relax first....
If you saw a cluster of eggs then it wasn't SVB, it was squash bug eggs (pick your poison, they're both bad). SVB lay eggs singly, and mostly on the vine and stems. but in either case, if you are vigilant, you'll be able to find and remove most of the eggs. I don't have a lot of experience with squash bugs, but that's what you probably have. As long as you removed the eggs, then you'll be fine. just keep your eyes open for more.

It could also be eggs from another insect. Were they clear? I often have those on harvested zukes and just wash them off with no apparent impending doom to the plant. :)

ccabal.. i think you are right, I googled squash bugs and the resulting images of the eggs were same as I saw under my zuk leaves.
so if i m careful about spotting the eggs and removing them, then i m good? is there anything else that i need to do?

Just remove the eggs, and relax.
My squash is always over run with squash bugs, and I still get all the squash I need--it doesn't seem to affect productivity.

I check my zuke plants twice a week and remove eggs. You can also put boards down under the plants and check them in the heat of the day for the adults which you can grab and step on. They look fierce, but they don't bite. Since doing this (many years now), I haven't lost a plant.

If the eggs hatch, you'll see the nymphs all over the plant. Get a bowl of water with a little dish soap and drop them in. Same goes for the adults.

The eggs stick really well to the leaves so you either have to squish them or cut that part of the leaf off. i would be very interested to hear another method, if someone else has one.

-Anne

Just be SURE that they are the eggs of a pest and not those of a pal.

What else you can do is keep an eye out for the adults, which look like stink bugs and stink like them too. Blue smelly goo when you squish them.

Thank you all. I am a bit relieved now. I thought I lost my plants. I will keep checking for eggs and bugs.

Annew21: Horticultural oils smother eggs, but like Rhizo said, you want to make sure you're not wiping out a generation of good bugs.

Kevin

Anne -- yes, either squash them (but they stink) or cut them out is easiest. Scraping them off is difficult, and hard to get all of them. I normally just give up after a while and let them hatch and do whatever they want. Or if I get in a feisty mood I spray the nymphs with water with a little dish soap in it. It just seems like all my efforts don't really affect their population much, and they don't really affect my plants too badly, so I give more of my assassin attention to the potato bugs.

I suggest you also Google SVB eggs. Keep an eye out for them, as they are more devastating than squash bugs if you don't try and stop them. look for their eggs on the main vine, close to the soil line sometimes, sometimes further up the vine. if you miss any and start seeing some yellow frass, get some BT and using a syringe inject some BT solution into the main stem, especially some inches above where you saw the frass. that should take care of them.

One of the best steps any new gardener can take is to learn to NOT panic - for any reason. Not only doesn't it serve any purpose but far too often causes you to over react and do more damage than good. :-)

As others have mentioned it is the nymphs that do the damage so learning to recognize the eggs and remove them solves the problem.

Dave

Thanks everyone for your valuable insights. I am trying not to panic now. I just harvested a nice zuk today.

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Now here is the problem, couple of days back when I started this thread, my zuk plant's leaves were all droopy. The bottom ones were a little yellow. I harvested one zuk the day before. I thought the plant was droopy due to lack of water. I did not water it for 2 days then and temperatures were about 95. So I gave it a nice watering and that is when I noticed the eggs, which I scraped off. Yesterday the plant looked better and I cut off the yellowing leaves.

Now today when I went to harvest the above zuk, I found the plant to be droopy again. All other zuk plants are good. Now this zuk is the largest of the group and it has another fruit growing. Below are the pics. Please tell me what do you think is wrong. I did not water it yesterday as there was a nice rain. i am really trying hard not to get depressed. The zukes are so yummy, I would hate to lose the plant. Please help.
Sam.

Here is my plant. You can see another zuk plant up top.
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A close up

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You, yourself, wilt a tad in 95F temps, no? Nothing to really worry about.

But, how about some mulch? It goes a long way at regulating soil temps and water levels. You'll probably even get a couple more weeks of growing time when the cooler temps move in later in the fall.

Just a suggestion.

Kevin

Thanks kevin for reassuring me and thanks for the mulch idea. Well since yesterday it has cooled off a little. Also my other zuk plants look ok. Only this one is all droopy. Today it is cloudy since morning and i took the pic around 2 pm. Is it just hot temp thats causing it or something else? If its only hot temp, how come my other zukes are doing ok?

Do I need to water zuk plants everyday?

Thanks,
Sam.

Could be some of the roots are closer to the surface than your others. Dunno.

The way I water cucurbits is "some" water every day or 2 and then a deep soaking every week or so. That's in the summer when plants are well established and my mulch is down.

The best way to tell if it's a water/temp type thing is to give it some water and then check in the evening when it starts to cool back down. If it perks back up, then it probably is.

Check also at the base of the plant. Sometimes, soil erodes away from the roots, exposing them to the summer heat. Mound some soil/mud back over those exposed roots.

Good luck.

Kevin

No you don't. Depending on soil drainage once a week is often enough. But since all your plants aren't mulched they will dry out faster so every third day could easily be plenty.

And keep in mind that over-watering causes plants to droop just as much as under-watering does because it leads to shallow rooting and root rot.

As to why that particular plant is droopy when the others are not there could be several possible causes besides water. Root damage, pests, not mounding up the soil to cover those cut off leaves, a broken/damaged stem, a soil pocket that doesn't drain well, nutrients, SVB, etc. etc. We can't always automatically assume it is water.

But the bottom line is that not all plants survive. No matter what you do some die anyway. Happens to all of us. You obviously have plenty of zucchini plants that are doing well so when one dies you pull the plant, shrug your shoulders, replant and move on. Gardening is supposed to be relaxing, not something to stress over. :-)

Dave

Oh... and after the deep soaks, I definitely go a few days before I water again to, like Dave said, encourage deeper rooting.

Kevin

Thanks kevin and dave. I put some soil at the base of the plant as per your suggestions. I noticed one or two leaves have become crumbled, dark and dry. You can see that in the last picture.

Dave, I am really trying not to get sad and relax while I am at it. Maybe because I am first timer thats why I am getting stressed so easily. With time I hope to get better :).

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sorry.. the crumpled leaf picture is the first one.

Sam.

Are there white patches on your leaves? I cant tell from the pics. I had several of my plants do this exact thing and die earlier this spring it was powdery mildew... Which I caught too late and it spread. If it is that you need to either remove the plant before it spreads to others or remove the leaves that are affected. I was able to remove leaves from plants that had just been affected and they made it. Too late for a few others though they crumples at the edges and died.

Also if your plants got too stressed with the lack of water and heat you might lose a few leaves but as long as you have some green healthy ones you should be fine. Every summer I come home at 4 pm to wilted cucumber & squash plants. Have to water every other day by the time it's 100 outside. Water evaporates very fast in extreme heat if there's no mulch. Soil is not going to help. get you some straw, hay, or leaves to mulch under those plants with.

squash vines will root if they are buried.Keep putting soil, compost, or mulch over the base of the vine and the cut off leaf stems and keep it damp.

Mulch will work wonders. A bale of straw is very inexpensive at a farm store and one bale goes a long way.

I gave up the practice of mulching my squash and pumpkin plants (although I mulch everything else in the garden).

I've had tons of squash bugs even though I scout for eggs weekly and kill any adults I find. They like to hide in mulch. Bare soil is best.

See this website for more info: http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/insect/05609.html

Here is a link that might be useful: Squash Bug Management

Nothing like throwing even more concerns at someone who readily admits they are already panicking! Hit a new gardener with all the 500 things that could even remotely be possible does not reduce panic.

Mulching vs. not mulching - mulching wins hands down. No contest whatsoever in umpteen studies on the question. The mulch is NOT the cause of squash bug problems.

Powdery mildew - no. What you are seeing in the photos is the normal interveinal white coloration of many varieties of zucchini plants. And if the cause was stress due to lack of water (which is just the opposite in this case) or heat then all the plants would be affected not just one.

Sam - pull this plant and dispose of it so you can quit worrying about it. For any number of possible reasons it has already been even more stressed than you are and will very likely not recover. But you can. :)

Just stir up the soil in that spot well, make a small hill and plant 3 new seeds in the spot. Plenty of time for it and in a couple of weeks you can have a nice new plant to keep on producing even after the others have quit.

And mulch the rest.

Dave

Anne -

Duct tape. It works perfectly.

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~emmers

It seems like I will have to pull this plant. It didnt look any better today (pic below), and the zuk that was there turned yellow and soft. So I cut it off and also some other yellowing leaves.

Dave, should I plant zuks here or something else, I mean is there a more likelihood of disease affecting the new zuk as well compared to if I plant something else?
Currently I have the following seeds; Burpee pickler hybrid cucumber, Burpees golden zucchini, Bush blue lake 274, contender bush, burpees fordhook zucchini (this is the variety I currently have which is having all the trouble) and clemson spineless. So which seed do you recommend planting, or it doesnt matter? I am in central illinois.

Allie and potterhead, thanks both of you. I will buy some bales this weekend.

Anne, thanks for the picture. That was really helpful.

Sam.