Hi - I'm a future (hopefully not too distant - my DH has been working in SC a year while I've been in New England trying to sell the house) Carolinian, and I hope I can help. With WS, you will have better success if you ditch the mini-greenhouses (we're talking about those flats that hold 12 six-packs, right?) and go to deeper containers. A lot of folks use milk jugs or 2-liter soda bottles - I use, for uniformity, containers that are about the size of 1 lb. margarine containers. I purchase them in lots of 50 from a restaurant supply store. However, there's no need to purchase containers - you can use margarine containers, provided you cut out the center of a lid that doesn't let light through and replace it with plastic wrap. The clear containers I buy salad greens in work well, too. The key issue is soil depth - the 6-packs just aren't deep enough to sustain the seeds once they sprout. While you are still getting nights below freezing, you want to leave your containers with their covers on. You can gradually open the holes in the top to start hardening off if you want. I'm considerably north of you, in a zone 6b - I have some sprouts, but I've left the lids exactly as they are; haven't widened the holes at all. We are still getting hard freezes up here, but I haven't lost any sprouts yet. What I do not have, that you do, is 70 degree days. If I were there, I would look to keep my containers in a moderately shady location, still keeping covers on, and watch the moisture level, too. If your temps get to mid-70s or higher, I'd think about widening the transpiration holes, even if you are still getting freezes at night. If your temperature variations are really extreme, uncover your containers, and cover them (use towels/sheets/remay if necessary) at night - WS veterans repeatedly say they lose more plants to heat than to cold. I hope that's somewhat helpful. I'll be moving to the Greenville/Spartanburg area of SC when I get there. It's only one full zone warmer than where I am now, and I am confident I'll be able to adapt my WS techniques to the location. And oh yeah, happy Equinox to you too - this winter was the worst I can remember in a long time here, and I am soooooo ready to be a Carolinian!

Oh, god, yes - the bugs, the gnats, the flies (ew, all the flies) and the black rotting blech... the drippy stinky mess. I figure the only good from it is I might get volunteers next year. *sigh* Well, I'm shooting for a combination approach. I cut out all the rotting junk, including too-soggy leaves and branches. I think they'll make it, but be a bit scraggly on the bottom thirds. I'll live with that. I have a bunch of Cherokee Purples setting that might make it through. I'd love that - I've not gotten one off it all year, and if it continues I'm chucking this experiment as a loss. I *do* have more cherries coming along nicely, and the last I have is Celebrity. That's been the biggest mess, but the tastiest, most perfect tomato otherwise... I'm really hoping for recovery here. (I made awesome pizza with these sliced on top, with eggplant and fresh herbs and ricotta and alfredo sauce... OMG. I made lots of converts that day.) I've not got much... but I was really hoping to try my hand at saucing this year, I only tend to go through spaghetti/pizza sauce in small doses and wanted to can my own in smaller portions. :P I don't know now if I'll get enough to make it worthwhile. I can't imagine having so many quarts of sauce done - I haven't made any! (Although I only have my few plants... and that does put a dent in supply. :) ) I really appreciate the notes on green salsa - I don't eat salsa myself, as a rule, but I know several who do. If nothing else at least all my greenies won't go to waste. :D Thanks!! ..anyone have a recipe *recommendation*? ^_^;

Well, my first sighting was on 3/20 and now I have seen at least 3 males. Still having some crazy weather in our area, temperature wise....One week of highs in the upper 70s, and then another cool snap for a few days! I am ready for spring to stick around!

Plants can be amazingly resilient; do give these a chance. If leaves are badly damaged, as in your fifth photo, go ahead and remove and destroy (don't compost) them, as they probably don't have enough chlorophyll-containing tissue to contribute to the upkeep of the plant. However, there is no need to remove the leaves if they still have a lot of undamaged tissue - just squish the borers inside the tunnels in the leaves; you might even be able to see them if you look closely. I know, yuk, but it's them or your zukes! Besides, that's what garden gloves are for, and they're inside the leaves anyway. I trust you made drainage holes in the bottom of that bucket; if not, you need to do that now. Be careful with the Epsom salt; don't over-do. The only yellowing I see in your photos is on heavily infested leaves, and may be a by-product of that infestation. On another social media site, someone shared a site with multiple charts illustrating how plants exhibit nutrient deficiencies. I'm posting it below in case Prof. Google hasn't already shared this one with you. (By the way, I've not had a chance tor review this yet myself.) http://bigpictureagriculture.blogspot.com/2015/12/plant-nutrient-deficiency-leaf.html Looking forward to more photos and wishing you the best of luck ... I've not even planted my zuke seeds yet! Heeled in some tomato plants in that spot and they appear to have taken over.