Every year I have grown acorn squash, I find it wilts daily once the weather gets hot. Sometimes I give it water during the heat of day and it perks up. Sometimes I skip the water and it perks up in the evening. Do you all have such wilty acorn squash or other winter squash? How do you choose to manage it?
Joan mostly I look for squash bugs.I usually find them in the late evening or early morning.They sap the water from the plants sometimes at the roots.I hope you don't find them and its just the heat.
No, they do not have squash bugs. My winter type squashes don't get squash bugs as do my zucchini and other summer squashes such as yellow crookneck or patty pan. We get such bad squash bugs that I've given up on summer squashes and stick just with acorn, kombucha, butternut, and spaghetti.
I had them on my spagetti squash so bad it killed everyone of them.This is the worse year for bugs I've seen in a long time.
wilting is normal. We raise giant pumpkins for competition, they receive 50 to 75 gallons of water every 2 days, and still wilt at midday. there is no need to be alarmed. took this year off to use the 500 sq. ft. for corn production
I second pharmerphil's analysis. My zuchinni and other large leaf plants always do the same. I think it is a way to protect themselves from the sun.
I've found the same thing as Phil and that some kinds of my winter squash wilted during the day whether I watered them or not. This can also happen with cucumbers and a few types of melons. My first year gardening I was frantic because no matter what I did my cinderella pumpkin would wilt during the day and perk up during the late afternoon and evening. LoreD
