liagarden
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Re: Zucchini--I'm so excited!

"some of the buds that are forming look like they have stems, while others look different."

As long as you're getting males & females, and already have baby zuchinnis, you can pick some of the male squash flowers, stuff them, & cook them. Many recipes on epicurious.com, all-recipe, youtube, etc. I don't find them particularly flavorful, but once in a while it's fun to do. Of course, I'll eat anything stuffed with cheese! :D

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RamonaGS
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liagarden wrote: Of course, I'll eat anything stuffed with cheese! :D
Oh Heck yeah!!! :()

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jemsister
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I have one blooming female, and none of the males look like they will be ready for a couple of days yet. The blooms don't seem to last long. Should I eat it? :-()

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jemsister
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Okay, I know this is a dumb question, but remember I have never grown zucchini before. How large does an ovary get? Mine are four inches long. Is that actually a zucchini growing, or are ovaries just that big?

Image

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rainbowgardener
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they are the same thing-- the ovary/embryo zucchini just grows and develops in to the fruit. Looks like yours is well on the way.

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RamonaGS
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They can get really big actually. But if you want to be sure it's developing see if you can hand pollinate. Looks to me like it is starting to grow though. It's best if you don't let them get too big in your case, because didn't we find that your zucchini are an heirloom variety? That means their seeds will get hard and inedible if the zucchini gets to a certain size, but then you can harvest the seeds and grow them next year. So if you want zucchini to just pick, slice, and eat then don't let them get much larger than 8-10 inches long, maybe less. But what I have done when an heirloom zucchini got really big, and developed hard seeds, is I split it, harvested the seeds, and then stuffed the zucchini in the space where the seeds had been, and baked it up because the flesh of the zucchini is still quite edible when it's large like that.

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jemsister
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rainbowgardener wrote:they are the same thing-- the ovary/embryo zucchini just grows and develops in to the fruit. Looks like yours is well on the way.

I'm still trying to work out the terminology. I guess what I'm wondering is how can you tell the difference between the unpollinated baby, and the pollinated, growing fruit?

Ramona, thanks for the tip about size--I didn't know the seeds got hard like that, but I guess they must, considering the seeds that you plant.

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RamonaGS
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On the heirloom zucs they do get hard, but not on hybrid types usually. You can always test it out by growing the first one really big and checking the seeds. I've grown some that got away from me and ended up about 16 inches long. Hybrids at that size usually have soft edible seeds, but the heirlooms had hard seeds that can be replanted.

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jemsister
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As I understand it, if a female has not been pollinated, the stem and ovary will shrivel up and fall off. How quickly does that happen?

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RamonaGS
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I read somewhere that if it is unfertilized that the fruit only gets to be 2-3 inches long and then starts to die. That might have been a thread on here somewhere.



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