Help! Zucchini Pests and dying Leaves

[myfirstgarden]

My zucchini plant has not been doing well. I thought it was because it needed more nitrogen, so I gave it bat guano. It is not getting better. This is a picture of the plant:

A close up of one of the leafs:

It has only been getting worse since I added nitrogen, so I decided to give it a bigger, 5 gallon, pot. While doing so, I found these two little creators. Can you identify them? Are they ruining my plant or helpful?

Freaky spike red green little guy:

and light green cutie pie:

Looking forward to figuring this out. Thanks!

 

[lesa]

That bottom pic appears to be a baby praying mantis. That is one of the good guys- don't squish him! I don't think the squash plant looks too bad- I would cut off the bad leaves and wait a bit...

 

[The Mama Chicken]

The bottom 2 pictures are definitely small praying mantises. They are predatory bugs, like Lesa said, a good guy. I'm not sure what the first bug is though.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don't know what that top one is. It sort of looks like an immature phase of something maybe. The others are good guys like they said.

Container gardening is hard for me, especially getting and keeping the moisture right. So off the bat, mositure, either too little or too much, would be my worry. If it is too little, a zucchini plant will wilt, so watch for too much. Other types of plants will turn yellowish with too little water, but squash wilts first.

Over-fertilizing can cause as much or more problems as underfertilizing. I don't know how hot bat guano is, but I'd be real careful with members of the squash family about burning the roots with too much fertilizer.

Neither of those bugs look like squash bugs, either nymphs or mature bugs, so you are probably OK with that. If you see any bugs that look like stink bugs, squish them. They will stink, but those things are dangerous.

You might try googling "squash vine borer" so you can see what the frass looks like. The squash vine borer tunnels into the stem of the squash vine and kills it. You can tell you have them because their yellow poop comes out of the hole they went in. They will kill a plant. Instead of turning a bit yellow, the plant just wilts. I don't think that is your problem, but forewarned is forearmed.

Container gardening is not my thing, but that looks like it has been stressed some. I'd suggest being careful with water and patience, but hopefully someone with container gardening experience will kick in.

 

[catjac1975]

Pull off those damaged leaves and destroy. My plants get a few of those and usually survive. That pot is way too small for that plant. If you have a bigger pot transplant it without disturbing the roots.

 

[ninnymary]

I am no container gardening expert but my plant looks worse than yours! I think my problem is overwatering. Trying to cut back and the new growth is green. Hope I dont turn it into yellow!

Mary

 

[Jared77]

Pull off those damaged leaves and destroy. My plants get a few of those and usually survive. That pot is way too small for that plant. If you have a bigger pot transplant it without disturbing the roots.

Agreed

 

[myfirstgarden]

Pull off those damaged leaves and destroy. My plants get a few of those and usually survive. That pot is way too small for that plant. If you have a bigger pot transplant it without disturbing the roots.

Agreed

Let's say I were to build it a raised bed. I am thinking about doing it, but an not sure if it will be worth it. According to square foot gardening, it should be 3'x3' and 12"-22" deep. What do you guys think about these measurements for one zucchini plant? Is it to late in the season and zucchini's life to get a lot of fruit out of the plant? I do want to really take care of this plant because it is the only plant I started from seed that is doing so well. On the other hand I can fit up to 9 tomato/pepper plants in a box that big. I could always make two because I have access to scrap wood and tools, dirt would be the only expense and space is something to consider.

Thanks for the input. Who knew gardening would be so fun!

 

[catjac1975]

3X3 is a little shy of enough room but you can probably get away with it with good compost.

 

[baymule]

I planted my squash in the flower bed! lol A lot of the leaves on my zuchinni and yellow squash look like that, they are just dying back as new leaves take their place.