Hi,

More and more stem/leafs have turned yellow, then brown. Initially I thought
the plant was over-watered (because of all the wild mushrooms sprouting). I
cut away all the dead "branches" to expose more soil, but low and behold,
the process continues. To make matters worse, 4 maturing zucchinis began to
die, much like the leaves did.

One thing I've noticed lately is, there is a single entry point in each
"branch", like something chewed its way in. I haven't been able to find
anything in the stems, but I'm probably two steps behind. I also noticed a
lot of round, brown, hard shells on the undersides of healthy leaves. They
resemble dark toasted sesame seeds, except they're round.

I don't think it's vine borer, because of the discoloration, and the entire
plant hasn't been infected. Haven't spotted any striped or spotted cucumber
beetles either.

The area was infected with ants a few weeks ago. My father in-law suggested
that it may be the ants eating up the roots. However the entry point in each
infected stem makes me think otherwise.

Any ideas?

V