sunnyvalley
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Slow growing zucchini

I've got several of my first ever baby zukes coming in. I keep reading how they're lightning fast growers, and if I'm not careful I'll have baseball bats overnight. So I'm getting confused why my little guys have all been stuck around 3 inches for a week or two. Good water, good sun, spaced right, plants look healthy, no major pest problems. I pollinated in case bees dropped the ball. Think I should fertilize?

Wondering if weird weather is to blame. Too-late summer went right into too-early winter, and we're already getting temperatures 40's-70's. Is that cold enough to stunt growth? I know they'll die in the winter, but what exactly is winter to a summer squash?

gumbo2176
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I'm thinking it's likely the cooler temperatures. I have winter squash growing right now and they are putting out very nicely and the added advantage is no SVB's to deal with.

I have a 12 ft. trellis with cucumbers growing on it and they are producing much slower now than they did in the summer heat, but they are producing at a rate I can keep up with them. In the summer, I'd have to eat them morning, noon and night to keep up.

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rainbowgardener
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Yeah 40 dF is too cold for zucchini. They would be producing slower even in optimum temps due to the shorter length of days.

sunnyvalley
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Bah, I sure picked a lousy autumn to get back into gardening. Thanks for your advice.

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rainbowgardener
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Too cold for warm weather stuff like zucchini, but there's plenty of cool weather stuff you could be growing! :)

gumbo2176
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sunnyvalley wrote:Bah, I sure picked a lousy autumn to get back into gardening. Thanks for your advice.
If daily highs are in the 70's, plant leaf lettuces, swiss chard, spinach, mesculin mix, collards, brussels sprouts, broccoli, cabbage, etc. Cool weather stuff will do great in that temperature range. I have everything mentioned plus a fair amount more in my garden now and all is well.



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