sugarcookie, without a picture or a much better description, it would be a pure guess on anyone's part. "doing very poorly," is pretty vague. You might try to use the search feature at the top of the page. Good luck.

Hi dirtguy,

Thanks for your response. I'll post a picture later if it helps. I'm somewhat of a beginner, so if there is something else that I can tell you, please let me know. Like I said before, the leaves are yellow and the plant hasn't grown much since I planted it as a start about a month ago. That's all that is wrong with it. It's small and yellow, whereas the other veggies and squashes are getting much larger and are green. The leaves aren't brown or falling off, they are just yellow. There are no visible pests in the stem or leaves. Does that help?

I'm just looking for ideas on what might cause this besides pests (or invisible pests?). Is there a specific nutrient that this squash needs more of then other plants? Could there be too much of something? I've tried searching but haven't found any information specific to my problem, besides pests that would be visible. I considered acidity, but if it was acidity, then at least some of the other plants would be affected too, don't you think? IâÂÂve got zucchinis, winter squashes, tomatoes, strawberries, cabbages, peppers, broccoli, herbs - all doing very well.

Thanks

Did you grow them from seed in that location or did you buy transplants? I bought a squash and zucchini plant at the same time and transplanted them both into the same soil....the zucchini thrived but the squash didn't. If you transplanted it could've just been that the plant didn't take well to it or was too old at the time.

Hi Cait,

I bought them. That sounds like a reasonable explanation. It wasn't very old, so maybe they just prefer to be planted from seed. I'll try that next year.

I think all cucurbits (squash, melons, cucumbers) prefer to be direct seeded. They have delicate roots that grow fast. If you are going to transplant them, they sould have no more than one set of true leaves. Most crook neck squash reach maturity in about two months, so you can plant some seed directly in your garden now. The plant you have is unlikely to ever amount to much.

Thanks! That's helpful information.

Mine plants look ok, but the squash themselves are awful. They are VERY orange, instead of the nice yellow color, and their skins are very hard, with dry, tough insides?? We grew them from seeds...can seeds go bad? This is our first year to garden and we aren't having much luck. :(