Insufficient pollination isn't the problem, since you have zukes. Too close? Probably.

They may need more water and/or a shot of fertilizer.

My guess would be insufficient pollination (although that does seem pretty close for a zuchini). Do you see bees or other pollinators visiting your blooms? If not that is most likely the cause. Squash and Zucs need to get the pollen from the male flower to the female (the one attached to your little zucs). Otherwise, the plant will abort the unpollinated zuc and it won't get much larger than it already is. Check out the FAQ on hand pollination.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hand Pollination FAQ

lanier83, Maybe I'm missing something? If you have zucs you have pollination, right? I could see that with corn, each strand of the silks have to be pollinated or you have missing kernels, ETC. Unlike corn, squash blooms only produce if they have been pollinated, I would think. I've never had that problem though, I have lots of bees.

Not being mean or argumentative, but I can't understand that thought, even though I read the link. It is beyond my comprehension. Will you teach me?

Inadequate pollination (aka fruit abortion) fruit have a classic appearance - 2-3" in length and then they wither and turn dark. They do not look normal at all.

But small fruit that appear normal but just don't get any bigger is usually a plant stress issue and commonly is either a nutrient or a water issue.

Dave

So please post images.
The planting overall. And the zucchini that stopped growing.

Thanks lanier83, but I was going by what he posted. "nothing is getting any bigger than 3" or 4"."

I have had some drop the bloom early in the season sometimes, then the small fruit just fell off, never grew any bigger.

I thought it had to be pollinated before it would grow any more. You have taught an old dog new tricks today.

I never have pollination problems with anything except Paw Paw's because I've got lot's of bees and other pollinating bugs where I live. Bees and most bugs won't touch a Paw Paw, they stink!

sounds like a pollination problem, you may need to do hand pollination, do it around 6-7am daily, if enough male flowers i gently pick one and just as gently peel off petal and insert it into the female flower.

len

Here is a link that might be useful: lens garden page

It is still early in the season, and zuccini typically get male flowers only when they are just getting started. They will produce a little miniature zuccini which won't grow bigger. You should remove them are be patient. The weather here in southern CA is just starting to warm up, so your plants should be fine. There is a picture of the two different blossoms in the link.

Here is a link that might be useful: zuccini blossoms

Thanks everyone for the responses! What a great forum.

I hand-pollinated a little. There are definitely tons of blooms, male and female. I also removed some 3" fruit that seemed to have stalled out and was turning yellow at the end. When the flower dies at the end of a zuke, does that mean the zuke is done for? Or do the flowers die early?

There are lots of babies (sub-1") coming up so I'm going to fertilize and see what happens. A friend advised the same as lgteacher, that maybe it's just getting started and I need to be patient :)

I will post pics if things don't improve. Thanks again.

I also removed some 3" fruit that seemed to have stalled out and was turning yellow at the end.

Then that is BER - blossom end rot. There is a detailed FAQ here about it.

Dave

Then that is BER - blossom end rot. There is a detailed FAQ here about it.

This has happened a few times now, stalled out fruit that rots at the end, but I've also gotten a couple 8" ones that are quite healthy. Maybe it's just that not all of them succeed?

I have 3 zucchinis that I planted too close together, about 4 feet for all 3. They had been super-fertilized, and the plants grew fast, but the fruits were not found by the bees at first. After a while, I self-pollinated a few, and that helped, then the bees found a few and did the job, now the zukes get pollinated, but grow very slowly. They do get pollinated, but the leaves on these 3 plants are MASSIVE. I will probably pull the middle plant, to help the bees get in to the ones that are bearing the best. And I haven't fertilized them anymore, as all I'm doing is making the huge leaves get bigger and put out more leaves, not growing zucchini. Plants actually do produce quite well without tons of fertilizer, as a little scarcity tells them it's time to complete their cycle, produce their fruit and seeds, and eventually die and turn to compost.

You said you got your plants at Home Depot, and they were really big, so it sounds like they might have an excess of fertilizer. Too much nitrogen (the first number in a 3 number mix) in particular will cause a lot of leaf growth. Phosphorus and Potassium help with root growth and overall plant health, respectively.

And all due respect to lgteacher, the female flower has a tiny zucchini at its base, and the male flower attaches directly to the zucchini plant, no little zucchini. Lg is right that males tend to come first, but he had it backwards. You want the little zucchini attached to a flower to stay on, as they turn into big zucchini!

Mine are behaving the same & its definately not a pollination problem as i have heaps of tiny ants in both male & female flowers ! With butternuts i now have a different problem , no female flowers, & the cucumbers are simply dying back , 2/3 through a West Australian summer & they have shadecloth cover from noon till around 4pm !

Have you had good performance in this bed before? If not, probably a soil nutrient problem. Do you fertilize? Shadecloth is good in fierce heat, but lack of sun can lead to poor fruiting. No female flowers is simply bad luck. BTW, males usually show up first, to attract pollinators.

https://www.plantfoodathome.com/small-zucchinis/