Does a squash plant support more than one squash at a time? For example, it seems that while a big zucchini is growing, several incipient ones grow poorly or even rot. If I remove the big zucchini, another one starts to grow.
Bill
It depends on the variety of squash. Some won't mature more than one or two squash to maturity (and abort the rest) and others will set more.
As a general rule, the larger the mature squash, the smaller the number the vine will set. And as fully grown zucchini are rather large, having one or two maturing on the plant very likely *would* inhibit setting any more fruit.
Johnny's Selected Seeds gives average yield per plant for winter squash and pumpkin varieties in their catalog. (A commendable practice.) Yields range from 8-10 squash per plant for a 'Sweet Dumpling' squash (4" diameter) to 1-2 per plant for a Hubbard squash (12-15 pounds).
Summer squash are normally picked immature, so the plant keeps producing more squash. But let one of those zucchinis escape and the plant's happy, and puts its energy into maturing that one squash rather than growing more.
Yes. That is why everyone around here has to lock their cars from the end of July through the first of November. This is my cousins first year of growing them and she planted a whole row. She is putting them in the trash now, since everyone is locking their cars.
Dwayne
I have that rotting problem, too. Sigh. Sue
Zucchinis and crooknecks do if they're healthy. Which leads me to today's problem: so do "cream of the crop" white acorn squashes. I had hoped for a good harvest, but perhaps not quite THIS good. Does anybody have acorn squash recipe ideas that don't involve sweets - brown sugar, maple syrup, or honey?
I have one to share in exchange: Bake squashes as usual, split, and remove seeds. Fry bulk sausage and drain excess fat. Along with sausage in the remaining fat, saute chopped onions and apples. Pack the sausage/onion/apple mixture into squash cavities. Makes a nice October supper. Maple syrup and cinnamon go well but are optional.
Kathy
Live on Long Island and planted on June 10th and some a week later.
Me too, same problem. The other day I saw 4 or 5 zuchinni on one plant and today none of them looked good. They were really small, maybe about 4 inches. I went out there the other day and thought some kind of horrible worm was on the tip of one of then and even took a picture to try to get online somehow but that turned out to be the rotted flower. Then I thought it might be the chipmunks, so today I put down crushed red pepper again. If they are rotting because there are too many of them, then maybe the chipmunks are staying away because of the first red pepper I put down.
I saw some blossom end rot >>
I'd asked about this rot business here awhile back. Mine get about an inch or two, turn yellow and rot. Lots of suggestions. One was that they may not be getting enough water so I'm trying to increase it. My problem is disorganization - I just don't have a schedule. I did but my backyard auto sprinkler system died to it's up to me. Another couple of things I've noticed with the zucchini that are actually maturing (and I ought to start another thread about this, I suppose) is that they are quite pale and some are bulbous looking - almost like gourds. I've never had either of these problems. I'm assuming that I've planted the same type as usual - cheapies from Wal*Mart. Sue San Joaquin Valley, CA
Take the top off like a pumpkin, remove the seeds, fill it with chopped apples (other fruits will work also) and add some cinniman. Bake for 45 minutes and eat. Or fry some meat and onions, stuff the squash with it and bake for 45 minutes and eat . Or cut them up and add to stew and soups. I also cut them in to slices, microwave them till tender, spray they with "I cant believe its not butter". Or Slice and fry them and eat. Or add them to casseroles.
Dwayne
Sue, something has to be wrong someplace although mine are not pale or bulbous loking...actually some do turn a little pale before they go.
Yesterday I decided to cut all the leaves off because the leaves are huge and maybe draw>>
Are you carrying out the pollination yourself? If the flower is not properly pollinated the tiny fruit seems to rot or just grow stunted before it falls. Use a small brush and perform the pollination yourself.
It could be that bees have better things to do with their time than gather pollen from your plants, or the weather might be inclement so they choose to stay home and just put their feet up.
One day I went out to do this (hand pollination) and had to battle the bees to get to the flowers. I decided it didn't need doing *that* day. I'll try it again tomorrow. I'm also going to take a deep breath and hack away at my huge tomato bushes. Hardly any tomatoes but lots of bush. I need to rethink the whole garden thing next year. I have so little space that I crowd too much (tomatoes and bells), I don't do enough prep work and I shoulda found this NG before I planted in the spring.
Sounds like a good idea to me. I am sooo glad it's the weekend. We had about 20 days of over 100 degrees. I don't know much about bees - is that too hot for them to be active? Sue
Pretty much what I'm going to do to my tomatoes tomorrow. No canning this year, darn it. Not enough fruit for the second year in a row. I'm going to try the hand pollinating of the zucchini, too Darn good thing my life doesn't depend on my garden - only my self-esteem. :o( Sue
Bake them with a bit of butter and season with black pepper. Add a dash of cayenne and a topping of sauteed onions to dress them up.
Puree cooked, peeled squash with a small portion of sauteed onions. Season with nutmeg and pepper (perhaps a dash of cayenne). Add cream or milk (up to half the total, though I prefer much less). Serve as a hot or cold soup.
Use pureed squash as an ingredient in muffins, pancakes or waffles, replacing some of the liquid and oil and cutting out some of the sugar. Season with cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Chopped walnuts go well with the squash. (A family favorite is multigrain pumpkin waffles, served with homemade, reduced-sugar spiced apple jelly. The flour mix includes a variety of whole-grain flours and defatted soy flour.)
The most unusual way I've had squash is wrapped up corn tortillas and cooked as enchildas (with red chile sauce).
No, but your weather was too hot for your tomatoes to be setting fruit. (Which you commented on earlier in this thread.) I had a short lull in ripening fruit on my tomato plants which is probably connected to a stretch of very hot weather earlier this summer.
Squash will abort fruit (sometimes without the flower even opening) when they are stressed (by fruit load, pests, or environmental circumstances).
I understand that from an earlier thread. I have one tomato plant that hasn't gotten outrageously big like the others and it's had more tomatoes than the others despite the heat. I don't know why this one particular one didn't branch out all over the place as the others did.
I did some hand pollinating this morning with a paint brush and noticed that some of the blossoms (the females) had lots of ants in them. Would those be in the pest category? I'm awfully discouraged with this gardening business. Sue
Ants? Not usually a pest on squash. (Ants do sometimes become pest when they nibble soft fruits like raspberries in my garden.) Cucumber beetles, squash vine borers, and squash bugs are more the pests I had in mind. Aphids can be a problem because they can carry mosaic virus. (Unfortunately, this has been a bad year for virus in Michigan.)
There's always next year...though every year it's always something.
Last year I lost virtually my whole pepper crop (to maggots), but the corn was great. This year I've got ahead of the pepper maggots and the corn is awful (one planting every ear but one was smutty).
If you haven't done so already, get a soil test. Find out if you have an obvious shortage in something. (My first test showed that the soil was low in potassium and high in phosphorous, so the typical 'balanced' fertilizers weren't really appropriate.)
Work in some compost this fall. Maybe plant some garlic. Read some gardening books. (_Square Foot Gardening_ is good for beginners, though I think Mel Bartholomew is a bit optimistic on his spacings.)
Take credit for your successes and for anything else blame the weather! Too much rain, not enough rain, rain at the wrong time, too hot, not hot enough--there's always some reason to fault it!
That is what happens when they have not been pollinated. The flowers are big enough that you can do it by hand: on a morning that both male and female flowers are open, break off the male flower, tear away the petals and rub the male flower onto the centre (stigma) inside each of the open female flowers. Do this while the plant is still wet with dew.
It is easy to tell when they are not getting enough water: the leaves droop alarmingly in the midday heat!
Sprinklers? Sprinklers are a recipe for mildew on curcubits. Try not to wet the leaves when you water them. A dripper system is necessary for this. You can build up a wall around the centre of the plant so that water from the hose is contained and soaks in, or half bury a tin can open at both ends and direct water into this so that it soaks into the soil. Just take care to now wet any leaves.
They should be okay. BUT ... if any zucchini develops with the free end noticeably thinner than the stem end then it will be bitter tasting and you may as well break it off and discard it before it wastes energy from the plant.
IME zucchinis grow much better when you plant the seed directly, rather than transplanted from seedlings.
Zucchinis are melt-in-your-mouth tasty if you pick them one or two DAYS after their open-flower stage (yes, break off the flower!), rather than leaving them to grow for WEEKS. Pick them small and the plant will produce dozens more; leave any to grow large and you will have far fewer and they are not anywhere near as tasty.
I've used a paint brush as was suggested by someone else.
Some book I read said they need about 4 gallons a week.
Curcubits??? As far as I can tell I don't have mildew.
I've just been using a slow running hose now. Maybe drip next year.
Hmmm. I didn't know that. Not had that problem. Last year the blossom ends weren't closing.
Were I planting lots of them I might do this. However, my limit (space wise) is four or five.
Break off the flower when it doesn't open anymore? I didn't know that either. My ignorance is obviously huge. How can you keep track of which ones are ready to have the flowers picked off?
How small would you say?
Sometimes they hide and get away from me. :o( Sue
Oh, thanks a lot for the advice. Sue
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