I'm bumping this up because: I seem to be having the same problem with my cucumbers. One plant started wilting - I mean really soft and hanging. I was able to bring it back once with watering. A few days later it was doing it again and it didn't need water, we'd had rain for 2 days. I thought maybe something had cut it off at the base the day before. Nope. The leaves on all my cucumbers look really good, no visible bug damage. I did some research on the net and the only thing I could come up with was that some sort of beetle had done something to it. Can't remember what all it said but the remedy was to dig up the affected plant because it would not be able to be saved. So I did that and there were certain tests you could do like checking for a milky substance in the stem, touching the stem near the base and it should produce strands of sticky stuff. Well, I cut it down to the ground, carefully removed it from in between the other growing and seemingly healthy plants, did the tests and.....nothing. I didn't find anything of what they were talking about. I figured it was just bad luck. Now I have another one doing the same thing today. I have no idea what the problem. I'm hoping someone here knows. Thanks - Val

I pulled the worst off plant -- the Bonnie bell. It came easily out of the loose soil -- revealing a tunnel right under the plant. The roots were normal in places and absent in others with the edges of where roots ought to have been looking withered. I suspect that the tunneling underneath broke contact with the ground, leaving the plant struggling for water and nourishment with airspace rather than soil around the roots and the equivalent of a bathtub drain removing the water as fast as my watering efforts provided it. I severely pruned my sweet bananas to reduce water demands and stepped into the bed to collapse the tunnels and firm the soil around their roots. I felt all around the bed and collapsed every tunnel I could find. They have 2 weeks to show signs of recovery or their spots will be given to young Brussels Sprouts. i can't get to the store to get commercial mole repellent for several days so I'll just keep collapsing tunnels as I find them and worry about compacted soil another day. Compaction in sandy soil isn't that big of an issue anyway.

gottagarden and others - thank you. The first row of privet planted is on the right in the photo. That is at least 28yrs. old. The row on the left I'll have to take a guess and say 20yrs growth. But I venture to say that if you planted now, in 10yrs. you should see good height and some arching beginning to happen - if you don't trim; and depending upon what size hedge plants you put in. The second row never did fill out as much at the bottom as the first because of course the first row of hedge created shade. But on the outside it grew decent. As it arched, I pruned and trimmed on both the inside and the top. But - privet doesn't always like to be snipped at the very tips of it's branches. There has always been alot of die-back over the years. Some years, I say "This is the last season for my old friend." I clean out all the dead wood as much as possible without ruining the "ceiling", to let some bits of sun through and other years severely prune the sides. It can look ratty, and then suddenly all this new growth returns. You probably won't believe me, but when I ordered my first privet, I ordered from Michigan Bulb. Remember when they used to advertise "200 privet hedge for $25!" or something or other? Well, I didn't know the hedge would come as a small bundle of rooted bare sticks anywhere from 1' to 6"! True story. My Mom helped me plant that entire row with those little sticks. Never dreamed they would grow - but I suppose you could argue that it was the healthiest way to start a hedge. It grew tall and strong. One more thing I might add, it's the variety of privet that blooms white in Spring and has that wonderful honey fragrance. If I have to trim I never do until after it blooms.

maybe it's bad manners to answer your own post, but I guess I just didn't give my question enough careful thought. I got to thinking that if this is indeed a beetle larva, and given that there are so many of these dang holes, it seemed logical to assume that I must surely see hordes of the adults around at some point. So I sat and thought about the insects most common to me from this creek. Some of the more familiar candidates were easily ruled out. I then crossed off the diving beetles amd similar aquatic possibilities because most of their larval stages were totally water-loving, not high and dry like the mystery suspects. Then I thought of the tiger beetles! THere are HORDES of tiger beetles in this creek.... I flipped through the field guides and there it was, a pretty close description of my subject,complete with a tunneling habit, stout jaws, and even the hooks on the back--my "hinge"--- although I had to go back on-line to find actual pictures of the larvae themselves. So I guess I have my solution, and one more piece of the puzzle that finally fits. And without that horsefly, I'd still never know it was right under my nose all this time. Amazing how little resemblance the "youth" have to their adult forms!!