I have 2 healthy looking zucchini plants with many little perfeclty formed zucchini squash. But the problem is they never seem to grow to maturity. There are about 8 squash between two plants, each squash is about 1" in diameter and 4" long max. They have been this size for nearly 2-weeks. The plants keep flowering though. Is this a problem?
With just two plants, you may be below the "critical mass" for natural pollination to work. You need to have at least one male flower and one female flower open at the same time. And, there is only a short time-frame when each flower is functional.
I suggest checking them each day, for flowers. And, as soon as you see a male-and-female pair, pull the male flower off its stem, peel back the petals, and smoosh it into the female flower.
If the zucchini doesn't grow noticeably within a week, the pollination didn't work.
But I have developed fruit already formed on both plants. Once the female is pollinated the fruit should grow no matter how few plants are growing. correct?
snipped-for-privacy@THE-DOMA> In article
It's common for many squash varieties to initially produce 3 or 4 inch fruits, they will not grow any further. A couple of weeks after they appear, the plant will begin producing full sized fruits. This happens with the yellow crooknecks that I have been growing for years. I usually pick them and their flowers to allow the plant to put its energy into making real fruits. YMMV
-- Mister Gardener
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Mister Gardener: Thanks for the reply. It is strange how a plant can pretend to produce a fruit, but I guess the world is a strange place. I will "harvest" my short zucchinis tonight.
BTW, what does YMMV mean?
Higgledy
Mister Gardener wrote:
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