That would really be frustrating, Linda. I wonder if not growing any squash for a couple of years would kind of "break their cycle." ??

mom2goldens said:I'm having zucchini envy

My one lone cocozelle zucchini that germinated (and only has about 3 sets of true leaves) was infested by squash vine borer. I did get out the nasty borer, but not sure if the plant will make it or not. Why can't I grow zucchini????

Honestly I just don't know why you have so many problems and bad luck with your zucchini. Time for row covers.

Squash bed.



Here is my big plant of Flying Saucer Pattypan squash.



And squashed picked today.

Picked some yellow pattypans.

Quickly scrolled through this thread, but didn't read every entry (I usually steer away from anything over a hundred...). So, forgive me if this is a repeat, but do zucchinis need more than one plant to reliably produce? This is the 2nd time I have planted only one plant and had nothing but male (or female, I forget which are the ones that get baby fruits) blossoms and nothing is 'taking.' The first time this happened was a few years ago and I put one plant in a container out on my back deck. I thought perhaps it was too windy for the insects to stop by or something. Last year I grew two plants fairly close together and got lots of fruit. This year, only one again and just the blossoms with the baby fruits that rot and drop off. Is this like a tomatillo and just needs more than one plant to produce? Kind of disappointing. The variety I planted this year was labeled 'Ball's Green Zucchini' in a 4" pot.

They actually need two plants. But is like throwing dice to get male and female flowers on one plant open at the same time. When they are you can hand pollinate. Honeybees are not attracted to one plant, a carpenter bee might but don't count on it. The more plants you have the better the pollination.

I think as long as your one plant is producing both male and female flowers you should be OK. My experience has been that the plants initially put on a lot of male flowers before I start seeing female flowers. A little hand pollination never hurts to help things along, especially if you don't have a lot of pollinators in your garden.

I will defer to Farmer Dill's expert advice. I have managed to get one plant pollinated, but it is a little extra effort.

I don't think they "technically" need more than one plant, but agree with Farmerdill about the more the better; it just increases the odds of having male and female flowers open at the same time. I usually grow 4 plants, two pairs planted together, with the pairs about 4 feet apart. And I also have other C. pepo squash/pumpkins growing in the garden as well.

I'll just see what happens this year and plant two next year. Assuming I still have chickens (I'm down to 3), they like squash and I can toss the extras to them. I have lots of pollinators, although this particular plant is a bit hidden kind of next to a giant tree peony that won't seem to stop growing. But also in a bed with tomatoes and tomatillos that are also blooming now. Shrug. I am not too keen on the whole hand pollination routine, but if I do opt for that, do I go from male to female? And are the male blossoms the ones with the baby fruit:?

Bonehead said:I'll just see what happens this year and plant two next year. Assuming I still have chickens (I'm down to 3), they like squash and I can toss the extras to them. I have lots of pollinators, although this particular plant is a bit hidden kind of next to a giant tree peony that won't seem to stop growing. But also in a bed with tomatoes and tomatillos that are also blooming now. Shrug. I am not too keen on the whole hand pollination routine, but if I do opt for that, do I go from male to female? And are the male blossoms the ones with the baby fruit:?

The female blossoms are the ones with the tiny fruits. The males, nothing. Take a male flower and swish it around in a female blossom.

The other way around, Deb -- the females have the baby fruit at the bottom of the flower. You can rip the petals off a male flower and rub the pollen from the anthers onto the interior female flower parts.

oops, cross posted with Rita!

The borers got my 2 zucchini plants, in an enclosed area, and I hadn't grown any for 2 years.

Yardenman said:The borers got my 2 zucchini plants, in an enclosed area, and I hadn't grown any for 2 years.

Bummer!!

That is one reason I grow so many plants. So when one dies I still have plenty of others.

The squash bed is not looking as great as it did earlier on the season. By now the plants start to show the stress that probably comes from the squash vine borers.

Still they are very productive and I picks lots and lots of various squashes constantly.

I have been eating squash like crazy and all my friends and neighbors have been receiving squash many times already.

Just found another Magda hiding under leaves, even bigger than the one I posted a photo of last month. They seem to balloon from finger size to 3-4" diameter almost overnight. Cooked the last one a bit too long and it turned soggy. I'm going to experiment with different recipes for this one, since I have lots of it to work with!

DonShirer said:Just found another Magda hiding under leaves, even bigger than the one I posted a photo of last month. They seem to balloon from finger size to 3-4" diameter almost overnight. Cooked the last one a bit too long and it turned soggy. I'm going to experiment with different recipes for this one, since I have lots of it to work with!

I like Madga, like the size and shape of the fruits.

Found a recipe already that's a winner! Here is a link to a simple Zucchini Noodle side dish we had for dinner tonight. Half of that oversized Magda served two with a bit left over.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Z...

Getting to the very end of summer squash and zucchini season here. Did pick some.



Alexandria


Poquito


Flying Saucer Pattypans