Confused by Zucchini

[dillonm]

Hi All,
I am a new zucchini planter this year. My plant is big and green, but I only see male flowers and one small zucchini fruit. In my research I decided to try to hand pollinate but here are my questions.

One, when there is a small fruit with a blossom on the end, does that mean it's already been pollinated or does that flower still need to be pollinated even though the fruit has already started to grow?

I thought maybe it still needed to be pollinated, so I attempted to hand pollinate this morning when the male was wide open, but I wound up knocking the female flower right off the fruit. I only touched it ever so gently with a q-tip! Did I destroy my only fruit?

Also, anyone know why I have only male flowers? As I mentioned, I had one female, but she is now a goner. I will continue to check each morning to see if any new females appear.

Thank you for your insight!

[Taiji]

I wouldn't worry too much about it. For me, some years I only have female flowers first, other years only males for a while. Maybe that fruit is pollinated, maybe not, but you will probably have many more shortly. At least, that's how it works for me!
A fruit with a blossom on the end always starts out that way, it may or may not be pollinated. I'm no expert on all this, but that's what happens for me every year!

[rainbowgardener]

Frequently only male flowers appear for awhile. That alerts the bees and other pollinators so they are on the job when the female comes along. I agree with Taiji - if the plant is healthy and you have honeybees around, then you just need to be patient and let Nature provide.

[dillonm]

So all is not lost? Thank you for the responses. I was concerned that we were nearing August and this was my plants status. I will be patient and let nature take it's course!

[Taiji]

I've only been harvesting zucchini for about a week now so there's still plenty of time. Now, I can hardly keep up with it, one after another!

[jal_ut]

Not unusual to have a bunch of male flowers first. Give it some time, you will likely get some squash.

[dillonm]

Funny thing happened...I was so worried about my zucchini per above, and then one day I came home and the entire plant was eaten along with my cucumber and parsley. A groundhog is to blame - I think he burrowed under my fencing. So disappointing! Looks like I don't need to worry about pollinating, and I'll definitely be investing in a better fence next year.

[n8young]

Funny thing happened...I was so worried about my zucchini per above, and then one day I came home and the entire plant was eaten along with my cucumber and parsley. A groundhog is to blame - I think he burrowed under my fencing. So disappointing! Looks like I don't need to worry about pollinating, and I'll definitely be investing in a better fence next year.

See groundhog threads for solutions....I suggest small caliber firearms