| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| mikesgirl |
Posted - Aug 06 2008 : 9:19:02 PM
I never thought I'd have this problem, but my huge, beautiful zuchinni plants are not producing any squash. I've got lots of blooms, but no baby zuchinnis behind them. It's like they're all male (or is it female?) blooms. I know they produce one sex of flower, then the other, which have the squash, but mine aren't doing that this year. Ever heard of not having enough (or any)zuchinni on your plants? My plants are about 4' in diameter.
Farmgirl Sister #98
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| mikesgirl |
Posted - Aug 19 2008 : 1:04:43 PM
I used organic seeds from HOme Depot - anyone else use these? Can't remember what brand, but it's the only brand of organic that HD carries.
I just went out to try the manual pollination method, with the q tip described above, and when I sent to stick the q-tip down into the blossom, there was a bee down there, so I'm going to let nature takes it's course a little longer and see what happens. I guess we won't die if we have one year without zucchini!
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| bbteacher |
Posted - Aug 18 2008 : 7:39:58 PM
Rosemary,
I'm chiming in from Maryland. This growing season was off for some plants and right on target for others. Our grapes did great last year and this year-ho-hum. Our beets, spinach, and lettuce did fantastic. Peas were a no show. Our carrots were light. Our beans came out strong but now have been producing very little. I planted 4 squash plants-different varieties-and they did poorly. My tomatoes-I planted 14 different plants have been producing from great to where are the tomatoes on this plant? I have lots of red tomatoes but just as many green. My flowers did well-especially my heirloom roses/tearoses. Most of my herbs did well. The basil got a very late start but now is going crazy. Our fruit trees are very light. We have a fig bush that's usually loaded. We're getting nothing from it this year. Our apricot tree gave us a handfull and our blueberries were sparce. We have strawberry plants that produced fruit in June and believe it or not, I have seen at least 20-30 of our strawberries with new fruit! We usually have a boat-load of bees and butterflies in the yard. This year the bees have been very light. I have been reading different posts and alot of farmgals are expressing similar concerns about the season, the bees, and the lack of produce.
Bonnie |
| Rosemary |
Posted - Aug 16 2008 : 10:10:18 PM
It really could be the dwindling bee population. Reminds me of Silent Spring. |
| naturemaiden |
Posted - Aug 16 2008 : 6:11:06 PM
Interesting to know other are having problems with their zuchinni as well. I lost all 4 of my plants, (i did get some zuchinni prior). one day they were fine, the next day they wilted! My cucumber plants did poorly as well. This never happened before. I cant figure out what is going on this year. Everything seems to be taking forever to bloom and set fruit.
Connie
http://flowerchild-lifeinthegarden.blogspot.com/
Also visit my online store @ www.NatureMaiden.com -Handcrafted Bath & Body Products, including soaps, salves, salts, lip balms, lotion bars, and much more! |
| Rosemary |
Posted - Aug 16 2008 : 3:57:41 PM
I found this on a Web site http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf11807625.tip.html Someone in New Jersey had written in askig about the exact same problem we are having.
If this is the first flush of flowers on your zucchini plants, don't worry. What you're seeing is normal. Zucchini plants, like all members of the Cucurbitaceae family of vine crops (melons, cucumbers, squash, etc.) produce male and female flowers on the same plant. During the initial first flush of flower production, usually only one gender of flower (usually the male flowers are first) is produced for the first few weeks. These flowers naturally shed their pollen and drop off. After this initial flush of flowers, a second wave of flowers develops that will contain both male and female blooms. I'm not sure exactly why this is, but some scientists think it's nature's way of "luring" in the bees-sort of giving them time to catch up and discover the flowers. Successful pollination requires proper timing and this first flush of "bait" flowers may be the plant's way of making sure there are bees at the ready when both genders of flower emerge. If the female flowers on your plants (the flowers with the slight swelling below the back of their petals) continue to drop off once both types of flowers are being produced, it's an indicator of pollination problems (the female flowers will abort if not pollinated). Then you may need to consider hand pollinating your plants.
Later, somebody else posts that this is a common problem with zucchini and tells how to do the cross-polliation manually (just touch a Q-Tip to put pollen from males blossoms on female ones). I'm going to try this tomorrow. All our bees seem preoccupied with the lavender this year!
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| Rosemary |
Posted - Aug 16 2008 : 3:50:09 PM
It's interesting how many of us are reporting this problem, and from all over the country. I wonder if we all used seeds from the same company, or a particular variety. |
| Woodswoman |
Posted - Aug 14 2008 : 5:45:55 PM
I have my own garden at home, and co-coordinate a community organic garden at our school. We have some zucchini, but in both garden the numbers of them are really down this year.
I don't think a lack of pollinators is the problem here-I have three beehives in my yard, and one at the organic garden. I'm going to blame the weather!
Jennifer
Farmgirl Sister #104
"Nature brings to every time and season some beauties of its own".
-Charles Dickens |
| katmom |
Posted - Aug 13 2008 : 11:37:36 PM
don't feel bad, I have about 20+ zuccs, but they seem to be slow growing and it seems every 4rd one is starting to turn yellow while the rest are doing fine but are taking their time, 'course so are my tomatos, I picked 6lbs the other day and have a platter full of picked orange tomatoes, but I have a ton of green ones on the vine. Being new to Washington, I wasn't sure if this is the norm, but now I see I am not the only one with lazy veggies! It could be worse, my neighbors across the road have had 4-legged, veggie nawshing, night marauders---Deer---guess I should tell them about the "Billy Big Mouth" singing fish to deterr the deer! lol! but if I do, hen the deer will come over to my property so maybe I won't tell them about the singing fish! hahaha!
>^..^< Happiness is being a katmom.
mjf#72
Sisters on the Fly#472
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| CabinCreek-Kentucky |
Posted - Aug 13 2008 : 6:20:42 PM
lisa .. how did you get that cute little dancing flower to do that? adorable! xo
True Friends * KENTUCKY FRANNIE
adopt a 'rag-chile'
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| sissysquilts |
Posted - Aug 13 2008 : 6:01:07 PM
Mine are the same here Sherri - maybe something in the northwest air? :) I'm still keeping my fingers crossed though!
Lisa - the clover is an excellent idea. We had lots around at our last place and the bees (and nightcrawlers) loved those spots! :)
Farmgirl Sister #117
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Robert Browning |
| Rosemary |
Posted - Aug 13 2008 : 5:57:05 PM
My single (but huge, for that) zucchini plant has so far only produced three zucchinis. I thought one plant would be enough, given how people are always complaining about how prolific they are. Maybe the trick is to help the pollination process along. Anybody know about that? |
| nampafarmgirl |
Posted - Aug 12 2008 : 2:43:18 PM
I am not getting bumper crop either. I thought maybe it had something to do with getting SNOW in June.
Kim |
| tribalcime |
Posted - Aug 12 2008 : 12:07:12 PM
Mine didnt pollinate this year like they should . NO bees to speak of in my yard or anyone else's . I have roses and hibiscus and cannas and several doz. liatrus that normally swarm with bees all summer. Yours may not have gotten pollinated either. I raise a garden in the neighborhood but everyone else raises "GRASS" . All the poions have killed the bees and other pollinating bugs off. They have ran several articles this summer on the bees and gardens in our newspaper this year. We are killing off too many bugs in our quest for the "perfect"yard. I am planning on planting clover in my backyard grass to see if that helps any.
LIfe is a witch ~~~ and then ya fly !! My blogspot .http://tribalwitch.blogspot.com/ |
| City_Chick |
Posted - Aug 11 2008 : 1:09:18 PM
My zuchinni did terrible this year also. I had tons of squash blossoms but only got one zuchinni. I was so disappointed. My yellow crook neck squash are still doing great though. A friend of mine thought maybe my plants got too much rain this year because I had some terrible rotting going on in them as well. I gave up on them about a week ago and pulled them all out and threw them in the compost. I guess i should still be thankful for the squash blossoms though. They were yummy stuffed with cheddar and cream cheese and deep fried. I also stuffed some with spanish rice and venison.
Christina
Farmgirl Sister #195
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| CabinCreek-Kentucky |
Posted - Aug 10 2008 : 10:13:48 PM
i usually get a bumper crop of zucchinni .. but only got a 'few' this summer .. don't know if it is the soil .. the hot weather .. or what! other local friends are getting plenty .. and some are not! and i LOVE zucchinni! my yellow squash didn't do well either! some grew and grew and grew with huge blossoms .. others just whithered on the vine!
there's always NEXT YEAR! xo
True Friends * KENTUCKY FRANNIE
adopt a 'rag-chile'
http://sistermercysfoundlinhome.blogspot.com
treasures .. new and olde .. http://mudpiemanormercantile.blogspot.com
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| mikesgirl |
Posted - Aug 10 2008 : 5:05:58 PM
We have had two crazy days of weather here - torential downpours and humidity. I just went out and looked at my plants again and I see a "thickening" at the stem end of the blossom on the zucchini plant. coud it possibly be the beginnings of an actual zucchini? I know how "rare" and "hard to grow" ROFL zucchini are, so I'm not expecting much, but I'm holding my breath to see what happens. I"ll let you know!
Farmgirl Sister #98
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| mikesgirl |
Posted - Aug 07 2008 : 6:35:25 PM
So it's not just me.........
Farmgirl Sister #98
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| mommom |
Posted - Aug 07 2008 : 2:49:56 PM
Sherri: We are normally bombarded with zucchini but not this year. I have frozen maybe 15 quarts - tops and usually I am the one trying to give them away. DH has no idea what happened. Susan |
| mikesgirl |
Posted - Aug 07 2008 : 11:09:36 AM
Someone once told me the best way to get rid of zuchhini was to drive around in a Wal-Mart parking lot, and when you find an unlocked car, toss the zuchhini in and speed away!! I wish someone would toss some my way this year!!!
(Now watch it - next week they'll all come on and I"ll be trying to get rid of them!)
Farmgirl Sister #98
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| DaisyFarm |
Posted - Aug 06 2008 : 10:10:52 PM
That's odd Sherri for plants that size. Sometimes they will produce a number of male flowers before the female ones start to appear, so maybe there's hope yet?? You're lucky you're not in Canada. I have a hundred pounds or so you could have. Watch your mailbox..lol!
Di |
