Do the leaves have a powdery look to them? I've lost 2 of 4 zucchini plants because of the heat/humidity and powdery mildew.

Alexa

My guess is squash beetles. Check the stems at the base to about 6" up and see if there are any holes. Early in the season the beetles are in the 'fly' stage and lay eggs at the base of the plants, then the eggs turn into the larval stage where they eat out the inside of the stems on cukes, zucchini, and other squash families. They then turn into beetles, which you'll see crawling around on the ground.

This happened to me every year for about 5 years when we first moved here. Now I cover my squash crops in spring, up until they flower, with row cover.

It could also be either striped or spotted cucumber beetles. They carry a virus or bacterium that causes cucumbers to wilt and decline since the water carrying capacity of the plant gets plugged up. One way to tell if the disease is there is to cut a vine from the pporly plant--it will have a milky sticky ooze that will "string" out from the touch of your finger to the cut end. The plant should be removed in destroyed in this case. Insecticides (light applications) are about the only way to protect the cukes once the beetles are in force it seems. Early on, screening the plants is recommended.

Thanks to all for replying,
I don't see a powerdery mildew. I also don't see any striped or spotted bugs and no stringy ooze. What I do see is lots of bugs :
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/rhodcv/hort410/squash/sqbug2.jpg

So I have squash bugs. These are all over the place. I've also lost two squash plants before the cucumber plant so they are really having their way with my plants. Now that I know what I have, how do I get rid of them? Obviously next year I will use row cover. So the only way to get rid of them is to use insecticide? It's been an organic garden up to this point so I hesitate to use insecticide, anyone know of any organic options to get rid of these things? They are starting to go after my other two cucumber plants now. Thanks

Here is a link that might be useful:

When the squash bugs are immature, they keel over if you spray them with dish soap and water, I've heard. But once they are past that white stage, these are pretty much a pestilence of man! THe tried and true is to trap under a flat board at the base of the plant and squish the suckers. The squash bug has been the bane of my existence and the desire to have minimal interference with the garden to keep it organic has mostly led to ineffective solutions i.e. really ratty plants. Squash bug populations can build up tremendously year to year so if you don't get serious on eradicating as many as possible, it can be really hard to have a good harvest from then on out. Experience speaking.