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Pumpkins, Squash & Gourds Vegetable Gardening garden

Faint black spots on butternut squash leaves

4 years ago

Hello,

This is my first year growing any kind of squash. I'm in zone 5b. It's been a challenge to say the least. My two butternut squash plants are huge and sprawling with about 10 squash getting larger by the day but it's come with difficulties. First, many of the leaves and stems toward the base of the plant started yellowing and shriveling up into a black crisp. I've determined that to be squash bugs because I did see a few. I started with neem oil and diatomaceous earth. I still get some yellow leaves but it seems to have slowed down. I also kept noticing the black and yellow striped cucumber beetles mostly inside new blossoms. I put out yellow sticky traps and the neem oil seemed to have reduced their numbers. I've also mechanically removed both insects. I even relocated a couple of daddy long legs into the area of my squash plants hoping he/she would help me out. I'm not sure if they stuck around or not. Can you train spiders?

Now, just this morning, I noticed these faint black spots on my squash leaves. It doesn't look like downy mildew or maybe this is the start of it? I thought maybe the cucumber beetles transmitted bacterial wilt but I haven't seen any wilting. Maybe this is the beginning? Can anyone help me diagnose these faint black spots?

Any other tips on growing winter squash are welcome. It would be such a shame to lose all these squash growing. I'll have a nice crop if I can get these plant to last me another couple months.

Thank you!

J

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Comments (10)

juddjonas
Original Author
4 years ago
The evil empire has boarded the ship. Spots are getting worse.

Help me Obi- Squash Kenobi, you're my only hope
lilyd74 (5b sw MI)
4 years ago
Couldn't find anything useful when you first posted and have not seen personally seen spots like your pic - but if they are getting worse, google "bacterial spot" and see if it matches.
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juddjonas
Original Author
4 years ago
I looked at bacterial spot I can't find anything that looks like what I'm seeing on my squash leaves. Most of the bacterial spot photos I've seen show brown, yellow and maybe some dark black spots. Maybe they'll turn in to dark black. I hope the plant is mature enough not to go to the dark side.
SW (Sydney, USDA 10b)
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
Could I be a bother and ask to see the undersides please?

It does look vaguely like the first signs of downey mildew; it presents differently depending on the strain and the plant variety, but the spots are always contained within the leaf‘s veins, which doesn’t look to be the case in those photos.
juddjonas
Original Author
4 years ago

Here’s the underside. The black spots look about the same up close but slightly more prominent on the front.
lilyd74 (5b sw MI)
4 years ago
Wild, wild guess - fungal spores? You already treated with neem, have you reapplied?
SW (Sydney, USDA 10b)
4 years ago
Thanks. This is a guess too, but they look like tiny galls, probably from insect activity. Not the start of any disease. Are most of the leaves affected?

I don’t think you should worry too much just yet.
juddjonas
Original Author
4 years ago
It's mostly the leaves furthest out on the vine and newer leaves closest to the base of the plant
tbkdll
last year
Did you ever find an answer for this issue? I’m in zone 7a and having the exact same problem.
daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
last year
Sorry, but is there actually a "problem"? Boy, if faint black spots are your only "problem", you're doing great!

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