- Help! Slugs and snails in your Planty Garden
- Why are my plants turning yellow?
- Pests in your vegetable garden?
- Pests: aphids to caterpillars in the vegetable garden
- Moss in your MM-Mix?
- Mushrooms in the Planty Garden
- How to identify and get rid of mildew
- Why are my zucchinis falling off?
- Cabbage whites and holes in your plants
- How to identify and treat tomato blight
- How can you help the bees?
- How to trap slugs and snails
- Make your garden unappealing to slugs
- Make a barrier to keep out slugs and snails
- Garlic spray for slugs
- Slugs: is it impossible to get rid of them?
- How to kill slugs and snails
- Killing slugs: cruel or good?
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- Help! Slugs and snails in your Planty Garden
- Why are my plants turning yellow?
- Pests in your vegetable garden?
- Pests: aphids to caterpillars in the vegetable garden
- Moss in your MM-Mix?
- Mushrooms in the Planty Garden
- How to identify and get rid of mildew
- Why are my zucchinis falling off?
- Cabbage whites and holes in your plants
- How to identify and treat tomato blight
- How can you help the bees?
- How to trap slugs and snails
- Make your garden unappealing to slugs
- Make a barrier to keep out slugs and snails
- Garlic spray for slugs
- Slugs: is it impossible to get rid of them?
- How to kill slugs and snails
- Killing slugs: cruel or good?
Help: Zucchini fruits are falling off the plant
I hear this a lot in the summer months:
"Why do the fruits of my zucchini/pumpkin/cucumber fall off before they have a chance to grow?"
Good question.
It happens to me too sometimes. Here, look at this zucchini fruit just starting out:
"Why do the fruits of my zucchini/pumpkin/cucumber fall off before they have a chance to grow?"
Good question.
It happens to me too sometimes. Here, look at this zucchini fruit just starting out:
See how the flower turned yellow before it opened up? In a few days, the zucchini will fall off on its own. But it's better if you remove it yourself so you skip all the rotting, mold, and other bummers.
Why does this happen?
First off, don't worry. Falling fruits are really common. There're a few reasons for it:
A lot of other fruits on the plant
Usually, it's because the plant is growing a lot of zucchinis already. Your plant thinks it has enough.
Just look at this little cucumber:
A lot of other fruits on the plant
Usually, it's because the plant is growing a lot of zucchinis already. Your plant thinks it has enough.
Just look at this little cucumber:
A little further down the vine, you can see why:
The plant is 100% focused on producing seeds
Another reason is seed production. Once you have a really big fruit, the plant will focus its energy on filling that fruit with seeds. It doesn't have energy for the littler ones.
Another reason is seed production. Once you have a really big fruit, the plant will focus its energy on filling that fruit with seeds. It doesn't have energy for the littler ones.
If you let your zucchini or cucumbers get mega-sized, the plant doesn't need to produce new fruits. So it won't.
It's too cold and too wet
Fruits also fall off when it's cold and rainy. After all, zucchini and cucumbers are real summer vegetables. The plants feel weird about wetness and will shed some fruits while they wait for summer weather.
It's too dry
If you don't water your plants enough, your fruits won't get enough moisture. So, they'll shrivel up and fall off.
Not enough nutrients
Nutrition is another thing. Summer vegetables have a big appetite. If the soil mix doesn't have enough nutrients, the plant will struggle. Once the plant bears fruit, you need to give it some extra nutrients (MM-Plantfood) every 4-5 weeks.
So, too wet or too cold or too dry or too few nutrients? The plant decides if its fruits can handle it. If not, some fall off.
Disappointing maybe, but not a disaster: new ones will come along 😉.
Rotting fruit?
Usually the flowers fall off once they've done their job. But sometimes the dead flower stays on your zucchini.
It's too cold and too wet
Fruits also fall off when it's cold and rainy. After all, zucchini and cucumbers are real summer vegetables. The plants feel weird about wetness and will shed some fruits while they wait for summer weather.
It's too dry
If you don't water your plants enough, your fruits won't get enough moisture. So, they'll shrivel up and fall off.
Not enough nutrients
Nutrition is another thing. Summer vegetables have a big appetite. If the soil mix doesn't have enough nutrients, the plant will struggle. Once the plant bears fruit, you need to give it some extra nutrients (MM-Plantfood) every 4-5 weeks.
So, too wet or too cold or too dry or too few nutrients? The plant decides if its fruits can handle it. If not, some fall off.
Disappointing maybe, but not a disaster: new ones will come along 😉.
Rotting fruit?
Usually the flowers fall off once they've done their job. But sometimes the dead flower stays on your zucchini.
If it's rainy or humid, the flower can rot and that will affect the zucchini fruit. Better remove it:
Pollination
So, there's a possibility that the female flowers aren't pollinated. That means no pollen from the male flowers made it to the female flowers.
Bees usually do the pollinating, but they're having a tough time these days. There are fewer and fewer.
Read here what you can do to help the bees and attract them to your garden.
Bees usually do the pollinating, but they're having a tough time these days. There are fewer and fewer.
Read here what you can do to help the bees and attract them to your garden.
What can you do about it?
There is a solution: play the role of the bee yourself. It's not hard.
You just need one male and one female flower.
Male flowers usually bloom first. They look like this:
You just need one male and one female flower.
Male flowers usually bloom first. They look like this:
This is a female flower:
You can see the difference: the male flowers have a skinny stem. The female flowers grow from what looks like a tiny zucchini. When pollinated, that mini-zucchini will turn into your zucchini fruit.
You can see it clearly even when the flower buds are still small and green:
You can see it clearly even when the flower buds are still small and green:
Pumpkin plants look really similar:
How do you pollinate a zucchini yourself?
Hand pollinating is simple: as soon as a female flower blooms, it's time to take action.
Pick a male flower and remove the petals - they're delicious in salads or a smoothie.
Pick a male flower and remove the petals - they're delicious in salads or a smoothie.
Then rub the male flower's stamen - sorry, I don't know any other word for it - along the pistil of the female flower.
That's it: the flower is fertilized and the zucchini can start growing.
Same goes for the cucumbers?
En hoe zit het bij komkommers?
Nope! They will produce fruit anyhow.
In other cucumber varieties, if you were to hand pollinate, you'd get seeds in your fruits. With this cucumber, the Iznik, it doesn't matter either way. It hardly forms any seeds.
That's all there is to it.
Good luck!
That's all there is to it.
Good luck!
Problems
- Help! Slugs and snails in your Planty Garden
- Why are my plants turning yellow?
- Pests in your vegetable garden?
- Pests: aphids to caterpillars in the vegetable garden
- Moss in your MM-Mix?
- Mushrooms in the Planty Garden
- How to identify and get rid of mildew
- Why are my zucchinis falling off?
- Cabbage whites and holes in your plants
- How to identify and treat tomato blight
- How can you help the bees?
- How to trap slugs and snails
- Make your garden unappealing to slugs
- Make a barrier to keep out slugs and snails
- Garlic spray for slugs
- Slugs: is it impossible to get rid of them?
- How to kill slugs and snails
- Killing slugs: cruel or good?