Botanic Garden >> Gardening > >> Question and Answer >> Growing Vegetables

White Spots on Acorn Squash: Post-Katrina Fungal Issue

White spots → full white leaves on young squash in poorly drained, previously flooded soil = fungal/mold outbreak. Soil likely contaminated. Replace or thoroughly solarize soil before replanting. New growth lighter green = stress.

Remediation

New, clean soil or solarize existing (6 weeks clear plastic, mid-summer).
Ensure excellent drainage.
Don't risk food safety in post-flood soils.

Health first—when in doubt, replace soil.

Growing Vegetables: First-Year Squash Problems: Speckled Leaves, Yellow Fruit, Rotting; Natural Pest Control for Basil and Tomatoes: Diatomaceous Earth; Diagnosing White Zucchini Leaves in Hydroponics; When Acorn Squash Stops Producing; Pruning Zucchini Leaves: Why You Shouldn't Cut Them; When to Harvest Acorn Squash: Color, Ground Spot & Stem Signs; White Coating on Tomato and Pea Leaves: Likely Whitefly Eggs; Should You Prune Moldy Squash Leaves?; Encouraging Squash Fruit Over Foliage: Pruning, Fertilizer, and Pollination; Can You Eat Unripe Acorn Squash?

Garden Articles

Dahlia Leaves Curling: Overwatering, Nematodes, or Chemical Residue?

Identifying Haworthia: Distinguishing attenuata vs. fasciata

White "Mold" on Orchid Leaves? It's Probably Mealybugs—Here's the Cure

Cold Weather White Leaves on Dianthus and Pentas Wilt

Powdery Mildew on David Viburnum: Identification and Control

Freckled Squash Leaves and Male-Only Flowers: Insects and Patience

Pruning Dead Squash Leaves After Powdery Mildew

Plants

Angel Trumpet Leaf Curl from Whiteflies: Spinosad Treatment

Multiple Tree Decline: Red Maple, Rhododendron, Magnolia, Japanese Maples

Crabapple Leaf Drop After Heavy Rain: Temperature Shock or Slugs?

Schefflera Leaf Curl in San Diego: Thrips or Leafminers and Atomic Grow

Trimming Wind/Sun Damaged Squash Leaves

Sudden Squash Wilt After Heavy Rain: Diagnosis Difficult

When to Harvest Butternut and Acorn Squash for Best Flavor