Zuchinni leaves

[xx1xx]

Can some of the huge leaves be cut off of zuchinni plants?

[TQ]

The only time I cut the leaves off is when the lower ones turn yellow.

[Jan Flora]

Probably. Give it a try and let us know.

If my zucchini in the greenhouse gets any bigger, I'll let you know what happens when you prune leaves... I think zucchini plants are probably pretty hard to kill.

My neighbors are starting to lock their car doors, so I can't leave baskets of zucchini in their cars when they aren't looking.

Jan, in Alaska

[DigitalVinyl]

I trim back large ones when they encroach other plants regularly. Hasn't seemed to hurt Them. Like the other poster I yank away dying ones too.

DiGiTAL ViNYL (no email) Zone 6b/7, Westchester Co, NY,

[Anna]

LOL, I like your thinking. I hadn't thought about leaving them in parked cars...Might have to give that a try this year.

[xx1xx]

Years ago a friend at work gave me a huge Zuchinni. I put it in the trunk of my car and forgot about it. It began to smell and I never got the smell out.

Ir>>

[John Savage]

Yes, but why would you want to? If in the way you can bend the stem so it creases and falls aside into other leaves but doesn't actually break off the plant. Remember, the leaf is actually a large solar collector, gathering sunlight that the plant uses in converting light and nutrients into delicious fruit!

If a leaf is touching the ground you can place dry straw under it to lift it away from contact with soil fungus, or else cut it off knowing that it is going to go mouldy sometime soon, anyway.

If you do sever a large leaf, give the hollow stalk to a kid to blow through and drive the household to distraction!

[John Savage]

When I was a uni student I lived away from home to be closer to the campus. My parents visited one time and brought me a large marrow that Dad had grown. I propped it up in the corner of my bedroom and forgot about it. Rediscovering it months later, I marched through the house with it slung over my shoulder and in the kitchen announced, "I'm going to cook this for dinner" as I swung it down from my shoulder towards the tabletop. In mid-arc the marrow disgorged its rotted contents of watery mush to splatter from one end of the kitchen floor to the other. I was left with just an empty rubbery tube, and a stinking kitchen floor to wash. It was fortunate that the rotter had held together while I carried it down the carpet in the hallway or the mess would not have so easily been cleaned up!

[Ottawa]

my zuchini plan is dying already after only producing about 4 zuchinnies, not including the 3 that got sun scorched and died earlier in teh season when I ask my friend ot water while I was away. Anyhow, all leaves are yellowing and wilting. Help, is this normal and should it die this soon?

[DigitalVinyl]

If ALL of the leaves are yellow and wilting the plant may be sick. There are squash borers that eat into a stem and can kill the whole plant off from that point. I lost two yellow squash plants to them already. The die off can be sudden. Try burying the stem and see if it will take root along the stem and come back for later in the season.

I haven't been getting much zucchini either, 4-5 so far. And I've got three plants. But most of the leaves are nice, big, firm and green. Older leaves and small ones hidden underneath yellow. Some always turn gray and crumble in to powder-bone dry. I think the unusual extended heat we've had is an issue. I know I got zucchini all through september last year so there is time here. Maybe zucc's like late summer better than the high-of-summer. I certaily have had a lot of flowers, and I can see bees in the garden everyday I'm out there. Maybe it is just producing lots of male flowers.

I do have mildew (probably powdery) on the big leaves, but I always see some of that on the large leafed squashes. I was going to treat it with a weak milk and baking soda solution to see if that helps any.

DiGiTAL ViNYL (no email) Zone 6b/7, Westchester Co, NY,