Good morning, all. I got a 6 pack of the crooknecks & planted them all on the same day. Why are some growing like crazy & flourishing, while others don't seem to be getting any bigger, but have little baby fruits on them? Thanks!

to NGA

Somehow the conditions are different: sunnier or shadier, dryer or wetter, better soil.... Its impossible to get exactly the same conditions but even that is no assurance they will all grow equally well. Annuals (which squash are) have only one thing in mind - ensuring that there will be a next generation. The ones that are smaller but producing small fruits have decided its time to make sure that happens. The bigger ones aren't feeling that stress to reproduce quite yet (but hopefully they will eventually) and so are growing bigger before fruiting.

Hope this helps.

Daisy

Just one more thought to add to Daisy's good comments - I would pinch off the baby fruits on the small plants, feed them some high nitrogen fert (half strength for new plants) and maybe shade them for a few days. It might stimulate them to grow more leaves before they try to bloom again. Might !! . . . they may have had smaller root systems to start with, then all were stressed by transplanting and any stress can trigger the bloom cycle for the reasons Daisy stated above. Now the plants are putting energy into making fruits instead of leaves which is somewhat self-destructive.

They probably won't mature enough to make fruits big enough to harvest anyway so trying this won't hurt, but might help.

Btw, pictures are always a big help in answering questions, and it's also good to complete your profile with your location, so your questions can get better answers according to your climate and weather conditions.

Thanks for the info! I'm in Oxnard, CA which is 1 hr north of Los Angeles. They are all planted in the same area... Some are bumpy & some smooth. Before planting them, I mixed into the soil used coffee grounds, eggshells & a product called 'Amend' by Kellogg Organics. I also submitted a photo (at least I thought I did but didn't work).

Debbie, when you write a post, scroll down and right below the text box is a green button that says "Upload an image". Click on that, select your picture and a line of gibberish enclosed in [square brackets] appears that is the code for your picture. Then click "Finished".

Have you given the plants any additional nutrients, like fertilizer yet? What you added is good for soil conditioning but not enough to grow on. IF you're wanting to go all organic, an excellent, high nitrogen amendment is alfalfa pellets. It's available as horse food from any local feed store. Dig a couple of cups of that into the soil around your plants, or make a "tea" (well, it's more like porridge) in a watering can, let it steep for a couple of hours and water it onto the plants. (don't use a watering can with a strainer on the spout)

You still will need more nutrients, vegetable plants grow fast and use a lot of nutrients and water to produce anything. So feed those babies a good organic fertilizer as well.

Thanks a million, Elaine. I thought that is what I did for the photo; will follow your instructions exactly. Will get that done so you can see the plants in question. It's so rewarding to enjoy the fruits of your labor. Yes, I like to keep my garden organic. Don't want that garbage on my plants, which eventually will be eaten. And whatever I'm unable to eat, I will be donating to my local food bank.

Elaine, when I hit 'upload photo', there isnt anything within the brackets you mentioned. Maybe it would be possible to send it as an attachment via email? I appreciate your kindness.

When you hit the "Upload an image" button it should take you to your Pictures files where you will select the picture you want to post. If you're posting from a tablet or your phone, I can't help you much further than that. Too many variables. If I post from my Android phone it takes me to my Gallery of pictures.

Sorry, I don't give out my e-mail address to anyone on a public forum. But to get the greatest benefit from this site you will need to learn how to post pictures anyway.

They all look pretty good. My squash never all grow at the same rate, some are always much larger and grow faster much like yours are doing.

Way to go Debbie! So your picture is worth a thousand words and eliminates a lot of speculation - the smaller plants are a bit too close together, I think. If you planted them on a "hill" of really rich compost, (like a couple of wheelbarrows full) you might get away with putting them that close together. The big, dark green, lush one has a nice space all on its own, and (who knows ) maybe deeper or more fertile soil there as well.

The second-best one, far right is a little bit crowded by whatever that is behind it but is doing ok. The other three, well as I said before, I'd remove all the flowers and give them a shot of fertilizer or at least a couple of watering cans of alfalfa pellet porridge, to see if you can give them a boost towards growing a few more leaves before they start producing. No doubt about it, you've gotta feed those babies for them to do anything.

Even if only two plants survive, I think you'll have plenty of squash, though. They're not quite as prolific as zucchini but pretty close.

Don't know what I did differently but am glad I did it. There's hope for me yet! Behind are a marigold & some other pretty flowering plant. The huge one didn't seem to be growing at one point; then all of a sudden seemed to grow all at once. I'll space them out a bit more & feed them like you said. You're awesome, thanks a million.

Good morning, all. I carefully dug up one of the smallest crookneck plants (trying to avoid cutting the roots) & relocated it in a bigger area. Will be buying an organic fertilizer today & feeding all of them. Do these plants tolerate being transplanted well? I know some vegetables don't like having their roots disturbed, like beets. Also, can the same fertilizer be used on green zucchini?

As long as the nutrient analysis is balanced i.e. 10-10-10 or similar for the three main nutrients it should be fine for anything. You can get fertilizer in any variation of these numbers but the higher the numbers are, the less of it you will need to use so usually it's a better value. If you can get a micro-pelleted type also, it will save you having to remember to re-apply so often.

Water, water, water and they should be fine transplanted. Any fertilizer that states suitable for veggies should do on all your squash, eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, etc.