I even tried the tinfoil technique to try and protect the base of the plants.
I'm not sure that I could say that it actually worked. The pumpkins died back completely but the Tennessee Sweet Potato Squash hung in there. The leaves close to the base of the plant died back. The runners had a fair amount of flowers, mostly male. I did however have 3 squashes that I decided to nurse along.
Since I've never grown this variety, I wasn't sure when the fruit was ready to pick. The bugs figured it out before I did so one of the squashes bit the dust before I could check it out. One down, two to go.
I picked the other squash this morning as it had turned a lighter color and it appeared the bugs had started to chew on it.
My fingernail could penetrate the skin easily. (For some reason I thought this would have a tougher outer shell.) Well... that explains the bugs chewing on it.
I brought it in washed it off and cut it open.
Well...I guess I won't be growing this squash next year.
It seems that the Butternut varieties are going to be my "Go To" winter squash next year. SVB and squash bug resistant, tough outer shell to resist the other bugs. Tasty too.
It's too bad none of mine germinated this year. A squash-less year for 2012.
Oh well..."Butter" luck next year.
Let's hope next year is better than this one. Towards the end of my growing season which was pretty good until then I had a devil of a time with bugs. I spayed and sprayed but the bugs seamed to like the bug killer. Is this a sign of times to come? I wonder if the commercial growers are having bug issues and just not making the news?
ReplyDeleteWell, we gotta keep trying, don't we? The crazy thing is you could try this very same squash next year and have success with it. But I think we all keep going back to what works for us most of the time. Maybe being squashless isn't as bad as being beanless. Or tomatoless?
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