Dear Master Gardener:
Attached are 2 photographs.
As inexperienced gardeners, we planted vegetables in our
back yard floral bed. The squash were
purchased as seedlings from a supermarket plant store on Memorial Day
weekend. They were labeled as “acorn
squash”. They were planted next to cucumbers and both plants thrived all summer.
Recently, the cucumbers stopped producing and the vines died. This was preceded by a white substance on the
leaves, so I assume the problem was powdery mildew. The squash were initially resistant, but now
seem to have a similar affliction.
Questions:
1. Are these
truly acorn squash and if so, do you recognize the variety?
2. Since they are not the solid green
typical of acorn squash, are they ready for harvest? The stems have blackened and the skin is
thick around the entire fruit.
3. Because the plants seem to be dying,
is there anything to be done now to salvage immature squash?
Thank you for your advice.
Robert Nelson
Hastings, MN (Dakota county)
