I have them in large containers which I'm thinking maybe aren't large enough.....

That might be it. I know my squash never does that well until I get them into the ground.

I thought 18 cubic inches would be enough.......
And if I put them in the ground I couldn't keep the deer away from them.

Deer eat zucchini plants, too?

Have you tried covering things that they'd like to eat? At least until they bloom?

I have a 6'x6' dog pen where I keep my veggies - in containers.
I may move it off the deck to the ground next season.

One of the people on the iris forum has a motion activated sprinkler. When a deer comes near they get sprayed with water. She says it works well. She only keeps it hooked up to water for a while, and the critters learn to stay away. You might try that.

The zucchini would probably fare better that way.

Sorry, I cross-posted.

The deer around here don't eat zucchini but it could be that they just prefer the green beans, peppers and tomatoes.

Love the motion activated sprinkler idea!

tveguy3 said:One of the people on the iris forum has a motion activated sprinkler. When a deer comes near they get sprayed with water. She says it works well. She only keeps it hooked up to water for a while, and the critters learn to stay away. You might try that.

I've seen those in catalogs - they look really good.
Have to save up for one.

I never got zucchini last year and I didn't plant many veggies this year - BUT I got the deer properly fenced out again and started a straw bale veggie garden. It was too tiny this year for anything but tomatoes, but next year I will expand it and start veggie growing for serious. I think I'll start my zucchini from seed, AT LEAST two different kinds. That was really frustrating not to get any in 2012. Later in the season, they developed powdery mildew.... Have to avoid that.

I'm trying to get some winter chat going about cooking.
come on over and pitch in:
http://cubits.org/worldcuisine...