Saturday morning--being a lazy one when I could spend some time paying more attention to the plants--I was disappointed to realize how droopy the two squashes were, even after I had given them a lot of water the day before. I got down on my hands and knees and shoved my face down into the base of the zucchini. What I saw was a stem that was yellow and chewed up; it looked as if something were chewing around the base and leaving a trail of moist yellow sawdust.
Also, at the base of each of the yellowing, prostrate leaves, I noticed a single hole where the leaf attached to the stem with more of the crumbly, yellow sawdust. When I detached the sickly leaf, I noticed the head of a fat white worm poking out of the hole in the stem. "Awww sh*t!" is what came out of my mouth.
In a panic, like some Veggie EMT--I rushed into the house, grabbed some tweezers, and yanked out the one worm I found.
Long story short--I found another worm in the yellow squash plant, and the next day another four or so worms. Fortunately, according to OSU Extension, this worm--the
By Sunday, the zucchini had almost totally succumbed to the damage caused by both the worms and my attempt at removing them. I piled up soil around both plants, as it was suggested this might encourage secondary root production--allowing nutrients and water to be taken in by the plant. As of this Monday morning, the yellow squash seems to be doing okay and I have hope that it will survive.
I'm not sure what to do with the void that will be left by the zucchini. I might try to go to the local nursery and see if there are any small zucch' plants that might serve as a replacement.
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