Ecnerwal wrote:
In article ,
"David Hare-Scott" wrote:

Natural - Smoking Gun - Girl wrote:
I've got a squash plant that is growing pretty well, and it has some
pattapan squash fruit on it. I've noticed that during the part of
the day that it gets the full hot sun that it wilts back, but when
it gets the afternoon shade it perks back up again. I haven't seen
any borer holes in the vine stems, either, and I've sprayed it with
BT in case some worms do get to munching on it.

Is it normal for squash plants to wilt like that during the hot part
of the day? It doesn't lack for being watered, either.

Yes, the leaf area can be too big for the water transport ability of
the roots and stems even without borer damage when it is hot. You
might improve it by mulching as this will slow the top of the soil
drying out between watering.

D

Or provide some mid-day partial shade. This is one of those things
that can vary a lot with latitude. As you get closer to the equator,
many crops benefit from some shade in the middle of the day, and may
actually grow better if under a not-too-dense tree canopy - or
shadecloth, for a quicker and more easily changed/customized
solution. The right trees may even get you two crops off the same
land.

I do have a shade cloth that prevents the full mid day sun to hit this one
plant, but it still wilts back because some of the sun hits the edge of the
plant. I was going to plant some more squash seed out in the garden that
gets full sun, but now I'm wondering if that is even a good idea.

--
Natural Girl //(**)\\