Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Zucchini flowers
The flowers on my zucchini seem to drop off- or maybe they're being
bitten? It seems like a clean cut, as though someone took a pair of scissors to them. I rarely see squirrels or other critters in the yard. I had this issue once before, years and years ago, and I assumed it was squirrels since there were tons of them around my place then, but this place has very few. Thanks for any advice, Chris PS: My first zucchini looks more like a cantaloupe! It's almost perfectly round. The following ones look more normal (or as normal as a zucchini ever looks |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Zucchini flowers
Hi Chris,
Zucchinis (and other squashes) are monoecious, meaning they have separate male and female flowers on the same plant. The male flowers are on the ends of long (~6") stems, while the female ones are on much shorter stems with a baby zucchini at the base of the flower which will grow to normal size if that flower is successfully pollinated. Both the male and female flowers have very short lifespans -- about two days (and they won't be lookin' so good on that second day anymore either ;-). After that, the male ones will shrivel up and frequently drop off from the tips of their stems, leaving a stem with a clean end. (The female ones will also shrivel up but seem less likely to drop off on their own.) It could be you are just seeing dead male flowers that have fallen off normally on their own. You didn't say where the cut was (high or low). I would not expect cutworms to cut off zucchini flowers unless their stems got in direct contact with the soil, which is not the usual case (though if the plant flopped over to one side there might be some that end up in soil contact). Cutworms are moth larvae living in the soil and cut stuff off right around ground level. Utopia in Decay http://home.comcast.net/~kevin.cherkauer/site Kevin Cherkauer "Chris" wrote in message ... The flowers on my zucchini seem to drop off- or maybe they're being bitten? It seems like a clean cut, as though someone took a pair of scissors to them. I rarely see squirrels or other critters in the yard. I had this issue once before, years and years ago, and I assumed it was squirrels since there were tons of them around my place then, but this place has very few. Thanks for any advice, Chris PS: My first zucchini looks more like a cantaloupe! It's almost perfectly round. The following ones look more normal (or as normal as a zucchini ever looks |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Zucchini flowers
Hi Kevin,
Thanks for the info. In fact, the flowers that drop off all seem to be males, by your description. That's a relief. Thanks for the help, Chris On Jul 13, 3:45 pm, "Kevin Cherkauer" wrote: Hi Chris, Zucchinis (and other squashes) are monoecious, meaning they have separate male and female flowers on the same plant. The male flowers are on the ends of long (~6") stems, while the female ones are on much shorter stems with a baby zucchini at the base of the flower which will grow to normal size if that flower is successfully pollinated. Both the male and female flowers have very short lifespans -- about two days (and they won't be lookin' so good on that second day anymore either ;-). After that, the male ones will shrivel up and frequently drop off from the tips of their stems, leaving a stem with a clean end. (The female ones will also shrivel up but seem less likely to drop off on their own.) It could be you are just seeing dead male flowers that have fallen off normally on their own. You didn't say where the cut was (high or low). I would not expect cutworms to cut off zucchini flowers unless their stems got in direct contact with the soil, which is not the usual case (though if the plant flopped over to one side there might be some that end up in soil contact). Cutworms are moth larvae living in the soil and cut stuff off right around ground level. Utopia in Decayhttp://home.comcast.net/~kevin.cherkauer/site Kevin Cherkauer "Chris" wrote in message ... The flowers on my zucchini seem to drop off- or maybe they're being bitten? It seems like a clean cut, as though someone took a pair of scissors to them. I rarely see squirrels or other critters in the yard. I had this issue once before, years and years ago, and I assumed it was squirrels since there were tons of them around my place then, but this place has very few. Thanks for any advice, Chris PS: My first zucchini looks more like a cantaloupe! It's almost perfectly round. The following ones look more normal (or as normal as a zucchini ever looks |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Zucchini flowers
"Chris" wrote in message ... Hi Kevin, Thanks for the info. In fact, the flowers that drop off all seem to be males, by your description. That's a relief. Thanks for the help, Chris On Jul 13, 3:45 pm, "Kevin Cherkauer" wrote: Hi Chris, Zucchinis (and other squashes) are monoecious, meaning they have separate male and female flowers on the same plant. The male flowers are on the ends of long (~6") stems, while the female ones are on much shorter stems with a baby zucchini at the base of the flower which will grow to normal size if that flower is successfully pollinated. Both the male and female flowers have very short lifespans -- about two days (and they won't be lookin' so good on that second day anymore either ;-). After that, the male ones will shrivel up and frequently drop off from the tips of their stems, leaving a stem with a clean end. (The female ones will also shrivel up but seem less likely to drop off on their own.) It could be you are just seeing dead male flowers that have fallen off normally on their own. You didn't say where the cut was (high or low). I would not expect cutworms to cut off zucchini flowers unless their stems got in direct contact with the soil, which is not the usual case (though if the plant flopped over to one side there might be some that end up in soil contact). Cutworms are moth larvae living in the soil and cut stuff off right around ground level. Utopia in Decayhttp://home.comcast.net/~kevin.cherkauer/site Kevin Cherkauer "Chris" wrote in message ... The flowers on my zucchini seem to drop off- or maybe they're being bitten? It seems like a clean cut, as though someone took a pair of scissors to them. I rarely see squirrels or other critters in the yard. I had this issue once before, years and years ago, and I assumed it was squirrels since there were tons of them around my place then, but this place has very few. Thanks for any advice, Chris PS: My first zucchini looks more like a cantaloupe! It's almost perfectly round. The following ones look more normal (or as normal as a zucchini ever looks Where are you that you have zucchini already....Lucky! Barb in zone 5 Pittsburgh |
Reply |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
Zucchini Flowers Falling Off | Lawns | |||
Can someone ID this insect found on my Zucchini? - zucchini pest.jpg | Gardening | |||
Can someone ID this insect found on my Zucchini? - zucchini pest.jpg (1/1) | Gardening | |||
zucchini flowers | Gardening | |||
Zucchini Flowers Falling Off | Edible Gardening |