It's August in the Inland Northwest and if someone hasn't offered you free zucchinis yet it's only because you already have way too many in your own garden!
Not me, not this year anyway. My zukes started off great this year. In fact, I even thinned down to 3 or 4 per mound (which I very seldom ever do). I picked 3 or 4 zucchinis from both varieties I have in early July and never gave it another thought. That was until all my little baby zukes started to shrivel up and die - uh oh they are not getting pollinated. How is that even possible? I have more bees and different varieties of bees in my garden than I've ever had before. My garden is green and lush and looks so healthy. My pepper plants are producing at a rate that I may soon be opening a fresh salsa stand.
What's going on?
Well, it's all about the birds and the bees. A pollinator carries the pollen from the male to the female blooms, and a little while later, a baby zucchini is born.
If the flower doesn’t get pollinated, then you don’t get fruit.
Actually, the bees are NOT doing a very good job!
I gave you guys tons of flowers in the garden and this is how you treat me?
I also started noticing that all the male flowers were falling off?
Zucchini plants are monoecious, meaning they have both male and female flowers. After the male releases its pollen, it drops to the ground.
Sometimes, courgette plants form an early burst of male flowers before the female blossoms develop, so even if all the blossoms seem to be falling, it’s likely not a problem.
However, poor pollination can also cause blossoms to fall. What’s happening is that the blossoms aren’t being pollinated well enough, so the plant decides to drop its blossoms and try again.
If this is the case, try hand pollinating if and when you get a second burst of blossoms.
It’s hard to tell the difference between what might be evidence of poor pollination versus a normal pattern of male flowers falling off.
But if you see bees and butterflies visiting your plant regularly, it’s probably the latter.
You can also peek at the fallen flowers and see if there is a stigma present or not. If there is, that means your female flowers are falling, and you should get to pollinating the flowers by hand.
Now What? There are a couple of things you can still do to get these flowers pollinated.
If pollinators don’t visit your plant, the best solution is to take a cotton swab or small paintbrush and do the job yourself.
First thing in the morning, head out to the garden. Gather the pollen from a male flower by wiping the anther. You should get a bunch of yellow powder on your swab. Spread it onto the stigma of the female flower.
Re-apply more pollen from a male flower each time you move to a new female flower.
If you did it right, within a day or two you’ll see a thick green bulb form at the base of the female flowers. If you don’t see this happening, do some more manual pollinating.
I also didn't take my own advice that I always tell everyone "Zuchinnis do not like each other"! They do not like to have their leaves and stems cross over each other. Don't Touch Me!
Too much foliage and the bees just have too hard of a time getting to the flowers. Opening up the plants and removing all the leaves that were crossing over each other really made a difference in my zukes. A little hand pollinating in the mornings also has got things going in my baby Zucchini nursery. Here's a great video from
S & K Gardens on doing just that.
This is how we are looking now less than a week later. We got babies!
Gardens are a little bit like kids; you just get them figured out and then it's time to adjust again - WHEN THINGS GO WRONG
BLOSSOM END ROT APHIDS POWDERY MILDEW
If your fruits start to grow and then suddenly develop dark, leathery spots or look like they’re rotting on the vine, they probably have the dreaded blossom end rot.
Blossom end rot is caused by a calcium deficiency, but tossing a bunch of eggshells in the garden after you notice signs of a problem isn't going to help.
Supplementing your plants with calcium after the fruit has already formed and started to show signs of a deficiency won’t work.
This is because calcium deficiency is often caused by a lack of water in the soil, which transports calcium into the plant.
Once fruits start to rot, it’s too late to help them. But you can prevent this disease from destroying future fruits on the same plant if you have a long enough growing season.
Once plants are already in the ground, the key is water – not adding calcium. You need to give your plants the right amount, on a consistent basis.
The soil should never be allowed to dry out completely beyond 2 inches deep.
You don’t need a fancy tool to gauge this, just stick your finger into the soil, 2 inches down. If it’s dry, your plant isn’t getting enough water.
Zucchini needs about an inch of water a week, and you should be watering at the base of the plant rather than overhead to avoid promoting the onset of other diseases.
You can head this problem off in the future by doing a soil test before planting.
If you discover a calcium deficiency, amend the soil with calcium sulfate or calcium chloride, following the manufacturer’s directions.
Some gardeners also like using dried, crushed eggshells for additional calcium. Just add some to the planting hole before you add your seeds or seedlings.
You should also adjust the pH of your soil to around 6.0-7.5, which is what zucchini plants prefer.
APHIDS! UGH, I HATE THESE THINGS... Aphids harm zucchini and pumpkin plants in three ways: by disturbing their healthy growth and development, by creating environments that invite disease and by transmitting viruses from one plant to another. The viral diseases spread by aphids, such as cucumber mosaic, zucchini yellow, and watermelon mosaic viruses, are often more harmful to zucchini and pumpkins than the damage caused by the aphids' sap-sucking behavior. The diseases can cause stunted growth and lead to the death of the infected plants. Unfortunately, because of the way in which aphids transmit viral diseases, passing through a vegetable patch and feeding on a few plants before traveling off to another garden, makes pest control difficult.
Some Treatment Options - Gardeners have several treatment options available for fighting an aphid infestation. One is an insecticidal soap spray; before using it, however, be sure to test on a few leaves because sometimes the spray concentration needs to be diluted. In addition, to keep squash leaves from burning, do not apply in the heat and sun. I also like to give them a good spray of water. Drown the little suckers!
Biological controls can also be effective for the management of aphids. This is accomplished by introducing beneficial insects such as lady beetles, lacewings, and parasitic wasps that prey on aphids.
So far this year I've been pretty lucky with no aphids yet! I planted nasturtiums in all my raised beds. This is another method to prevent an aphid infestation. To minimize an aphid attack, severely infested zucchini and pumpkin plants should be removed and destroyed to keep the aphid population from spreading.
How do you get rid of powdery mildew on zucchini? It can be an uphill battle.
Combine one tablespoon baking soda and one-half teaspoon of liquid, non-detergent soap with one gallon of water, and spray the mixture liberally on the plants.
Mouthwash. The mouthwash you may use on a daily basis for killing the germs in your mouth can also be effective at killing powdery mildew spores.
Unfortunately, there are more pests waiting in the garden but for now, I'm enjoying some fruits of my labor. Green beans, basil, tomatoes, and nasturtiums.
Jamie the "Dirt Dog" has also developed a taste for raspberries. So whatever the wasps didn't get she has eaten her way through.
She currently is my biggest pest in the garden!
See you in the dirt -