Striped cucumber beetles and squash bugs overwinter in squash residues so burn or haul these away at season’s end rather than cold composting them. Pests & Diseases: To combat squash bugs without using pyrethrum or neem: Protect young plants with row covers. Taste: Unless you want to stuff them, for best flavor pick squash when they are small. Mites and colony collapse disorder have wiped out a high percentage of wild and domesticated honeybee colonies in the last 20 years, creating a real crisis for cucurbit growers. In early summer, a combination of cool, cloudy weather and declining bee populations may result in poor pollination causing low yields. Females have a bulge at the base of the blossom, an early stage of the fruit forming. Male blossoms typically precede females by about a week. Harvest male blossoms when fully open for salads or stuffing. Don’t leave oversized squash on the vines. For best flavor pick summer squash when they are small. Make succession plantings to ensure harvest through the entire frost-free season, insurance against powdery mildew and other diseases of tiring old plants. Floating row covers, especially when used in low tunnels, provide extra heat and can hasten maturity by 1 to 2 weeks.
#8 BALL PRICE INSTALL#
Immediately install wire hoops and row cover to keep out cucumber beetles. Or start indoors, 25 days before transplanting. Minimum germination temperature 60°, optimal temperature range 70–90°. Days to maturity are from direct seeding subtract 20 days for transplants.Ĭulture: Tender, will not survive frost.