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Yellow squash help!
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Posted: Jun/25/2008 12:40 PM PST
So I've got a yellow squash plant in a pot in the ground, and it'll put out flowers and squash like crazy, but when the flower shrivels or falls off, the squash stops growing and shrinks. Its in full sun and I keep the soil moist. No signs of any disease or anything, it puts out now foliage and flowers like all get out. Any ideas? The flowers don't usually last more than a few days. |
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Posted: Jun/25/2008 6:43 PM PST
Someone else posted similarly about their zucchini, dude, and it's all about fertilization! You're not getting the right kinds of insects to pollinate the female flowers. Honeybees, various wasps, and the dreaded cucumber beetles are the primary pollinators of squash blossoms. Are you lacking in these creatures? |
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Posted: Jun/25/2008 7:46 PM PST
You know, now that I think about it, I don't really see many bees or whatnot on the flowers. Anything I can do that might attract them to the squash flowers? |
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Posted: Jun/26/2008 5:00 AM PST
I planted marjoram in the garden one year. The bees just love the flowers on that! I don't know that it's too late for that now or not. |
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Posted: Jun/26/2008 7:02 AM PST
I was just looking at your photos, Dude, and I see you have foxgloves in bloom. I'm surprised they haven't attracted some bees and wasps. You live in an urban setting, I recall. Have you noticed a lack of insects in general where you live? Maybe the municipality has an eradication program that is wiping out more than merely mosquitoes. Of course proximity is important. Maybe your foxgloves etc. are too far away. I noticed you've got your squash right next to a brick wall so it's likely a very warm, dry spot. I'd recommend you check out nearby garden centers to see if they have any leftover borage. It's very heat and drought tolerant, and if there are any bees at all in your neighborhood, they will find its lovely pale blue flowers irresistible. An immediate solution to your crisis might be hand pollination. I've never tried it, don't know much about it, but I have heard that it is possible. |
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Posted: Jun/26/2008 7:57 AM PST
Unfortunately, the foxgloves have finished blooming. However, I have several coneflowers that the bees are absolutely crazy about. I would move the squash into the back where the coneflowers are, but I had to put the squash in the ground, as it was overflowing out of the pot I had it in. So I don't think I can move the squash, but I can run over to the nursery and get some small coneflowers to put around the squash. Between my bee balm and coneflowers, my garden has been like a little bee sanctuary! |
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