Wilting squash and cukes...should I water immediately?

[Talula Fairie]

Ok, this may be a stupid question but I am going to ask it anyway. My squash and cucumber leaves look wilt-y. The cucumber looks especially bad. Thing is, I water every other day. I just went out there and checked the soil around the squash/cukes and it's damp underneath the top layer, not VERY damp but you know, the color is darker and it sticks to your finger a little bit. It's VERY hot today, 100 degrees and getting hotter. It was hot yesterday as well, about 97. Do I need to step it up to daily watering, or is a little wilt normal when it's this hot?

[greengirl_]

I'm on a daily watering regime and it seems to be keeping the plants happy. My squash and cukes have not wilted, even in the 90+ weather we've had the last few days. My guess is it couldn't hurt to water every day and see how it goes.

[Talula Fairie]

Thanks!

I went ahead and watered them. Hopefully they will perk up. They are already looking better.

[SAHMinHawaii]

I am in arizona and i water daily unless it rains. I see some mild drooping during the hottest part of the day. once the sun starts going down, they perk back up.

[Talula Fairie]

Originally Posted by SAHMinHawaii

I am in arizona and i water daily unless it rains. I see some mild drooping during the hottest part of the day. once the sun starts going down, they perk back up.

They were like, really really drooping. Instead of looking like lillipads, the leaves looked like deflated balloons. They perked up after I watered though.

[cristeen]

Considering it hit 106 in your neck of the woods yesterday, I'd be watering daily right now. The more sensitive stuff at least - tomatoes can usually go longer so long as they get a good soak every so often.

[Talula Fairie]

Originally Posted by cristeen

Considering it hit 106 in your neck of the woods yesterday, I'd be watering daily right now. The more sensitive stuff at least - tomatoes can usually go longer so long as they get a good soak every so often.

I watered everything yesterday afternoon and I watered again (a light water) this morning. I'm going to go to daily watering now. It's already 87 at 9:22am and the temp is still rising.

[milagras]

Have the cukes begun to flower? Once they hit the flowering stage, they need a lot more water than at the beginning. I live along the MD/PA border and when we hit the middle of summer, I find I'm watering in the morning and evening on warm days if we don't get any rain and the sun is brutal.

Squash likes heavy watering throughout its life cycle.

Even watering, no matter how much you give them, is crucial, esp once there is "fruit" on the vines. Too much water can lead to rot as well as bloated less tasty veggies. Depending on the weather, and to prevent a glut of "fruit", I will sometimes pluck flowers to maintain an even harvest.

Inevitably though I neglect the plants at least once and just barely skirt disaster...

[Talula Fairie]

Originally Posted by milagras

Have the cukes begun to flower? Once they hit the flowering stage, they need a lot more water than at the beginning. I live along the MD/PA border and when we hit the middle of summer, I find I'm watering in the morning and evening on warm days if we don't get any rain and the sun is brutal.

Squash likes heavy watering throughout its life cycle.

Even watering, no matter how much you give them, is crucial, esp once there is "fruit" on the vines. Too much water can lead to rot as well as bloated less tasty veggies. Depending on the weather, and to prevent a glut of "fruit", I will sometimes pluck flowers to maintain an even harvest.

Inevitably though I neglect the plants at least once and just barely skirt disaster...

They haven't flowered yet but I can see the buds. The little 'baby' leaves have just begun to fall off.

Yeah, I always give my squash and cukes a heavy watering, I thought every other day was enough but I think in this ridiculously hot weather they need it every day. I generally aim for even watering every time but yesterday's emergency water threw off my schedule

[cymbeline]

Check for squash vine borers!!!!!!!!!

This happened to me, I thought the same thing, that it was high temps since it has been over 100 for a full week. Turned out it was the worms and we lost one of the plants! :

I had no idea what they were until my aunt told me. I checked the vines themselves and, sure enough, there were a couple of spots that looked suspect, like the vines were decomposing or something, getting spongy. The vine that died I ended up cutting open and, ARGH, tiny worms! They destroy the plants from the inside out and the first sign is wilting!

I bought Dipel Dust and sliced each vine where there were signs of damage, poured on the dust, and buried with more dirt. Watered generously. We haven't lost a squash plant since. I also sprinkled the Dust on the leaves of the cuke vines (we lost one of three).

We'll be starting a new round of squash and zucchini soon. I know so much more about the signs now, so I'm hoping I can take care of problems like this early.....

[Talula Fairie]

hmmm, I don't think that is the problem considering they perked up right after I watered them. If the problem continues I'll check though