I've got lots and lots of plants from that family growing. They seem to do really well for me when planted in mounds of mushroom compost and provided with good drip irrigating to keep the roots moist and cool. Only struggles I seem to have with them is potassium deficiency which tends to make them more prone to powdery mildew and I'm trying to combat with maxicrop. I have also had some trouble with caterpillars, vine borrers and squash bugs (actually several types of bugs in the same general group squash bugs, stink bugs, and leaf footed bugs) but there is little to be done about them. The caterpillars I can battle with thruicide. The main problem I'm guessing for your poor little squash might be the vine borrers. They can kill off a whole plant pretty quickly. The moth (or whatever it is) lays an egg near the base of the plant or along the stem. When the larva hatches it eats into the stem and then eats along the inside of the stem killing any part of the plant above the larva within the stem. They can cause really quick death of a plant if they start boring in near the base of the plant. You may find a hole near where a leaf meats the stem and if the whole plant isn't already dead, you can use a pin to stab the larva inside the stem or just split open the stem to find the larva and kill it so it can't develop and re-produce. BT or thuricide isn't very effective against vine borrers since they only eat a small hold into the stem and then are safe inside the plant. BT only really works if the caterpillar eats the stuff. The comments about the sun are good. Most squash and cucs I've known don't like complete full day sun though I have some doing ok in mounds of mushroom compost with drip irrigation in my back yard (however they were direct seeded and not transplants.)

Lisa, Yay! I am glad it worked. Some years when I plant a fall crop away from the main garden, I have the same results that you did, and some years the squash bugs find it anyway. I hope y'all get a great harvest and enjoy every yummy bite of it. Dawn

Now this forum is getting hopping again. What squashes and so on have you had the most bug problems with? Sounds odd, I know. But this spring I'm planning a trapping program. There is more information out here about what seems to be less plagued with bugs rather than what gets the worst of it. Any advice on this would be helpful.

Hand picking most any pest in the morning when there is dew on the plants can counteract their ability to evade by flying off because they are cold and their wings are wet. This works very well for Asparagus Beetles and Japanese Beetles which will instead just drop off the plant into my container of soapy water. I'm growing all of my melons, pumpkins, and winter squash over in a friend's garden this year. He has never planted any cucurbits there before so I am hoping not to have to deal with squash bugs or cuke beetles.