Zucchini Problem
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.
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 (https://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
Thank you. I noticed that a couple of the zucchini blooms looked like they were cut. I will try pollinating and see if that works. I have a couple of fruit and I have lavendar in my garden and I am hoping the bees will visit the zucchini.
Why is it best to grow zucchini from seed? Thanks!
Zucchini is easy from seeds and sprouts quickly right where you want it to grow. Put in 2 or 3 seeds right where you want them to grow and thin to the strongest. (i.e.: Either pull up the weaker ones or clip them off at ground level with scissors. Plants at nursery might arrive with diseases. Same goes for cucumbers and melons. Don’t put in melon seeds until May. My organic book will tell you when to plant which. There is no point in planting these things in pots and then transplanting. Always put them right where you want them.
Hi Pat, I’m going to be making a planter for my zucchini’s how large should i make the planter to get the most out of my crop?
The best size for a raised bed is 8 feet long, 4 feet wide and 3 feet deep. Be sure to turn it upside down and nail gopher wire on the bottom before putting it right side up again and filling it with garden soil.
Hi there! I live in Oceanside CA, more inland than by the coast. I’m very new at gardening. My question is: The first year I planted zucchini I had a wonderful crop. the second and third year just about a complete fail. Same location in garden. Someone mentioned to me about rotation of garden location? my garden is about 16×8 ( ish) It’s on north/north east of my property and has full sun most of the day. does rotation mean with in the same garden space or completely different part of my yard?? Is rotation necessary ? Thank you!
Zucchini should be easy to grow. Seeds come up fast. Simply fertilize, water and provide enough sun—at least 6 hours is best. I always begin with seeds of a variety I want. If you have no bees you will have no fruit and squash are pollinated by bumble bees which makes this more of a problem. No bumble bees? In that case hand-pollinate the flowers by going from flower to flower with sable watercolor brush and twirl it inside each flower. (You should be able to find a You-Tube video of me doing this.) The first flowers will all be male—they have stem but no immature fruit at the bottom. Don’t worry female flowers soon arrive and they bear the fruit, then you need to go from male to female to deposit the pollen if no bees are doing the job. Once you begin picking fruit keep it up! Picking young is best. You can also cook and eat the flowers—either male or female stuffed with cheese and sautéed. One possible problem: If you began with a hybrid from the nursery or from seeds and then the second year grew the plants that sprouted from the ground they will be no good. I have never been able to convince my gardener of this so he used to plant them in the row behind my back. One year I got a vine cascading about 8 feet off the edge of my terrace where I grew veggies and it bore some weird flowers no real fruit. This plant is called a mule.
Rotating crops means not planting the same thing in the same spot year after year since it causes a build-up of diseases. This is not a really bad problem with squash. Most likely your problem is lack of bees so your plants are not getting pollinated. Spraying kills bees and so does treating a lawn for white grubs because the systemic pesticide called Merit gets into flowers visited by bees and you get dead and dying bees. If your neighbor sprays with Malathion, that kills the bees and all beneficials, like spiders and lacewings and lady bugs, all of which get rid of pests. Bayer and Monsanto are evil companies since they make products that kill pests but also kill all beneficial insects including bees.
P.S. Be sure to purchase a copy of one of my month-by-month books from Amazon, either the second or the third (all organic) edition. Vegetables are at the end of every monthly chapter. this book holds the gardener by the hand and tells you what to do each month. Perfect for a new gardener but good for anyone. Don’t buy the first edition written more than 30 years ago. People loved it but it’s way out of date.