Confused by Zucchini

dillonm · Wed Jul 22, 2015 9:29 am

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 · Wed Jul 22, 2015 9:48 am

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 · Wed Jul 22, 2015 9:50 am

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 · Wed Jul 22, 2015 9:55 am

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 · Wed Jul 22, 2015 10:03 am

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 · Thu Jul 23, 2015 5:03 pm

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

dillonm · Fri Aug 14, 2015 9:55 am

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 · Fri Aug 14, 2015 10:01 am

dillonm wrote: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