My Squash is rotting right off the plant! help...

[Crane Stoves]

Im noticing my perfect squash plants are producing squash that seems to die and fall off the plant after becoming brown at the tip end of the squash o.0? wtf... all this work and and im losing my precious squashes left and right! I decided to try and put a piece of white plastic board underneath the plant as much as i could push it under in hopes this prevents the continued devastation of my harvest.

anyone have experience or thoughts or idea's to try please??? thanks

i also have the results of my weed block trials which i'll post in another thread.

(broken image removed)

 

[firebroad]

I have had this happen to me in the past. I don't know if it is a fungus or weather related, but I find that if I remove the blossom as soon as the fruits appear, the squash usually develops normally.

 

[billb3]

likely you need more bees
that looks like it might be insufficient fertilization

you're supposed to be able to do it yourself with a cotton swab but I've never tried it.


I plant flowers here and there in the garden. Just to raise the ante.


Got any blooming hanging pots you could place out there on a box or milk crate to try to attract a few more bees ?




I'll also get a couple of those when the plant is really pumping out the fruits. It must abort a few to support the others. Or I have a marginal bee problem.

 

[Delta-T]

i have had the same problem with my squash, and not so much with my zuc (weird, cuz as far as I'm concerned they are the same thing). I have not been able to figure it out. Soem fruits are fine, and the next day, they are funky. No problems with any other fruits or veggies....cucmbers are fine, tomatoes fine, bluebetties fine, ect, and plenty pollinators. I'm chalking our problems up to water...our whole garden is in pots. I am diligent to water them well, but I think the consistant high temps are causing stress.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Could be a pollination thing- you can pollinate the flowers yourself. The female flowers have the little squash at the base, the males don't Pick a male flower, pluck the petals off of it, and without getting too graphic- introduce the male flower to the female. Just shove it in there and wiggle it a bit.

ya- that's nice.

Now counter clockwise. You know what to do.

Kidding aside- I has female flowers that weren't developing and that solved it. A little Barry White and a nice Shiraz couldn't hurt.

Do squash get blossom end rot? If so, watch out for over watering, and mulch it up well to even out moisture.

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[save$]

That seems to happen where there are too many leaves, or plants are too crowded. if you knock things down a little or pull the area open to expose the fruiting area, you will get more squash setting on. Also not uncommon for the first few new squash to not develope. Hang in there. In another week, you will be hunting for a place to get rid of all those squash.
I switched to yellow zucchini so they are easier to find before growing into monsters! You can swap out cucumbers for zukinni in some pickling recipes.

 

[Crane Stoves]

hmmm... interesting comments because im not having any problems with my zucchini or cuc's either (its only the summer squashes), ill hang their and hope the plants overcome this i guess (but i hate seeing the loss of any of my hard work )

 

[Jack Straw]

We are having the exact same problem. Barry White huh, "take of that brazier my dear zucchini!"

 

[Adios Pantalones]

hmmm... interesting comments because im not having any problems with my zucchini or cuc's either (its only the summer squashes), ill hang their and hope the plants overcome this i guess (but i hate seeing the loss of any of my hard work )

Doug- read my post- you can hand pollinate

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Some plants are not self pollinating and if the male plant isn't in flower at the same time as your female plant the fruit formed will rot off.

Anything that interferes with pollination causes the same problem.

 

[Crane Stoves]

Some plants are not self pollinating and if the male plant isn't in flower at the same time as your female plant the fruit formed will rot off.

Anything that interferes with pollination causes the same problem.

now thats some stuff i never knew... moving to manual molestation of the summer squash asap LOL thanks for the help guys!

 

[Delta-T]

after leaving my garden in the hands of my inlaws for the week while on vacation...it seems I no longer have to worry about the condition of my squash and zuccs...they are "not with us anymore"...they have moved on to the great garden in the sky....lets take a moment to remember them, and how gentle they were....

 

[firebroad]

after leaving my garden in the hands of my inlaws for the week while on vacation...it seems I no longer have to worry about the condition of my squash and zuccs...they are "not with us anymore"...they have moved on to the great garden in the sky....lets take a moment to remember them, and how gentle they were....

OMG! My condolences...what was the cause of death? Dehydration, I assume...

 

[save$]

after leaving my garden in the hands of my inlaws for the week while on vacation...it seems I no longer have to worry about the condition of my squash and zuccs...they are "not with us anymore"...they have moved on to the great garden in the sky....lets take a moment to remember them, and how gentle they were....

As I recall, you mentioned that your whole garden was in pots. Now your inlaws are the outlaws. Perhaps a drip system on a timer would be more dependable. I have at least 30 pots of different plants. I have to drench them every day, and feed them weekly.

 

[Crane Stoves]

after leaving my garden in the hands of my inlaws for the week while on vacation...it seems I no longer have to worry about the condition of my squash and zuccs...they are "not with us anymore"...they have moved on to the great garden in the sky....lets take a moment to remember them, and how gentle they were....

Im sorry to hear that, I know full well the work involved in raising a garden and we can hope and pray it was a little plot that was lost , I am now over the rotting problem and im spitting out squashes at a pace each day that is incredible. I am battling one rouge bunny rabbit for my corn crop but i think after loosing a few im starting to win the battle by keeping my dog stationed out near the garden day and night . who would have thought a bunny rabbit would be smart enough to tear down the entire corn stalk to get at the ears and he's been doing this with beautiful Brussels sprouts and other things right at ground level!

 

[Delta-T]

As I recall, you mentioned that your whole garden was in pots. Now your inlaws are the outlaws. Perhaps a drip system on a timer would be more dependable. I have at least 30 pots of different plants. I have to drench them every day, and feed them weekly.

all the pots have been reworked to have a water resevoir (approx 1 gal in each pot, with a wick into the soil, and an overfill dump). I can't really say why they died, and they have offered up no details other than..."yeah, they uh, died". Right next to the squashes and zuccs are cucumbers, that are just fine, so its a real mind bender....maybe a parasite, maybe something wrong with the soil...I just dont know. They were watered well enough I think, cuz the resevoirs still had some water in them...I'll be disassembling them for storage, maybe then I'll gain some insight....c'est la vie....still pickin blueberries.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Maybe you got a good dose of those stupid green and yellow striped beetles. I resorted to a weak Sevin dose after having no luck with any of the none artificial insecticides I had. I'm still fighting some nasties on our eggplants that nothing short of crushing has worked.

 

[Delta-T]

Smokey- eggplants? in Maine? you are a brave soul. Thems is some picky warm weather plants those eggplants. Do you just start them late-ish, or do you do indoor first to get a jump? I have shyed away from them because I sometimes have trouble with peppers, and eggplants are even more sensitive (so I've read, and been told).

 

[Adios Pantalones]

I do eggplants. I live down south, however. Some years are killa, some are marginal

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Smokey- eggplants? in Maine? you are a brave soul. Thems is some picky warm weather plants those eggplants. Do you just start them late-ish, or do you do indoor first to get a jump? I have shyed away from them because I sometimes have trouble with peppers, and eggplants are even more sensitive (so I've read, and been told).

We have had much better luck with eggplants than we have ever had with peppers.

We get sets from a local garden center. This year the eggplants have attracted a nasty bug, even Sevin has no effect on them. I just got through hitting them with the fifth (forth natural insecticide, will know in a little while if it worked or not) bug killer. I do not like using insecticides including natural ones if I can avoid them I do. Usually the eggplants escape bugs other than the occasional horn worm. I hope not to have to deal with horn worms at all this year, I've been applying bT on a regular basis to my tomato and eggplants.

Raising tomatoes has been a fight with blight and horn worms seeming to take turns.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

I do eggplants. I live down south, however. Some years are killa, some are marginal

Hot weather crops can be a pain to grow in New England without a greenhouse.

We do very well with turnips, carrots, parsnips, winter squash, swiss chard, beets, lettuce, beans, and cucumbers. We don't do potatoes as we can usually get them fairly cheap and we don't need wintering over late blight.

 

[save$]

We grew eggplant for two years. Couldn't get the wife to cook them so I gave up on them.
Striped Beatles came in thick this year. They carry disease. I am using this Captain Jack's organic insecticide. Says it doesn't harm bees. Comes in either liquid or dust. I like the dust form. Fairly good control. http://www.biconet.com/crawlers/captainJacksDeadbug.html
Lots of summer squash, but already have powdery mildew to fight with. So far, no symptoms of blight on the tomatoes. Some of my plants are over 5 feet tall. Los of fruit forming up. Hope the blight doesn't set in.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

We grew eggplant for two years. Couldn't get the wife to cook them so I gave up on them.
Striped Beatles came in thick this year. They carry disease. I am using this Captain Jack's organic insecticide. Says it doesn't harm bees. Comes in either liquid or dust. I like the dust form. Fairly good control. http://www.biconet.com/crawlers/captainJacksDeadbug.html
Lots of summer squash, but already have powdery mildew to fight with. So far, no symptoms of blight on the tomatoes. Some of my plants are over 5 feet tall. Los of fruit forming up. Hope the blight doesn't set in.

Yep, that bee thing is exactly why I prefer not to use any insecticides at all, but there are limits. I finally managed to take care of the nasties on the eggplants.

As for the beetles I hope to not see them for some time. I also prefer the dust because I can see where it goes.

The eggplants are Mrs. Bear's I'm just the designated dirt and poopy shoveler and bug eradicator (in other words I get to play with various poisons).

 

[begreen]

Doug, I think your issue is blossom end rot. It's common in zuchinis and not from lack of pollination, but rather a lack of calcium. It's a mineral deficiency in the soil. We also see it when the soil is too cool for good nutrient uptake. If the soil is too soggy and wet these symptoms can show up as well.

http://suite101.com/article/zucchini-blossom-end-rot-a22599

FWIW, we are at latitude 48 and grow everything from eggplants, peppers, cukes and tomatoes, to brocolli, rutabagas, corn and beets. Timing is key as well as helping the plants out with row covers when they are starting out and the temps are still chilly at night. The last couple years have been cooler than normal and challenging, but we still manage to get sizeable crops, albeit later than usual. Yesterday we harvested a bed of Yukon Gold potatoes and lots of garlic, shallots and onions.

 

[save$]

Doug, I think your issue is blossom end rot. It's common in zuchinis and not from lack of pollination, but rather a lack of calcium. It's a mineral deficiency in the soil. We also see it when the soil is too cool for good nutrient uptake. If the soil is too soggy and wet these symptoms can show up as well.

http://suite101.com/article/zucchini-blossom-end-rot-a22599

FWIW, we are at latitude 48 and grow everything from eggplants, peppers, cukes and tomatoes, to brocolli, rutabagas, corn and beets. Timing is key as well as helping the plants out with row covers when they are starting out and the temps are still chilly at night. The last couple years have been cooler than normal and challenging, but we still manage to get sizeable crops, albeit later than usual. Yesterday we harvested a bed of Yukon Gold potatoes and lots of garlic, shallots and onions.

View attachment 70611

Those onions look fantastic. I can't get an onion to grow even if I go to 'ell and back!