Why does my zucchini wilt?

[isabrownmom]

My zucchini plants are huge and look great and healthy but as soon as I start picking zukes, the leaves/stems start looking all wilted. I try to be very gentle when foraging but still they wilt. Can anyone advise me/ This happens every year and I'm at a loss as to what to do.

 

[rockytopsis]

How are you taking the zukes off of the plant. I usually just very gently twist mine off.

 

[seedcorn]

Could have bugs. I lost a summer squash this year and have lost zucchini like that in past. Easiest way to keep them healthy is water them w/soapy water from clothes washer. Catch the water when it drains out in bucket and water them. Soap kills the bugs.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Zucchini might wilt for different reasons or possibly a combination of reasons. It may be two or more things acting together.

Squash vine borer - These enter the vine within a few feet of the base and feed inside the vine, disrupting the distribution of nutrients and water. Look for an entry hole with yellow stuff around.

Squash bug - The nymphs and adults suck juice from the plant, weakening it and can cause it to wilt and maybe eventually die. The eggs are copper colored and laid in rows. In theory, they are laid under the leaves but I've seen them on top of leaves and on the stem itself. The adults look a lot like a stink bug, brown or gray.

Nematodes - These cause knots to form on the roots, weakening the plant and causing stunted growth. You have to look at the roots to see if this is the problem. Since your plants are not stunted, I would not expect this to be the problem but I'll mention it anyway.

Bacterial Wilt - You can cut a stem and see if a thick ooze comes out.

In high heat it is not unusual for zucchini to wilt in the heat and recover overnight. Check soil moisture to see that it is getting enough water, but wilting may just happen even if the plant is well watered when it is hot.

When you harvest a zucchini (I use a sharp knife to carefully cut it off) you injury the plant and it loses moisture through the injury. I find zucchini and yellow squash to be pretty delicate and not like handling anyway.

What could be happening is that the plant loses moisture when you harvest in the heat and the plant wilts. It will recover when it cools off. The plant is healthy and you will continue to get a good harvest. It's not really a problem, just make sure it is not too dry. I'd consider this the most likely scenario since all your zucchini do it.

It is possible that you have one of the other problems and, when you take off a zucchini, it is enough to kick it into a wilt. The plant will still recover when it cools off for a while, but it could eventually die. I'd consider the wilting a sign to look for something else, but if it happens every year and your plants don't normally die from it and continue to produce, I would not be too concerned.

 

[isabrownmom]

Thank you all for your quick and informative replies! I will check on the garden as soon as I get home from church and look for possible other issues. I love it when lovely people step up to the plate to help out a fellow gardener (novice that I am)! Thanks again!

 

[Heirloomer]

I have vine borer problems which causes the plant to suddenly collapse and die. I have tried various approaches but about the only thing that works is to make a slit in the plant a few inches off the ground and dribble in a few drops of bt. This is a bacterium that affects only caterpillers and is approved for certified organic growing. Then you seal the wound with some masking tape. Take the tape off about a week later so the plant stem doesn't get pinched.

There will be a little hole with a sawdust looking substance oozing out if you have borers, however, it can be hard to see if they are small. They back down from whereever they are in the plant to poop out of this hole so you can inject the bt into the hole if you can find it as an alternative to the slit method. I have tried injecting but any type of needle I use just gets gunked up after the first use so the slit approach works better for me.

You can also try wrapping tin foil around the lower 3 or 4 inches of the plant when it is still small and the moth which lays the eggs may not be able to lay them as she doesn't like to lay them higher on the plant, but this is not foolproof.

For squash BUGS (not to be confused with squash BORERS) you can look for the yellow groups of eggs on the undersides of the leaves. When you find them, hold the leaf over a bucket of soapy water and brush them off into the bucket. You can also get at the adults by leaving boards out in your walking paths and turning them over first thing in the morning. You will see the squash bugs and can then SQAUSH them.

Diseases can also be spread by cucumber beetles. These are small yellow or green beetles that fly around all of the plants of the cucurbit family and can transmit diseases. They are hard to fight off. There are basically two ways that are organic. One is to plant nasturiums or radishes right in with the squash plants and let them go to flower. Another is to put a row cover over everything but then you have to remove it and hand polinate the plants and put it back.

If you have a large number of plants, these approaches can be too time consuming. You can try planting in a delayed sequence so you have plants coming up at different times. That way if the the first planting bites the dust, you have new plants coming up you can get things off of before they crash. You can 't do this too late, however, as there will be diminishing light as the season progresses past the Solstice and the late plantings will never reach the size to produce. I just put some started plants in today, which may be pushing it.