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speedster7926
- Senior Member
- Posts: 130
- Joined: Tue May 18, 2010 11:10 pm
- Location: southport FL
squash and zucchini plants
I have 6 yellow crookneck squash plants and 1 zucchini plant but only one squash plant is doing good they are all huge but only the biggest has one that is rdy to pick it is like 8 inches long and the rest are around 3 inches long and the zucchini plant there are many fruit but they get about 4inches long and then fall off what am I doing wrong? is it because of disease or insects?
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engineeredgarden
- Green Thumb
- Posts: 426
- Joined: Thu May 13, 2010 11:51 am
- Location: NW Alabama
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gixxerific
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 5889
- Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2009 5:42 pm
- Location: Wentzville, MO (Just West oF St. Louis) Zone 5B
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rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 25279
- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b
Female flowers on zucchini have the little baby zucchini fruit behind them when they appear. If the flower is not pollinated, that baby zucchini can continue to grow for awhile. So they may get three inches long and then fall off. But in my experience they never really look exactly like a "real" zucchini, not as large and filled out. So it depends on exactly what speedster was describing.
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bobthewormgineer
- Newly Registered
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Wed May 19, 2010 1:59 pm
- Location: Sherwood Oregon
I had this problem last year, and finally got to the bottom of it.
If the fruit doesn't get pollinated, it aborts. This is what is described.
Plant more zucchini now! Come back when you've done that, and I'll explain.
OK good, here's the deal.
There are two kinds of flowers: male and female. You gotta get a pollinator to visit a male flower, then a female flower, but this is not happening.
Most assume it is a lack of pollinators, and often this is the case.
However, what I discovered last year is that I had no male flowers. Beautiful healthy plants with plenty of female flowers. But not even one lone soldier to take care of the girls.
It turns out that as the plants get older, they start producing only female flowers. So you need young plants all season long.
That's why I asked you to go out and plant more zucchini. And why I will not be thinning them down to just two plants this year, and come to think of it, I'm going to go poke a couple more seeds in right now myself.
If the fruit doesn't get pollinated, it aborts. This is what is described.
Plant more zucchini now! Come back when you've done that, and I'll explain.
OK good, here's the deal.
There are two kinds of flowers: male and female. You gotta get a pollinator to visit a male flower, then a female flower, but this is not happening.
Most assume it is a lack of pollinators, and often this is the case.
However, what I discovered last year is that I had no male flowers. Beautiful healthy plants with plenty of female flowers. But not even one lone soldier to take care of the girls.
It turns out that as the plants get older, they start producing only female flowers. So you need young plants all season long.
That's why I asked you to go out and plant more zucchini. And why I will not be thinning them down to just two plants this year, and come to think of it, I'm going to go poke a couple more seeds in right now myself.
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bobthewormgineer
- Newly Registered
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Wed May 19, 2010 1:59 pm
- Location: Sherwood Oregon
Here is a pic of a male flower - note the absence of any bulge at the base of the flower. Female flowers always have a miniature zucchini at the base of the flower.
I used a q-tip to gather pollen from this guy in my neighbor's garden and was able to get fruit to set for a week before it stopped working.
[img]https://worm-gin.com/images/malezuch.jpg[/img]
I used a q-tip to gather pollen from this guy in my neighbor's garden and was able to get fruit to set for a week before it stopped working.
[img]https://worm-gin.com/images/malezuch.jpg[/img]