Zucchini plant pest control is best to start when the zucchini plants are in the ground. Zucchini plants are one of the most common vegetables grown in home gardens.
Zucchini and other soft-shell summer squashes are generally easy to grow. However, growers sometimes struggle with zucchini plant pest control.
One of the reasons for this is that it is comparatively easy to grow. It is easy to cultivate does not mean that they are without problems.
Many people have difficulty growing zucchini. Pest insects are one of the most common problems with zucchini growing. Let’s look at some of these problems with growing zucchini and how to solve them.
Harmony in nature: A healthy zucchini plant thrives, exemplifying organic pest control in your garden
Zucchini Plant Pest Control
Here are five pests of the zucchini plant and their methods of control.
Aphids
One of the most common pests out there is aphids. Zucchini is not resistant to these juice-absorbing pests.
Aphids are small 1/8-inch-long insects depending on the type. They can be black, red, green, yellow, brown, or pink.
They are usually wingless and have a pear-shaped bodies with long antennae. Solo aphid is not a big problem, but they can cut or harm plants in groups.
This insect reproduces quickly. Females can have up to 12 live offspring daily during the summer months. Overwinter eggs hatch in spring.
Aphids can affect the zucchini plant can be undersized, or the leaves may be curly, yellowed, mottled, or dry.
Because they are small, you may not notice them until you have a severe infection or see signs of damage to your plants.
Aphid Control in Zucchini Plants
Now you may think how to get rid of aphids on zucchini plants. The sooner zucchini plant pest control occurs, the more likely the plant is to leave without injury.
The first remedy to remove aphids from plants is to spray the plants with a water jet. Keep your garden/lane free of weeds so that pest has nowhere to hide.
In your garden, encourage natural enemies of aphids like syrphid flies, ladybugs, parasitic wasps, and lacewings.
Flowering plants like anise hyssop, bee balm, black-eyed Susans, and herbs such as Queen Anne’s lace, fennel, caraway, and cilantro are nectar-rich; planting these plants can encourage natural enemies of aphids. So growing these plants are beneficial.
If this method does not work, you can also use insecticidal soap. Make sure to spray the leaves from top to bottom, and for two weeks, repeat the application every few days.
Also Read: Natural Pest Control for Strawberry Plants
Cutworms
The name “Cutworms” is given to these worms because they cut young plants and feed on the stem. Cutworms feed on the plant stamp by wrapping themselves around the plant. Because of this, the feeding plant cuts off just above the ground surface.
While adult worm presence in your garden is not a big deal, worm larvae can chew plant stems and kill them. You will see the plant is growing merrily one day; the next day, it will lie on the ground like a heap.
Cutworms can be black, gray, brown, or dark yellow. They all have smooth skin that looks almost wet or oily. Some have dashes, dots, stripes, and streaks on their bodies. Most of them are about two inches long in adulthood.
Even if they look like worms in your yard that may not hurt your plants, you can be sure that you are dealing with cutworms if they roll into a C shape when you disturb them.
Cutworm Control
It helps that about four feet of bare soil are marked as a perimeter around the plant. It will prevent the worms from trying to break into your yard in search of food.
You can also plant a sunflower around your garden as a trap because these worms love this plant.
However, remember you will have to find and kill pests because you provide food to pests every day. Otherwise, only the thriving cutworm population will be in your garden.
You can also make a DIY collar that protects the transplanted seedling base. You can make a collar from toilet paper or some other material. It is also a suitable method of zucchini plant pest control.
This collar aims to create a barrier that worms cannot crush or overcome. Leave the collar in place until it disintegrates.
The use of Insecticide exclusively to kill cutworms during planting is not recommended. Any pesticide use at the time of plantation may not protect against severe cutworm damage.
Cucumber Beetles
Diabroticaundecimpunctata Howard, the southern corn rootworm, is a spotted cucumber beetle, and striped Acalymmavittatum is the two types of cucumber beetle.
For zucchini plants, these cucumber beetles are the primary pests for the damage they cause to the plant because they spread deadly bacterial wilt disease.
Cucumber beetles eat leaves and stems, and an extensive infection can destroy plants.
These pests spend winter in protected areas. In late spring or summer, the larvae appear to find a plant to feed on until they feed underground.
Cucumber Beetle Control in Zucchini
Zucchini plant pest control for cucumber beetle includes keeping weeds out of your garden, as they can host these insects. Cover the surroundings of the plants with landscaping fabric material to prevent adult pests from laying eggs.
Plant “Blue Hubbard” as a trapping plant if space is available. Blue Hubbard is preferred by cucumber beetles, squash vine borers, and squash buds to zucchini, so plant them next to zucchini or at the end of the zucchini row.
There should be a 3 to 8 feet distance between the plants when they mature to have enough space to attract insects without getting too close for pests to jump back and forth.
For this trap to be most effective, the Blue Hubbard plant must be two weeks older than the zucchini, so plant them two weeks earlier than your zucchini.
A floating cover can also be used in late May to early June, but don’t forget to remove it for an hour a day after flowering to pollinate flowers.
Leafminers
Several leafminer species are in the field, but the one that causes the most frequent damage to zucchini plants is called vegetable or melon leafminer (Liriomyzasativae). L Trifolia and L Huidoberensis can also be seen damaging crops.
Regardless of the species, adult leafminers lay their eggs in the leaves, and when the larvae appear, they chew the plant’s leaves.
These larvae left a trail of tunnels that looked like a maze; as the larva grew, the width of these tunnels increased.
Leafminer Control in Zucchini
For controlling leafminers, an essential part is to preserve their natural enemies, who often kill with the broad application of insecticides used for other plant pests.
The main enemies of leafminers are parasite wasps.
Plant plants like Queen Anne’s lace, dill, and cilantro to encourage parasite wasps to come to your garden.
You can pinch along the tunnel and squeeze the larvae if the infection is not nasty.
You can experiment with reflective mulch, although the efficiency of the mulch varies. Do not over-fertilize the plant – nitrogen can help the plant produce leave abidance by providing a reliable nitrogen source, encouraging leafminers.
Spider Mites
Spider mites appear as little white, red, brown, or black spiders. They are only about 1 millimeter (mm) long, making them difficult to see in plants. You may only see these tiny pests if the infection is severe.
Tetranychusurticae – two-spotted spider mite-like vegetable crops, although other spider mites can be found on zucchini.
Spider mites look like tiny spiders, prefer hot and dry weather, and produce up to 20 generations in one year.
When these mites suck the plant, the leaves may look like spots or dull or wilted.
You will know if there is a severe infestation because you will see a fine mesh all over the zucchini plant.
Spider Mites Control
The first step for zucchini plant pest control regarding spider mites is to check your plants for tiny spiders or signs of their presence to control them. Also, keep the weeds away so that these do not offer these mites an attractive place to hide and reproduce.
Don’t fertilize the plant too much. Rains knock off spider mites; a strong water jet from a hose can do the same task and create an environment that spider mites do not like.
Cut off heavily infected parts and dispose of them, do not put them in compost.
Also, you can use neem oil or insecticidal soap. Spray in the morning, and do not use it on severely damaged plants.
Conclusion
Zucchini, also known as a courgette, can be grown in containers, pots, and backward. It belongs to the family Cucurbitaceae. The color of zucchini can be green, light green, or yellow. They are similar in shape to cucumbers, but some species also have a bottle or round shape.
Growing zucchini is not a big deal, but protecting it from different pests could be because zucchini plants are affected by several problems at different times of their growing cycle.
Zucchini plant pest control is best to start when the zucchini plants are in the ground. Encouraging natural enemies of pests and eliminating weeds are fruitful steps to control pests. If necessary, neem oil and pesticide soaps can be used.
