It’s Squash Week!

Squash has ancient history dating back as far as 12,000 years, American Indians called squash the “the apple of God”. In the 17^th century squash was introduced to Europe; however, it was not commonly eaten until the 19^th century. Iroquois American Indians had three main crops squash, beans, and maize, also known as the “Three Sisters”.

Types of Squash:  

Summer squash grows on non-vining bushes. The three main types include: the yellow straight neck or crooked neck, the white scallop or patty pan, and the oblong, green, gray or gold zucchini.

Winter squash matures on the vine and is covered with a hard rind that permits winter storage. It is categorized according to its fruit size: small fruits (1 to 4 pounds) include acorn types, butternut types, and some true winter squash types; intermediate fruits (6 to 12 pounds) include banana squash, Cushow, Hubbard and some Sweet Meat varieties; large fruits (15 to 40 pounds) include Blue Hubbard, Boston Marrow and Jumbo Pink Banana varieties; jumbo fruits (50 to 100+ pounds) include Big Max and various Mammoth varieties.

Planting: 

If planting squash from seed, plant them either in a garden bed or in a hill. In the garden bed, they’ll need to be planted 2-3 feet apart at about a 1-inch depth. However, if planting them in a hill, take 3-4 seeds and place them together. Then mound dirt in around them. The hills will need to be 5-6 feet apart. Most summer squash varieties now come in bush form. Winter squash varieties are in vine form. So, plan accordingly if you are growing a vine. Vines need to be planted about 8-12 feet apart.

The final step to planting squash is to water regularly and consistently. One time a week, you’ll need to water the plants deeply. Give the squash plants about an inch of water so the water will reach the roots.

Care: 

Mulch - After planting squash plants place mulch around each plant. This will protect the roots of the plant and keep weeds from becoming a problem.

Fertilize - After first bloom appear on your squash plant, it is time to fertilize to the side of the plant. Fertilize regularly. Like with most gardens, fertilization once every 4-6 weeks should be ample.

Water - Water your squash plants heavily. Water them one day a week with one inch of water along with regular watering on other days.

Pest Problems:  

Squash Bugs look like smaller stink bugs. They live on the squash plant and kill it by sucking the

sap right out of the plant. This sucking action releases a toxin from the bug into the plant and kills your plant. Prevention is key. Rotate crops yearly, use insecticides, and pay attention to your plants. If you can catch them while they are still small, it is much easier to get under control. Remember to dispose of all squash plants at the end of the grow season so the bugs don’t overwinter in them.

Blossom-End Rot. You think your plants are doing great, you see fruit forming, and then

you see that the end of the fruit is black which means that your fruit is inedible. This is an issue because of a calcium deficiency or your soil has uneven moisture levels in it.

Stink Bugs They are an issue because they will nibble on your plants. Clean up plants and weeds in your yard, and do not give them a place to overwinter.

Squash Vine Borer The eggs are laid at the base of a squash plant. When the eggs hatch, they begin to gnaw through the plant. This will obviously kill your squash plant. You need to clean up your garden beds every winter, so they don’t have anywhere to overwinter. Seeing signs or finding eggs, sprinkle diatomaceous earth around the base of the plant. It is more about preventing this bug than defeating it because once you see it, then it is probably too late for your plant.

The best companion plants for squash are corn, peas, beans, icicle radishes. These plants help deter certain pests that often attack squash plants.

Harvesting and Storage:

Summer squash can be harvested about 55 days after planting. For optimum quality, harvest while fruits are tender and still have a shiny or glossy appearance. When growing conditions are favorable, harvest the crop daily or every other day. Harvest crookneck and straight neck varieties when fruit is 1½ to 2 inches in diameter. Harvest zucchini when fruit is 7 to 8 inches long and scallop types when they are 3 to 4 inches in diameter. All these squashes can be harvested at smaller sizes for extra tenderness. Do not leave large fruit of summer squash on the plant because this will inhibit the development of additional fruit. Store summer squash in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Turf/Tree Team Part 1

The Tree and Turf Team has been busy so far this summer.
Part 1.

There hasn’t been a slow down with mid-summer fast approaching for Tree & Turf Team.

The team has been all over the valley visiting multiple issues impacting resident’s trees and lawns. We’ll cover a few of our visits in detail, giving what we found, we will show some photos of damage and what advice we gave to help the owners.

Our 1st visit takes us out to Melba where a couple have 2-acre 180 fruit tree orchard that turned out to be a lot of note taking. The couple called into Canyon County Extension Office asking for help with their apple, pear and cherry trees, each with a different problem. The apple trees were being impacted by a severe aphid infestation. “see photo’s 1 and 2”. At this point there wasn’t much we could do because the aphids would soon be gone for the summer eating grasses but they  could return in fall. We made comments about using horticultural oil before bud break next year to help control future outbreaks.  

Aphids causing the leaves to curl

Notice small black spots on the back of leaf

The second tree variety “pears” appeared to be impacted by fireblight. Fireblight is a really nasty bacteria that ends up killing large areas of the tree. The only way to try saving what’s left of the tree is cutting the impacted branch below the infected area and disposing of it. It’s important to get these limbs removed right away because the bacteria can move from blighted spurs and shoots through the vascular system into larger limbs and tree trunk. Death of the tree could result within one season if not properly taken care of.

Signs of fireblight is wilted leaves turning black

Several branches impacted with fireblight               

The third tree issue impacting the orchard was their cherry trees. Research is still ongoing, but we are suspecting a fungal disease called Brown Rot Blossom Blight. The branch tips die back, leaving clusters of dead, brown leaves. Fungus spores infect the tree blossoms in the spring, when the blooms begin to age. Many tiny black spores begin to cover the dying flowers. The spores become active and start to kill the branch tip and work back towards the trunk. Once the dieback begins, the disease cannot be controlled. The only recourse is to prune off the dead portions of the branches and dispose of them in the trash. However, you can help prevent the reinfection of your plants by cleaning up all ground litter from all around the base of the tree.

Clusters of brown dead leaves

Backed off to notice dead branch dieback

Last pieces of advice we gave them was about their drip water system, which was to move emitters out further toward tree drip line instead of directly next to trunk. The 2nd item was to bring in a few truck load of wood chips that could help in retaining moisture and better temperature control under the tree canopy.

Check out some of these links.

Data Reference:

Aphids impact on apples trees:  from Utah State Extension

https://utahpests.usu.edu/uppdl/files-ou/factsheet/aphids-apple.pdf

Fire blight on pear trees: from University of California Extension

http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7414.html

Cherry tree fungus blight: from Penn State Extension

https://extension.psu.edu/ornamental-cherry-diseases