Zucchini Pests and Insects
One of the most common zucchini problems is insect pests. The zucchini plant basically looks like a buffet table to a great many insects. Some common zucchini pests include:
cutworms cucumber beetles squash bugs vine borers spider mites aphids whiteflies
Most zucchini pests can be controlled with regular applications of insecticidal soap or pesticides. Since these different pests can affect the zucchini plant at different times in the growing cycle, it’s best to start a pest control regimen as soon as the zucchini plant is in the ground to avoid these pest problems on growing zucchini.
Zucchini Diseases
A zucchini plant is also susceptible to a wide variety of diseases. These include:
powdery mildew bacterial wilt downy mildew yellow mosaic virus botrytis blight
Once the zucchini plant is infected with any of these disease problems, it’s nearly always fatal to the zucchini plant. The best way to fix disease problems with growing zucchini is to make sure that the zucchini plant doesn’t get them in the first place. This can be done mostly through appropriate care of the zucchini plant. Making sure that the plant gets plenty of sun, the right amount of water every week, avoiding top watering, and good airflow through the proper spacing of plants will go a long way towards helping the plant fend off many of these diseases. Also, keeping common zucchini pests away from the plant will help curb the diseases that these insects often carry with them.
Additional Zucchini Problems: Blossoms Falling Off Plant
Zucchini blossoms falling off plants is often an issue gardeners see. While many people think that their zucchini has a problem because the blossoms are mysteriously falling off the plant, this is actually not the case. This is very normal for zucchini plants and is part of their development process. If the ends of your zucchini get soft before they are fully grown, this is caused by squash blossom end rot and is a symptom of a calcium deficiency.
