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Extension > Garden > Diagnose a problem > What's wrong with my plant? > Vegetable > Winter Squash and Pumpkins > Wilting/drooping leaves

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Winter Squash and Pumpkins > Leaves > Wilting/drooping leaves

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  • Image: Squash Vine Borer 1
  • Image: Squash Vine Borer 2
  • Image: Squash Vine Borer 3

Squash Vine Borer
Melittia cucurbitae

  • Feeding by larvae causes yellowing of leaves and wilting
  • Holes filled with green to orange excrement near the base of the plant may be present
  • Common on summer and winter squash and pumpkins
  • Adult borer resembles a wasp, is active mid-June through July
  • More information on Squash Vine Borer
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  • Image: Squash Bug 1
  • Image: Squash Bug 2
  • Image: Squash Bug 3

Squash Bug
Anasa tristis

  • Feeding can cause yellowing and wilting
  • Common on squash and pumpkins
  • Adults are 5/8 inch long, somewhat flattened, and gray to dark brown with alternating orange and brown stripes on the edges of their abdomen
  • Nymphs are 1/10 to 1/2 inch and are a light to dark gray color
  • Active from May through September
  • More information on Squash Bug
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  • Image: Bacterial Wilt 1
  • Image: Bacterial Wilt 2
  • Image: Bacterial Wilt 3

Bacterial Wilt
Erwinia tracheiphila

  • Leaves first appear dull green, wilt during the day, and recover at night
  • Eventually wilted leaves die
  • Wilt progresses down the vine until entire vine is wilted or killed
  • Striped or spotted cucumber beetles will be present in the garden
  • Cucumbers and muskmelon most commonly affected (pumpkins and squash less affected)
  • More information on Bacterial Wilt
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  • Image: Cold Temperature 1
  • Image: Cold Temperature 2

Cold Temperature

  • Weather has been cold (below 50°F) and wet
  • Soil is cold (below 62°F) and damp to the touch
  • Leaf edges turn olive green to brown
  • In severe cases entire leaves, young shoots or the entire plant may be completely discolored and wilted
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  • Image:Phytophthora Blight 1
  • Image: Phytophthora Blight 2
  • Image: Phytophthora Blight 3

Phytophthora Blight
Phytophthora capsici

  • The entire plant may collapse if root and crown rot occurs
  • Stem and leaf petiole lesions are light to dark brown, water soaked and irregular
  • Large irregular brown spots on leaves
  • Fruit develop soft, water-soaked lesions which expand to large sections of the fruit
  • Infected fruit are soft, easily punctured and often collapse
  • Infected fruit are covered with white fungal growth
  • More information on Phytophthora Blight

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