Squash: Epic FAIL

16 years ago

One of my big garden disappointments this year was my squash patch (planted in French-style raised beds). I had several different varieties of heirloom summer and winter squash.

My soil prep: Crushed crabshell and compost in the fall. Lime in spring (we have acid soil), followed by compost and organic fertilizer. I used black plastic mulch on the beds to increase heat retention and discourage weeds and pests. I have nectar/pollen-rich flowers and herbs planted in and around the garden to attract bees and other good insects.

The squash started out great -- healthy and lush up through mid-July.

They flowered -- great! Except that there were no female flowers...for weeks. By the time a few female flowers showed up, the plants were already showing signs of stress.

No female flowers...no fruit.

I knew I was in trouble by mid-August. Apart from a yellow crookneck variety, none of the squash, even the zucchini, were producing fruit except for a couple of tiny squash that rotted right on the vine while the blossom was still attached. The vines got more and more weak and mildewy -- just pooped out completely by the end of August.

Our yard is wooded, and there are trees on the south and west sides of our garden...but the squash were planted on the sunny end of the garden, which I think receives adequate light for cucurbits.

I've tried to think what I could have done wrong. I suspect I may have crowded the plants too much. But that doesn't explain the lack of female flowers.

Can anyone help me? Do you think there may have been a nutritional deficit in the soil that the compost and fertilizer didn't adequately amend?

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Comments (7)

glib
16 years ago
no pollination. Buy some small paintbrushes and pollinate by hand. First dip paintbrush into male flower, then into a number of females. Use the male flowers for frying, by the way. They are the finest vegetable there is. Squashes are reasonably tolerant of acid soil.
happyday
16 years ago
Did you see any squashbugs? They spread disease.
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glib
16 years ago
in regard to weakening after first blooming, that happens typically with squash vine borer.
jbrickm
16 years ago
I had my straighneck, crookneck and zucchinis turned to pulp by SVB attacks, all just after the first bloom.

Are you sure you did not see SVBs?
MGPinSavannah
16 years ago
I had exactly the same problem with zucchini this year. I got one, ONE zucchini and then not another female flower. Not one. As far as hand pollinating, what's the purpose with no female blossoms? Since this was the first year I wasn't attacked by SVB I can't BEGIN to tell you how frustrating this was. Does anyone have any ideas about why we got only male flowers?
jbrickm
16 years ago
I think the temperature patterns influence female flower production.
eileen_nv
16 years ago
You always get a flock of male flowers first. I think this is designed to make gardeners tear their hair out.... Later the female flowers start showing up. With the problems our honeybees are having, getting out and hand pollinating as soon as the female flowers bloom is important. But it sounds like your plants didn't survive long enough to get lots of female flowers.

It's possible that your plants were suffering from a disease, or insects, as mentioned above. When you say "weak and mildewy" - you had mildew on the leaves? or just the rotting young fruit (which were probably just not fertilized) Your plants may have just pooped out before the female flowers were really starting. Mildew will take a non resistant plant down fast.

Was it a wet summer? How much water did they get? Root rot can give those results, also.

Squash can really be frustrating. If you have a good year, you have too many, but if you try planting fewer the next year....yup...they all die. ;-)

Keep trying - good luck! Every year is its own thing!