seeing. https://extension.umn.edu/disease-management/powdery-mildew-cucurbits

    Rodney

  • 13 days ago

    It's normal. I have two musquee de provence growing in the garden now and grew them the last two years and it's how they look. They aren't pumpkins but are considered a squash and a very good squash. It's the only squash I like and enjoy eating raw it's so good.

  • 8 days ago
    last modified: 8 days ago

    Yes, it's natural mottling. You get it on some zucchini too. Nothing wrong with them.

  • 8 days ago

    I’ve been meaning to post an update that i actually did have whiteflies! 😄 I noticed a pumpkin beside the musquee de provence had slightly silvery looking leaves so I lifted a leaf and sure enough, there were a couple little whiteflies under there but thankfully it didnt look like a bad infestation. But then I noticed one of my tomato plants looked slightly silvery too and i checked that out and realized there was whiteflies on my tomatoes as well. So i gave everything a healthy dose of neem. So thanks to my squash and pumpkins and this forum hopefully my garden will be saved!

  • 8 days ago

    There may well have been white flies but they did not produce the silver markings on the squash leaves. Those are definitely natural and not a sign of an issue.

  • 8 days ago

    As indicated by my previous comment, I agree with floral. There is nothing in the photos you uploaded that shows any whitefly damage. If you found them on your plants they were not cause of the natural mottling we see in your pics.

    Rodney

  • 8 days ago

    Yeah, i agree! the other pumpkin definitely had a different silvery look to it!

  • 7 days ago

    You may have White flies but they have nothing to do with the pattern on the leaves.


    My two musquee de provence Plants I just took a picture of, do they look familiar?



    This is how they grow, it's not from white flies, powdery mildew, aphids, leafhoppers, beetles, spider mites or any other type of fungus. It's their natural markings.

  • 7 days ago

    Yep, that looks like mine! or how mine did look—unfortunately it suddenly completely wilted and died. 😢 I couldnt see any signs of boring in the stem. I think i just read about a virus maybe that can make them do that? Does anybody know?

  • 6 days ago

    They could have been attacked by something in the soil under the landscape fabric. I've had to replant courgettes three times because of something chewing them off at soil level under the mulch. I haven't identified the culprit yet. I know it's not slugs or snails.

  • 6 days ago

    Ariel, do you have moles by chance? I'm infested with them and lost a tomato plant. When I pulled out the root there was a mole tunnel running right through the roots.

  • 6 days ago

    floral: I could find any damage on it anywhere like it was chewed anywhere, so I don’t think anything got it.

    kevin: I don’t think I do. This spring there was a long mole trail in my yard but since then I haven’t seen any evidence. 🤷‍♀️ I know very little about moles though so maybe they spend months deep enough that they aren’t leaving the trails along the surface?? When i pulled the out it felt like it had a decent root system but not a ton of roots came out but I assumed they broke off, but i guess i didn’t actually check.

  • 5 days ago

    Voles perhaps but unlikely moles. They're largely insectivorous.

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