What's eating my fig-leaf gourd?

Fig-leaf gourd (Cucurbita ficifolia) faces the same pest pressures as other cucurbits: cucumber beetles chew leaves and spread bacterial wilt, squash vine borers tunnel into vines, and aphids cluster on new growth. Squash bugs also attack, causing rapid wilting. Cucumber beetles are the most damaging and hardest to control.

Chewed leaf edges, scarred fruit skin, and wilting caused by bacterial wilt transmission Use row covers until flowering, apply kaolin clay, hand-pick adults, or apply pyrethrin as a last resort

Sudden wilting of an otherwise healthy vine; frass visible at the stem base where larvae have tunneled in Wrap stem bases with foil, inject Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) into entry holes, or slit stem and remove larvae then re-bury the stem

Brown, crispy leaf edges and wilting; look for bronze egg clusters on leaf undersides Hand-pick eggs and adults early morning, clear crop debris, use neem oil or insecticidal soap

Curled, sticky new growth; sooty mold may develop on honeydew residue Blast off with water, introduce ladybugs or lacewings, or apply insecticidal soap weekly