Our last attempt produced nice big plants, lots of flowers and no fruit
despite hand pollination, so might have been wrong variety.

Hence my question.

"terryc" wrote in message
news
Our last attempt produced nice big plants, lots of flowers and no fruit
despite hand pollination, so might have been wrong variety.

Hence my question.

I doubt that variety is the problem. I cannot think of any reason why one
cultivar of zook would set fruit better than another in Sydney.

Why did you employ hand pollination? If there is a problem with bees in your
area it will be a problem for all cultivars.

David

On Sun, 24 Aug 2008 21:26:13 +1000, David Hare-Scott wrote:



I doubt that variety is the problem.

Which region of sydney are you in?

g'day terry,

we grow that one with black in its name sorry can't think right now.

and for years now it has always produced well(without the need to hand
pollinate) untill last year, we bought our seedling from a different
source so these problems can depend on seedling qulaity, we had same
issue with gold button squash (again should fruit like weeds) but we
got nothing seedling from the same source. so this year we will try a
diffrent source for our zuce's.

also look the their sun needs, they do well with all day sun maybe a
bit of late arvo' shade. also over abundance in foliage might mean the
plant is in too rich a mix? this will throw production out of balance
if more energy goes into foliage than into flower/fruit production.

be abit early for them yet down yor way i would think maybe closer to
october even november? unless you have a very sunny northern spot for
them? ours won't go in un till mid to late spetember. keep them well
mulched.

On Sun, 24 Aug 2008 15:30:28 +1000, terryc
wrote:

snipped
With peace and brightest of blessings,

len & bev

--
"Be Content With What You Have And
May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In
A World That You May Not Understand."

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/

On Sun, 24 Aug 2008 18:47:34 +0000, len gardener wrote:

g'day terry,

we grow that one with black in its name sorry can't think right now.


and for years now it has always produced well(without the need to hand
pollinate) untill last year,

I think we have a cucurbit pollination problem in total. None seem to
self pollinate.

be abit early for them yet down yor way i would think maybe closer to
october even november? unless you have a very sunny northern spot for
them? ours won't go in un till mid to late spetember.

Just getting prepared. Compost heaps are being dug over and rebuilt
and a bit of early spring preparaion undertaken atm.

"terryc" wrote in message
news
On Sun, 24 Aug 2008 21:26:13 +1000, David Hare-Scott wrote:



I doubt that variety is the problem.

Which region of sydney are you in?

I used to live in Manly now north of Newcastle.

David

On Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:38:40 +1000, David Hare-Scott wrote:

I used to live in Manly now north of Newcastle.

The bees, or other insects are not that effective and cucurbits just don't
produce a crop, except for one lot of cucumbers once (swmbo thinks).

Part of the problem might be bee numbers being in the burbs and the other
part might be competition from five massive gums trees nearby.

I am working on a long term plan to increase native bee numbers as swmbo
is allergic to bee stings.

"David Hare-Scott" wrote in message
"terryc" wrote in message

Our last attempt produced nice big plants, lots of flowers and no fruit
despite hand pollination, so might have been wrong variety.

Why did you employ hand pollination?

Aha! If hand pollination is the secret to stopping the buggers strangling
you in your bed at night, then I'm all for it! I grew six plants last year
and we were on the verge of running away to avoid the rotten things in the
end.

I really can't think of anything that can stop zucs from producing fruit.
Be interested to know what it was though.

"terryc" wrote in message
On Sun, 24 Aug 2008 18:47:34 +0000, len gardener wrote:

and for years now it has always produced well(without the need to hand
pollinate) untill last year,

I think we have a cucurbit pollination problem in total. None seem to
self pollinate.

Then David could very well be right. Perhaps you don't have enough bees.

Were you sure of the sex of the flowers you picked for the pollination?

FarmI wrote:
"terryc" wrote in message
On Sun, 24 Aug 2008 18:47:34 +0000, len gardener wrote:

and for years now it has always produced well(without the need to hand
pollinate) untill last year,
I think we have a cucurbit pollination problem in total. None seem to
self pollinate.

Then David could very well be right. Perhaps you don't have enough bees.

Were you sure of the sex of the flowers you picked for the pollination?


Get lots of lavender, and pollination problems seem to end.
Cucumbers need plenty of water, so put them at the lowest end of the
garden and soak them well. My Cukes last year kept on coming

FarmI wrote:
"terryc" wrote in message
On Sun, 24 Aug 2008 18:47:34 +0000, len gardener wrote:

and for years now it has always produced well(without the need to hand
pollinate) untill last year,
I think we have a cucurbit pollination problem in total. None seem to
self pollinate.

Then David could very well be right. Perhaps you don't have enough bees.

Were you sure of the sex of the flowers you picked for the pollination?


Plenty of lavender attracts bees. It works for cucumbers, and so it
should for zuchinis. Also they need more water than normal plants...

On Tue, 26 Aug 2008 17:52:08 +1000, FarmI wrote:

I think we have a cucurbit pollination problem in total. None seem to
self pollinate.

Then David could very well be right. Perhaps you don't have enough bees.

Were you sure of the sex of the flowers you picked for the pollination?

Yep, but with all this metro sexual stuff it is kinda
hard^h^h^h^hdifficult these days.

On Tue, 26 Aug 2008 18:37:48 +1000, Jon wrote:


Plenty of lavender attracts bees. It works for cucumbers, and so it
should for zuchinis. Also they need more water than normal plants...

Not you too. I was in trouble with the head gardner about over
watering them. {;-).

I know who is going to water the next lot.

terryc writes:
Our last attempt produced nice big plants, lots of flowers and no fruit
despite hand pollination, so might have been wrong variety.

Hence my question.

Zucchinis come in blackjack (dark green), greyzinni (pale grey/green),
and golden. Not speaking specifically for Sydney, but the golden ones
are a waste of time trying to grow. I think the blackjacks should
suit everywhere. The greys are likely to be almost as disappointing
as the golden. You just can't go wrong planting the blackjacks, and
they are the best tasting, to boot. :-)

I guess you mean that you got lots of male flowers, and few female
flowers?

As for pollination--YOU DON'T NEED POLLINATION. NONE! NADA! NIL!
That's the beauty of growing zucchinis.

You can pick each fruit the day after its flower opens. The flower
will still be on the end of it, break it off. The fruit are at
their mouth-watering tastiest when this small size, and it is
immaterial whether or not the flower has been visited by a bee.
Only if you want the fruit to grow to a large size do the flowers
need to be pollinated, and with large zucchinis being as tasteless
as the old marrows of yore, I can't see why anyone would want this
(unless you are growing them to feed to guinea pigs).

Bear in mind that by picking all the fruit when it's still small
you are encouraging the plant to keep on producing more. Lots more.

Len gave you good advice. Hill the areas where you plant them so
they drain well. Never water the leaves, they succumb to mildew
soon enough as it is, without encouraging it! Don't plant them
where they'll miss out on morning sun; I think they need their
morning sun.

Plant them as seeds, you'll have no success transplanting.

BTW, you do know that you can eat the flowers, too.
--
John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)

On Wed, 27 Aug 2008 07:36:52 +0000, John Savage wrote:

BTW, you do know that you can eat the flowers, too.

Yep, all cucurbit flowers in omelett.