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Old August 4, 2018   #1
peppero
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Default BAD SQUASH YEAR

This is the worst squash year I have ever experienced.Many beautiful plants and large amounts of male blossoms. Total count; two. All have been pulled and replaced; hoping for different results but,expecting the same results. O how I would like to be proven wrong.

I would like to know why I have almost ZERO male blossoms.

Jon
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Old August 5, 2018   #2
saltmarsh
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Hi Jon.

Which squash varieties are you growing.

I grew Trombocini squash for the first time this year on a trellis so they would grow straight rather than in a circle when grown on the ground. Pick them when they are under 20 inches for use as a summer squash. All the seed are in the bulb so the neck is seedless. Used this size and smaller they taste better than yellow straight-neck or crook-neck when fried or stewed. I use a mandolin to slice them. Also slice 1/8 inch thick and substitute for pasta in no boil lasagna. You won't believe it until you try it. Left on the vine it matures to a winter squash up to 4 feet long that keeps well. PM your address and I'll send you some seeds. Claud
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Old August 6, 2018   #3
peppero
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Originally Posted by saltmarsh View Post
Hi Jon.

Which squash varieties are you growing.

I grew Trombocini squash for the first time this year on a trellis so they would grow straight rather than in a circle when grown on the ground. Pick them when they are under 20 inches for use as a summer squash. All the seed are in the bulb so the neck is seedless. Used this size and smaller they taste better than yellow straight-neck or crook-neck when fried or stewed. I use a mandolin to slice them. Also slice 1/8 inch thick and substitute for pasta in no boil lasagna. You won't believe it until you try it. Left on the vine it matures to a winter squash up to 4 feet long that keeps well. PM your address and I'll send you some seeds. Claud
Thanks for the response. As for the varieties: Too many to list. I have grown trombocino with varying degrees of success. They didn't even sprout this year and they were the last I had. I will be
happy to accept your kind offer. I may have something you want, so let me know.

Jon Polvado
202 Byrd Lane
Selmer TN 38375
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Old August 6, 2018   #4
Nan_PA_6b
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Quote:
Originally Posted by peppero View Post
This is the worst squash year I have ever experienced.Many beautiful plants and large amounts of male blossoms. Total count; two. All have been pulled and replaced; hoping for different results but,expecting the same results. O how I would like to be proven wrong.

I would like to know why I have almost ZERO male blossoms.

Jon
Confused here; do you have a large amount of male blossoms, or only two?
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Old August 7, 2018   #5
peppero
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[QUOTE=Nan_PA_6b;710795]Confused here; do you have a large amount of male blossoms, or only two

That should have been female blossom. My bad

Jon
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Old August 7, 2018   #6
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So lots of girls & few boys? Zucchini for me starts with a bunch of male flowers and the gals come along later. Starting over was probably a good idea. I don't know why it happened, though.
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Old August 8, 2018   #7
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Probably gender neutral blossoms.
Worth
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Old August 8, 2018   #8
peppero
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Default cucumbers

I may have caused some confusion so let me start over.
I had a super abundance of male blossoms and ONLY TWO FEMALE BLOSSOMS, resulting in ONE SQUASH.

My cucumbers had jillions of male blossoms but only 9 FEMALE BLOSSOMS, RESULTING IN 8 CUCUMBERS.

Jon
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Old August 9, 2018   #9
Worth1
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Poor female blossoms surrounded by all those lurking male blossoms.

Worth
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Old October 31, 2018   #10
LDiane
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I also had almost no female flowers.
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Old November 4, 2018   #11
JerryHaskins
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I had a similar male/female problem with yellow crook neck squash. [strike 1]

Squash vine borers and lack of honey bees also kept me from getting much squash this year. [strike 2]

I planted it late, as well. [strike 3]
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Old November 4, 2018   #12
MikeInCypress
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On the Cukes = Plant Sweet Success. You will have more cukes than you can use. On the other hand, I never do well with Squash.

MikeInCypress.
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Old November 4, 2018   #13
peppero
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On the Cukes = Plant Sweet Success. You will have more cukes than you can use. On the other hand, I never do well with Squash.

MikeInCypress.
Thanks for the suggestion Mike; they do taste good.

Jon
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Old November 5, 2018   #14
b54red
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I have never run into that problem with all my squash in a season. I have however had it happen to several varieties in the past so I no longer plant them. The variety that has done the absolute best for me is a yellow zucchini named Butta. It is so productive that I have reduced the number of plants that I set out every year for the past three years so I don't have to spend so much time giving it away. As to cucumbers the most dependable varieties I have found are Sweet Success, Tender Jade and Orient Express. I had a bumper crop of cucumbers and squash this past summer as well as a good crop of fall cucumbers until the hurricane destroyed them.

I have found a few tricks that help a great deal with these type plants. The first is to use a good heavy mulch and I use cypress mulch. The second is to use Urban Farms Vegetable formula weekly as a fertilizer. For both crops use a copper spray or a mild diluted bleach spray to keep mildews at bay. For cucumbers always give them a tall fence to run on. For squash keep the lower stem coated with a bit of Sevin dust to prevent SVBs. Keep an eye out for squash bugs and kill them immediately if you see them. Grow some basil plants to encourage bees into your garden and be careful if you need to use any pesticide to spray late in the evening to avoid killing bees.

Bill
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