Zucchini problem

Holgate · Sat Jul 11, 2009 4:09 pm

Hello all and my thanks to those who answered my Cayenne Pepper question. I have a new dilemma. My Zucchini plants are huge now and producing many babies. The problem is,we have been finding them only growing to about 5 inches and then dying or becoming mushy on the plant. Any help for this madness?
Thanks in advance.

hendi_alex · Sat Jul 11, 2009 4:38 pm

Poor pollination. The seeds don't form and plump. That causes the fruit to atrophy and rot. Just pull them off of the vine so that they don't promote disease. You can hand pollinate the flowers, male to female. Or just wait and if bee activity increases they should be o.k.

Holgate · Sat Jul 11, 2009 4:44 pm

Thank you for the advice. Not quite sure how to hand pollinate,so could I plant a particular flower nearby to attract the bees?

The Black Thumb · Sat Jul 11, 2009 11:05 pm

Any other flowering plants nearby will help draw in the bees. I have a few hanging plants on the corners of my garden to help promote activity. I'll be honest tell that I don't know what the hanging plants are, but the have 30 or so white blooming flowers on them pretty much all the time. You can simply GENTLY swab the male flower with a Q-tip and then GENTLY swab the female flower to polinate.