Butternut Squash Pests And Diseases

Firstly when it comes to pests and diseases then you should be aware that most types of butternut squash are bred to be disease resistant and that accordingly most problems that occur are actually due to insect problems and not plant disease.

Commonly butternut squash problems can be broken down to being attacked by the following insects: -

1.) Vine Borers

2.) Cucumber Beetles

3.) Squash Bugs

So let us start with the worst one, which is the vine borer, and sadly often the only time you will realise your crop has been hit with these will be when it is too late.

Vine borers eat into the stem and suck its juices out, unfortunately they then continue to bore into the fruit of the butternut squash itself and then the fruit and the plant will wither and die, this withering can lead many people to keep watering the butternut squash thinking it is short of water, but this will be to no avail and the plant will soon die.

The good news is this butternut squash pest can be easily with pesticides, however the pesticide must be applied before the vine borer strikes, and thus it is ideally applied as soon as the seedlings appear. If the young plants start wilting and continue to do so then the chances are they have already been affected by Vine Borers.

However the most common butternut squash pest is the cucumber beetle, they are striped with yellow and black spots on their back. They attack the young butternut squash leaves and also carry wilting disease from plant to plant, however they are easily treatable by common pesticides. Look for pesticides that contain diazinon and malathion as they are the most effective ones to kill off cucumber beetles.

Squash bugs as the name suggests attack butternut squash plants, they are around the size of a five pence piece and suck the fluid out of the plant, and are grey or brown in colour. The good news being is that they are easily treated by the same pesticides that you can use to treat vine borers. As ever prevention is better than cure and it is better to spray the squash plants before they are infected, taking time to spray under the leaves as this is where squash bugs lay their eggs. You can also take the initial step of placing a cardboard tube such as an old toile roll around the seedlings to stop the squash bugs attacking.

Give it a try and learn How To Grow Butternut Squash

By Richard Allen -