Growing Zucchini and Summer Squash - Beginner Style!
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- Jilly78
- biogardener
- biogardener
- bekedam
- aeperez
- Clare23
- Jojo
- mbrs5109
- Clare23
- Jojo
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» Jilly78 - zucchini flowers
I know this may seem like a dumb question but I would like to pick some flowers from my garden but i am not sure which ones to pick (male/female). If I do pick them will the squash still grow? This is my first year gardening and although they seem to be growing great, I don't want to ruin it by picking the wrong flowers. can anyone help? thanks-- posted by Jilly78
» biogardener - Cucurbits
Whether the flowers are male or female, they should not be rotting. If they are, then there is something wrong. European gardeners treat tropical plants differently, and they would not have this problem. You have to reproduce the conditions of their native background. That applies to all cucurbits, i.e. cucumbers, pumpkins, and all squash. They need very hot soil and plenty of moisture. In my native Germany, the seeds are stuck directly oi the compost pile. That way they benefit from the decomposition heat and the moisture which the compost generates.I have written an article on raised bed gardening in which I have one section on how to grow these plants:
-- posted by biogardener
» biogardener - to eat or not to eat
All parts of the zucchini plant are edible, although you may have trouble digesting it. Veggies and fruit require different enzymes in the digestion process. That is why you should not eat fruit and veggies at the same meal. Some greens, e.g. lettuce and parseley, can be digested easily and can be combined with either fruit or veggies. Squash, on the other hand, needs a third type of enzyme to be digested, so it does not combine with veggies or with fruit. After eating squash or even the flowers of squash I feel like you swallowed a rock. I therefore do not eat them. If squash is combined with other veggies at a restaurant, I carefully pick it out or else the meal will lie heavy in my stomach for hours.If you don't have that problem, go ahead and eat the male flowers after you have given the insects a chance to pollinate the female flowers. When the male flowers start closing, that's the time to pick them. You can tell male and female flowers apart easily. The female flower has a round ball at the base where the fruit is going to form.
-- posted by biogardener
» aeperez - Re: zucchini
I am growing zucchini, and I am having a lot ofproblems with harvesting. It seems as the zucchini is very sensible and it gets scratched very easily. The product has to be transported in
plastic crates for probably 50 miles and it is a
problem with it. PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT ALTERNATIVES THEY MAY BE IN ORDER TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM. THAK YOU VERY MUCH.
-- posted by aeperez
» Jojo - THEY ARE TAKING OVER!!!!!
HI Clare23You can by all means trim leaves down, and hopefully this will clear enough space for your tomato plants. Zucchini plants are rugged. You'd have to releive the plant of all it's leaves to kill it.
Next year, keep in mind how much space the zucchinis take up and allow for more room.
I hope this helps - Jojo
-- posted by Jojo
» Clare23 - THEY ARE TAKING OVER!!!!!
In response to THEY ARE TAKING OVER!!!!! posted by Jojo:that did help thank you very much!!
-- posted by Clare23
» Jojo - Bugs
In response to Bugs posted by mbrs5109:well, I suppose up very very close some Aphids do look a bit like that. I wonder if they are Aphids?
Are they less than 1/8th of an inch long, soft bodied (squish easily) and accompanied by tiny white replicas of themselves (those are their peeled off skins) or are they much larger, perhaps more beetle like in appearance, with a hard shell etc... Please elaborate.
For now, until I have a chance to answer, blast them all off with a hose to the leaves, aiming under to get at the ones doing the damage.
I hope this helps - Jojo
-- posted by Jojo
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