Tag: cucurbit
-
Question of the Week – Virus

This week, the question was: What is wrong with this squash? This squash is showing symptoms of a virus. There are numerous viruses that affect cucurbit crops, which may be transmitted in a variety of ways, such as, by insect (aphids, whiteflies, cucumber beetles), through seed, or mechanical damage. Symptoms may include mottled or mosaic…
-
Question of the Week – Snake Bean

This week, the question was: What will develop from this this hairy-looking flower? I recently visited a community garden and was stumped when the groundskeeper asked me if I knew what plant this crazy looking flower belonged to. After I blanked for some time, I was informed that this flower belongs to the Python Snake Bean…
-
Question of the Week – Squash Beetles

This week, the question was: What is this critter that was found on the underside of a cucumber leaf? This spiky looking thing is a squash beetle larva. This is one of two species in the lady beetle family that feed on vegetable crops. The other is the Mexican bean beetle. Squash beetle adults look…
-
Question of the Week – Pickleworm

This week, the question was: What caused the hole in the side of this cucumber? (Nothing is wrong with the color. This cultivar is called Silver Slicer.) This week’s question is a review from a post Tom Bilbo wrote recently about pickleworms. Pickleworms feed on the blooms and tunnel into the developing fruit of cucurbit…
-
Weekly Field Update – 1/23/23

The Weekly Field Updates are back for 2023! We hope everyone had a great holiday season and is off to a good start this year. We have lots of fruit and vegetable meetings over the next couple of months, so check out the Upcoming Events tab for the complete lineup. This week there will be…
-
Downy Mildew found in SC
From Clemson Plant Pathologist Dr. Tony Keinath: The first SC report of cucurbit downy mildew this year came on June 6 from a crop consultant, who found it on cucumbers in Bamberg County. Growers should spray all cucumber and cantaloupe crops to prevent or manage downy mildew. The cheapest downy mildew fungicide is Ranman. It…
-
Testing What Controls Downy Mildew in Cucumbers – and What Doesn’t
From Clemson Plant Pathologist, Dr. Tony Keinath. Small growers can manage downy mildew on slicing cucumber and increase yields by growing a partially resistant cultivar, like Bristol, and spraying weekly with moderate-cost fungicides, like chlorothalonil rotated with Ranman. Trellising doesn’t help manage downy mildew. Read Dr. Keinath’s full article about testing cultural and chemical controls…