Pests And Diseases Of Pumpkin, Zucchini, Squash

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Many summer residents grow zucchini, squash and pumpkins on their plots. They often encounter various pests and diseases that reduce the expected yield. Let's try to figure out these problems

Aphid

The most common danger that gardeners face is aphids. It appears at the end of June and damages almost all parts of the plant. If you do not fight with it, then the leaves will deform and curl. In order to avoid this misfortune, you can use such proven remedies as pepper infusion, onion solution and ash infusion.

Control methods

• Infusion of pepper is created by infusion. Dissolve 20 g of ground pepper, a tablespoon of soap and half a glass of ash in a bucket. During the day, the mixture is infused, filtered. The frequency of spraying is a week.

• Onion solution. A glass of chopped onions + tbsp. l. hot pepper + 3 tbsp. l. ash + st. l. soap. A double treatment is enough.

• Ash infusion. A glass of ash is poured with hot water (10 l), liquid soap (3 tablespoons) is poured into this solution. Mix well and insist for a day. Spraying occurs every other week up to 3 times in the evening.

• A solution of karbofos is also good for fighting harmful insects. A ten-liter bucket of warm water will require 2 tbsp. spoons of karbofos and st. spoon of soap. Plants are poured with this solution and covered with foil for 24 hours.

Whitefly

This pest causes significant damage to many garden crops that are grown in open beds. They appear in the middle of summer and settle on the back of the leaves. They secrete sticky sugary substances, which contributes to the development of fungal diseases. The leaves turn black and the plant may die.

Control methods

First of all, gardeners should know that flower beds are arranged at a decent distance from vegetable beds, since whiteflies often choose tall plants. If you plant several tobacco plants in a vegetable garden, they will serve as a good guard against these pests.

A good help in the fight against a pest is Ashersonia solution. It is a biological compound that can be found in garden stores. Dissolve one tablespoon of the drug in a full bucket of warm water and spray the affected plants.

But the easiest way is to carefully examine the plants and wash off the whitefly that has appeared with water, and loosen the soil around it well.

Bacterial fruit rot

This is a common disease in which young ovaries begin to rot near the flowers themselves. The reason for this may be a high planting density, cold and frequent watering, as well as sharp fluctuations in temperature day and night.

Control methods

If you notice the first signs of infection, immediately remove diseased plant parts and reduce watering. You can prepare a spray solution: a bucket of water + 1 tbsp. spoon of copper sulfate. Each plant must be poured abundantly with this solution.

Powdery mildew

This is a fungal disease of the leaves, when whitish spots appear on them. They grow very quickly, affect the entire surface of the leaf and it dies off. The disease develops most actively in calm, hot weather. Further, this infection persists on unharvested plants and can infect new ones.

Control methods

1. At the first signs of infection, the leaves must be treated with a solution: a liter of liquid mullein + a bucket of water + a tablespoon of urea. After cooking, strain. Processing involves wetting the leaves on both sides.

2. To combat the disease, you can pollinate the plant with ground sulfur. Sulfur powder is poured into a gauze cloth and the affected areas are powdered. The procedure is carried out on a sunny day at +23 and above.

3. Manganese spraying: 1.5 grams of manganese crystals + 10 liters. water (pale pink solution).

4. The most effective way is to use sulfa paste. 2 tbsp is enough for a bucket. l. Processing is carried out twice at weekly intervals.

Gray rot

Unlike powdery mildew, this fungal disease can affect the entire plant (stem, stalk, ovary).

Control methods

The most effective control is preventive methods:

• change of landing site every two years;

• compliance with the temperature regime (not lower than +15);

• compulsory incineration of infected residues.

If, nevertheless, gray rot appears, it is necessary to cut off the affected parts and spray the remaining part with copper sulfate (10 l + 1 tbsp. L).