Question from Karen:
I am having a problem with zucchini that appears to be healthy. The plants look robust and have plenty of little yellow flowers but they don’t turn into little zukes. Do you have any idea what I can. do ? I love zucchini and am disappointed.
Answer from Pat:
Your problem is most likely lack of pollination, but let’s discuss other possibilities first. Perhaps you failed to plant with the seasons, that is, you planted very late. Next year, if you live in Southern California, plant zucchini in March or April instead of waiting until August by which time most gardens are being burned up by heat. Another possibility is that you purchased one of the new genetically-modified hybrids that only produces male flowers to be used in cooking. Always read the label and/ or the seed package. (It is best to plant squash from seeds.)
Most likely, however, you have both male and female flowers, but the females are not being pollinated so the fruits are falling off. Many plants, such as melons and squash, create many male flowers first and then they create a few female ones. Even when squash is in the swing of bearing, the ratio of male to female flowers is usually about 15 to 1. Look closely at the flowers. The male flowers have a stem attached to the flower. The female flowers have a tiny bulge between the stem and the flower and that is the immature fruit. If you find tiny fruits beneath the female flowers but see that some have turned yellow, dried up, and fallen off then your problem is lack of pollination.
Squash flowers are most often pollinated by the common bumble bee that lives in the ground. No bumble bees, no squash! You either need to attract bumble bees to your garden or you will have to pollinate the blossoms yourself. To do this, go out in the garden early in the day and either use a small sable paint brush and make like a bee going from flower to flower, or again, early in the morning break off a male flower, take off its petals and then rub the center of the male blossom flower on the center of the female blossom. Here is one of my U-Tube videos which shows this process.
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Thanks for taking the time to answer my question. I can see several problems. First I didn’t plant it from seed and grabbed a 6 pack at the nursery in July. I was amazed at how fast the plants grew especially planted in chicken manure, but ultimately disappointed they didn’t produce zucchini. I think that I have all male flowers. Thanks for telling me how to pollinate them, will give it a try tomorrow morning. We do have bees( an apiary is 60 feet away) but with all the flowers I think the bees forgot the zucchini. I must admit that I didn’t realize how beneficial bumble bee are and have swatted at them. Now I know better than to do that again. Thanks Pat!
Few people realize that there are roughly 1,000 species of native bees living in California. About twenty-six of these are various species of bumble bee, many of which are highly territorial and selective in their choice of flowers. All of these native bees are great pollinators for agricultural crops and home gardens. They deserve our love, gratitude and protection. When I grew zinnias every summer from seeds planted in May (http://patwelsh.com/wpmu/blog/planting/plant-zinnias-seeds/) I was delighted to notice that zinnias are “bedrooms for bumble bees.” At night they sleep safely snuggled between the petals. When I saw them there in the evening or got up early and found them still sound asleep until warmed by the sun I was tempted to try stroking one of them with a finger tip, but never had the courage. Bumble bees do not want to bite us and are friendly to gardeners. Here is more information on native bees. http://www.laspilitas.com/wildlife/California_Bumble_bees.html. If you only have male flowers you won’t be able to pollinate them. From what you wrote here I think you still haven’t looked closely at the center of your plants. You need a female flower to make a fruit and these are often deep inside the leaves. Notice the immature fruit on top of the stem underneath the flower. http://www.thekitchn.com/edible-squash-blossoms-how-to-90060The blossoms that have the immature fruits are the female flowers, the one’s without the fruit are the males. Notice, also, the inside of the female flower is shaped differently from the male flower. The male flower has stamens bearing pollen, the female flower has a sticky stigma for accepting the pollen which then fertilizes the ovary beneath it. http://pollinator.com/squash.htm