No female Squash Flowers...

[bell7283]

I have summer, butternut and acorn squash going and the plants look healthy and are getting pretty big. They have tons of male flowers but not one female. Should I be worried?

[rainbowgardener]

Depends. For how long have they been putting out the male flowers? It is typical for cucurbits (squash, cucumber, melon, etc) to produce only male flowers at first. Theory is that this helps ensure that by the time the female ones show up, the pollinators are there waiting. So you may just need patience.

[gardenbean]

I think (?) I may have the same problem as Bell with the squash plants not producing as fast I would like them too. So far I have only gotten four summer squash and one zuchini and I feel it's getting late in the season for them to be acting this way.

However, I am thinking that I may be the one who has caused this problem as I have three rather large borage in my garden and I am wondering if the bees prefer that over my squash plants, just a thought.

[garden5]

I agree with RB, give them time. I had the same thing with both my cucumbers and zucchini. They were all male flowers at first, but then the females came out and the plants started to produce.

[rainbowgardener]

I think (?) I may have the same problem as Bell with the squash plants not producing as fast I would like them too. So far I have only gotten four summer squash and one zuchini and I feel it's getting late in the season for them to be acting this way.

However, I am thinking that I may be the one who has caused this problem as I have three rather large borage in my garden and I am wondering if the bees prefer that over my squash plants, just a thought.

Well, bell said their squash weren't making any female flowers. With no female flowers, it doesn't matter whether any bees are present or not, you won't get any squash. If your plants are producing both male and female flowers, then it is possible the bees are coming to the borage instead of squash. I grew borage last year and did not find that bees preferred it to other things in my garden. If you have male and female flowers, you can always hand pollinate.

[HoneyBerry]

Sometimes, at first, plants will produce only male flowers or only female flowers, but will eventually even out.