👋 Hi, if you have time, could you please help me troubleshoot this issue I’m having. So I’m an 8th year gardener, but this is my first year trying zucchini squash. I did my research, and I have many male flowers, and 5 or 6 good sized females too. However, the females aren’t growing. I tried to hand pollinate them about 5 days ago, with a small new paint brush, but they haven’t changed at all, except for the oldest of the females’ flower has finally dried up and fallen off. I also had a big storm that wiped out my cucumber plants, so had to re sow those, so they’re way behind now. I had one baby cucumber and a few flowers, but it too has now shriveled up and died. However, my plants look amazing! I don’t spray anything on them at all. I’ve seen a few flies, and a couple spiders on the zucchini, but I literally have seen zero bees and no ants this year. I’m just stumped! 🤔 Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. :)
@@RainyJo715 I'm sorry you're having trouble! I would try to incorporate some flowers to attract pollinators to the area. Cosmos or zinnias would be great but that may not help you right away. I suspect there may be a nutrient deficiency, can't say for sure, but get a balanced organic fertilizer. Espoma and Jobe's Organic are two that I use. The vegetable formula is a 4-4-4 NPK. I would give it a dose of that each week. And maybe top dress the soil around it with a finished compost if you have that available. Also another question is how much rain/water are they getting? If it's really dry or extremely wet they could have issues. Generally either extreme causes problems with nutrient uptake into the plant. If you can send me a picture through my Facebook page I'll take a look and see if I can advise any better! www.Facebook.com/TheHomeGarden
Growing The Home Garden Thanks so much for the reply! I did manage to plant some flowers, so waiting on those to grow, because I really feel it’s a lack of bees 🐝 ants and etc. I do use a good organic slow release fertilizer, but that’s it. We don’t use any harmful weed killer or anything on our property. We use a solution of salt, vinegar and dish soap in other areas of the yard to stay environmentally friendly. But I’m worried that my neighbors could have used something. I have 1 new neighbor that I haven’t met yet, so I’m not sure. The water levels seems to be great. I’m pretty good with that. I’ve also had my first cucumber shrivel up and die, which has never happened before. I’ve grown massive amounts of cucumbers over the last 8 years, so this is crazy. I think maybe I’ll try to self pollinate with a q-tip, instead of a paint brush. I’ll try to get a pic tomorrow. We’ve had nothing but severe storms day and night for 2 days here. (Zone 5b) Thanks again, much appreciated! Take care..:))
Thanks for the simple answer - focused straight in on the plant and the issue I wanted to find out about. Too many videos on RUclips, whilst great (and of course I'm grateful for the info), are too long-winded & just as the bit you need to watch comes on, it gets interrupted by bloody adverts!! So thank you again for this interesting, informative, and too the point video!
I can’t wait to try this! I’ve only had 2 zucchini this entire season since my plant seems to produce a lot of male flowers and hardly any female flowers. I hope this fixes the issue
Thank you for all this information. This is what’s happening to us this year. It’s our first year gardening after many years of not gardening after my dad and granny passed.
Thank you so much!! I've been frustrated this season with all my flowers falling off. I thought I was having a pollination issue and started manually pollinating every blossom - couldn't figure out what was happening. After watching this I inspected my plants and found that 99% of the blossoms were male and I could only find two female flowers. I've gone ahead and prune and am hoping this stimulates more female growth. Thank you!
I am actually amazed anyone would have any kind of trouble getting zucchini. We only plant one zucchini and get a hundred zucchini fruit for months, although it seems like more and absolutely more than we can use. We can't give it away because everyone else has too many zucchini also. We try to pick them when they are still very small and tender, although if we miss one it can grow into a giant zucchini almost too heavy to lift. We can take seeds from that one, although one seed is enough! We do not fertilize the zucchini plant, but start with a good composted soil in the raised planting bed which is added to yearly. I also use GreenCure Fungicide every few weeks because I get powdery mildew fungus on my squash where I live. If I start using the GreenCure when plants are still young, I avoid the fungus altogether. Also one tip might be useful, we love stuffed zucchini flowers and pick them using the large male flowers when they first appear. I think picking them promotes more flowers to grow.
How long did you plant take to bounce back after doing this? I pruned mine and am quite concerned about it.. a week later and it's not looking that happy..May have gone a bit hard on it. Lots of flowers and a couple of tiny fruits but slow growth
I've had a garden for over 20 years and never knew this!! I'm blessed with numerous zucchini and yellow crook neck squash, however my neighbor gets only a few. I'll share this info with her. Thank you!! Also I grow a row of zinnias in my garden, it helps with pollination, tons of bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. Blessings to you
Perfect timing even though a couple years ago, I just saw it tonight! Earlier today I was looking at my honeynut squash plants and only saw male blooms. I never had that happen before so wasn't sure why it happened or what to do about it. Tomorrow I'll cut off about half the male blooms and hopefully some female blooms will develop. Thank you very much for this video! 👍💕😀
This was a big help. Last year was my first year of having literally no fruit--and I guess this was the problem. I had plenty of flowers, plenty of bees, but no zukes. Thank you for the info!
I'm in Tucson for the past 8 months and determined to grow a few vegetables. With our uncertain 'soil', I cut 22" sections of 4" PVC pipe, dug them down 'bout 4", filled the tube with compost and soil, and can easily water and the roots have lots of room and they get full sun. The tomatoes are going crazy, and lots of blossoms but no fruit on my Black Beauty Zucchini plant. Glad I looked you up. After seeing your explanation, I went back for a closer look - knowing now what to look for - and sure enough, there are female flowers forming. THANKS!!!
You're welcome Jerry! Just pinch off the blooms. Many times it's the first few blooms that are male then they begin producing a more balanced mix of flowers. I think it may be this way to attract pollinators to the plants initially to get them hooked on the plant.
Thanks for the great info. Hoping this helps. I have six plants that are very large and have been producing flowers but no fruit. I checked and only found two small female flowers (with the ovary pouch underneath), so I went a little trim happy and snipped off about half of the male ones. Hopefully new females come on. I'll check back in a couple weeks.
When you trimmed off the male flowers, did you trim just below the flower or down to the base of the plant? I’m doing this same thing today and I’m excited to hopefully see results!
@@emilyhawley9029 no I just pinched and popped them suckers right off at the base of where the split off the main stem... more will come... they are incredibly invasive.
Thanks so much. This is very informative. I have seen ants on my zucchini plants, but I had no idea what it's for so I kept straying water to wash away it. Now i know this, I will not chase them away.
Wow thank you so much. I had no idea and was thinking a critter was eating my zucchini. Also thanks for the info about the ants helping pollinate i was getting upset they were doing damage and was wanting to get rid of them! But now i know!! ☮️
You're welcome! Just watch the ants and see if they are farming aphids. The aphids can be a problem and the ants use them for their secretions. If there are aphids you can smush them with your fingers, spray them off with a hose,, or use an insecticidal soap. Ants aren't a problem but could indicate the presence of aphids.
I have TONS of blooms but no fruit. I will check out if I have female and male flowers. My tomatoes plants are giant too but no tomatoes as well. It’s very frustrating
@@spooky9327 That's hot! Here in TN we've been in the 80's and it's been fairly pleasant most days. We had a hot couple days in the low 90's last week.
Lol, but you can grow stuff we can't like citrus or avocados. I would love to have the ability to grow an avacado tree outdoors. Unfortunately our winters won't work for them.
@DUZTEM DE7IL Those experiences could make for an interesting gardening channel. I'm sure lots of people could benefit from learning about gardening in those xeric conditions.
I have a squash plant and I did not know that the big thick thing will produce fruit now I want to see if my squash plant has any thank you so much!! this my first year of planting squash right now they look beautiful I hope they stay that way have a wonderful day and great video!
Great info! Thank you! Subscribed🙏 It's our assorted squashes that are doing this. Lots of crook neck yellow zukes happening. We thought it was due to cooler summer nights. We'll definitely give this a try.
Really helpful! We built a small green house and one plant is all male blooms so far. I did not realize that about ants helping out. I will trim some leaves as well.
Thankyou!!! I will do this tomorrow! So far from 20 plants, I have one zucchini. Tons of flowers. I will nip a few of them off, as a lot of the are male going by your description.
A couple years ago I had over one hundred beautiful healthy large squash plants in my garden that did not produce one fruit. I thought it was because I live in the woods with no bees ever flying through here. This video makes me want to try growing them again. Thanks for the info bro.
This has been very informative for me! I have flowers all over the place, but no bees. My grass is covered in beautiful clover, maybe two bees I’ve seen all summer. I remember a time I’d never walk barefoot in the grass with that. I do today. So I’ve been pollinating myself and am getting my beautiful yellow squash. I’m not sure of ants? I’ll look more closely for that. Thank you for the video…Zone 6b Michigan
You're welcome! Just keep planting pollinator friendly plants. Cilantro is a great one if you like it. Let it flower and it attracts a lot of tiny bee polliators. Achillea (yarrow) is good too. Get some of those flowers in your garden right next to you plants and it should help!
I normally thin down my squash/pumpkin plant after 1 month of growing. Only leave five leafs and cutt down the growing vine. This promotes more new growth and fruit buds. Without this step the vine will keep growing giving weak fruits.
first time gardener and my squash looks just like this, I was looking for a solution of how to make sure I have veggies and came across your video, thank you for your help. I can see male and female but some of the male has already bloomed but the female is only about an inch. again thank you so much
The male flowers do tend to bloom first. It's like a sign saying to the pollinators "here i am!" Then the pollinators begin coming and the female flowers form and get pollinated.
Thanks. Going to thin out the male flowers now. A natural pesticide is bacillis thuringiensis otherwise known commonly as BT. It works on a variety of worms and caterpillars.
Thanks you answered my question and thoughts about why I’m getting so many male flowers. I will be patient and if necessary I will cut some of them off.
Me too. Where I live in CA. It so hot and ground is clay. So we have raised beds. Plants 2 types of squash,growing male flowers, some female. But its like of bees etc. I grow a lot of flowers, to bring bees in. Too many neighbors spray, grrr!!! I have to self pollinate, so upsetting. Used to be so easy to grow. People are killing the bees!!
I was spraying month ago to avoid around tomato plants for those bad worms. That is in different beds than squash. I have 2 plants, different kinds..I just fed everything. I did have female, male flowers when they first grew back early May. Now like I said no female. I did your trick of pull few male and some of the leaves. Here it is June 8th. So hope I get more female flowers.
Thank you for your video and info. Learned something new. Plant Nasturtium as a "trap crop" for the vine borers. Nasturtium is also edible and attracts pollinators.
Thank you for this video! I planted 4 zucchini plants and starting to see some growth but hasn’t gotten past 3 inches. I have noticed that the majority of the flowers are male. I’m going to check again in the morning and then cut some of the flowers as you suggested. Maybe/hopefully that will make a difference.
If you aren't getting much growth and the flowers are already forming the plant is probably putting too much energy into making the flowers. You may need to add a little compost to the soil or amend with a balanced fertilizer with a little nitrogen. Maybe a 4-4-4. Hope that helps!
Thank you soooo much! I been letting the ants to polinate and now that is warmer bees and butterflies are coming to visit! Besides I plant other flowers to bring those good visitors to the garden! But thank you so much for sharing this knowledge with us. I have butternut squash. I've been eating the flowers insted because of male only and some females are dying in the process. Finaly I got a chance to takes some weeds out the garden?.
If it is fruiting, then the female flowers have already been pollinated. Are you sure you mean the fruits are maturing? if so, then the job is done. If you mean that you have only female flowers with that ovary, then you have a problem. That isn't a fruit, yet. Not until the pollinization happens.
I only got 1 large squash off my plant, I was wondering why I did not get more. This was probably the reason! I also noticed some of the small fruits where turning brown. Now I think the plant has powdery mildew, I harvested my 1 squash I don't think it is likely I will get more. Haven't seen any new blossoms on it for a while now.
Thanks for this info. What's quite odd to me though is that this issue seems to be dramatically increasing...been planting squash without this issue since the 80s and I have never seen this until the last 10 years or so. Any ideas or was I just lucky for 30 years?
I'm really not sure. I've had this issue randomly over the years and other gardeners have as well. It may be more prone in certain varieties but I can't say for sure. Are you growing hybrid or heirloom squash?
If I have a few squashes growing on a small plant should I get rid of the small fruit and some male flowers so the plant can focus on the ones that are actually growing big? One thing I do is place some fragrant flowers in a container next to my squash plants to attract bees to the area. Also a water bath is great for attracting insects.
Thinning out fruits is something you can do but I think it depends on what type of squash you are growing. Summer squash is best at 4 to 6 inches and you don't really want it to grow. A winter squash might be better with a larger size and thinning a few smaller ones may help others to grow larger.
Did not know that. I'll take a look. (ps. insect controlling sprays and powders are referred to as insecticides. The term pesticides includes a broader category of pests including weeds).
You could spray an insecticide in a very small amount on the main stem to control the borers. the chemical will not be absorbed by the plant as the stem at the ground level is rather a woody material and the fruit will be chemical free. (former entomologist).
Thanks! I tried to grow a tomato plant once and birds ate every blossom. I tried planting lima beans this spring and tiny flying bugs killed all of them. I live in the deep south and insects rule. I had figs on a two year old bush, raccoons ate them. Lillies with bulbs, opossum dug them up and ate them. Frustrating but I keep trying. But I haven't tried squash yet, so this will be good to know.
Hazel, you should investigate the use of row covers and see if that helps with the insect issues. I like to use companion planting to help mask the vegetable garden from the pests. I have an issue with raccoons where they ate all my grapes so I know how you feel!
@@bobmchugh9965 LOL! I live inside city limits. Can't shoot. Gave in and just feed the critters so they will leave me alone. Twin raccoon cubs, baby opossum. Hope to relocate them soon.
Thanks for the Video it does help others people like me who are going through the same problem. CAN YOU DO A VIDEO ON GARDENIA PLEASE. MINE HAVE A LOT OF BUDS THEY DON'T OPEN UP AND I GET A LOT OF YELLOW LEAVES. AND HOW TO FERTILSE IT PLS. CHEERS 👍
Thank you! Unfortunately I am not growing a gardenia right now. They won't do well outdoors in our TN winters and I don't have the room to bring them inside at the moment. Maybe someday though!
Hi Dave, Thanks for the info on lots of blooms but no squash. We are eager to take your advice! Also, your leaves look nice and dark green, whereas ours look pale green. Do you know why that might be?
Pale green could be the variety or the nutrients in the soil. Adding a light layer of compost to the soil may help if its the soil. Or a balanced organic fertilizer.
I have a big squash plant I have four of them and I have big squashes on them they did good this year no problem with bugs and they look beautiful but I have another one it looks different than the one I have it is so big it look like all that's a squash but it is huge I was trying to figure out what kind it was but I'm fixing to cut it now and see what the inside look like have a great day
You tube is so awesome. Much thanks for the education. About to cut some flowers and relieve garden performance anxiety in the process. You certainly earned my “Like” 👍🏽
Gardeners in the deep south should be aware of pickle worm. I had no idea why my zucchini fruit was rotting while still very small. My plants were robust and I had many male and female flowers. After pruning to allow pollinators better access, and adding bone meal, I was stumped. Then I noticed that the flowers looked "bruised". Upon pulling them apart, I found worms. In nearly every bloom! And in buds as well. I lost all seven plants. The pickle worm's favorite crop is zucchini, but they will attack any cucurbits. Next year I will cover my plants with netting at night when the pickle worm moth lays her eggs.
The companion post for this video can be found here: growingthehomegarden.com/2018/07/blooms-and-no-squash.html
👋 Hi, if you have time, could you please help me troubleshoot this issue I’m having. So I’m an 8th year gardener, but this is my first year trying zucchini squash. I did my research, and I have many male flowers, and 5 or 6 good sized females too. However, the females aren’t growing. I tried to hand pollinate them about 5 days ago, with a small new paint brush, but they haven’t changed at all, except for the oldest of the females’ flower has finally dried up and fallen off. I also had a big storm that wiped out my cucumber plants, so had to re sow those, so they’re way behind now. I had one baby cucumber and a few flowers, but it too has now shriveled up and died. However, my plants look amazing! I don’t spray anything on them at all. I’ve seen a few flies, and a couple spiders on the zucchini, but I literally have seen zero bees and no ants this year. I’m just stumped! 🤔 Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. :)
@@RainyJo715 I'm sorry you're having trouble! I would try to incorporate some flowers to attract pollinators to the area. Cosmos or zinnias would be great but that may not help you right away. I suspect there may be a nutrient deficiency, can't say for sure, but get a balanced organic fertilizer. Espoma and Jobe's Organic are two that I use. The vegetable formula is a 4-4-4 NPK. I would give it a dose of that each week. And maybe top dress the soil around it with a finished compost if you have that available. Also another question is how much rain/water are they getting? If it's really dry or extremely wet they could have issues. Generally either extreme causes problems with nutrient uptake into the plant.
If you can send me a picture through my Facebook page I'll take a look and see if I can advise any better! www.Facebook.com/TheHomeGarden
Growing The Home Garden Thanks so much for the reply! I did manage to plant some flowers, so waiting on those to grow, because I really feel it’s a lack of bees 🐝 ants and etc. I do use a good organic slow release fertilizer, but that’s it. We don’t use any harmful weed killer or anything on our property. We use a solution of salt, vinegar and dish soap in other areas of the yard to stay environmentally friendly. But I’m worried that my neighbors could have used something. I have 1 new neighbor that I haven’t met yet, so I’m not sure. The water levels seems to be great. I’m pretty good with that. I’ve also had my first cucumber shrivel up and die, which has never happened before. I’ve grown massive amounts of cucumbers over the last 8 years, so this is crazy. I think maybe I’ll try to self pollinate with a q-tip, instead of a paint brush. I’ll try to get a pic tomorrow. We’ve had nothing but severe storms day and night for 2 days here. (Zone 5b) Thanks again, much appreciated! Take care..:))
Thanks dude...you explained whats wrong with my squash and pumpkin plants perfectly... I'll try what you said...
Wow thank you so much!!!! I have 28 males and no females...It's like the first ever Comic-Con!
Lol, best comment of the day!
@@Growingthehomegarden lol
You are the first person I've heard give this advice. This has been a chronic problem for me for years! Thank you so much!
You're welcome. Just keep on growing! Add some more plants and increase your odds of good flower volume and balance!
Yes, thank you that was very helpful!
Same! Very informative! About the ants too! Thanks!
@@maureentowne206I have lots of ants so pollination shouldn’t be a problem.
Thanks Dave. I'm gonna give this a try. I have beautiful huge flowers but absolutely NO squash and my harvest date is just around the corner.
Thanks for the simple answer - focused straight in on the plant and the issue I wanted to find out about. Too many videos on RUclips, whilst great (and of course I'm grateful for the info), are too long-winded & just as the bit you need to watch comes on, it gets interrupted by bloody adverts!! So thank you again for this interesting, informative, and too the point video!
I can’t wait to try this! I’ve only had 2 zucchini this entire season since my plant seems to produce a lot of male flowers and hardly any female flowers. I hope this fixes the issue
Thank you so much for a simple video showing the producing flowers that create squash. My first time growing and this was so helpful.
Thank you for showing the difference between the male and female flower. I needed that info.
My dad told me at a young age that the females were the ones with the larger ass 😂.
Thank you for all this information. This is what’s happening to us this year. It’s our first year gardening after many years of not gardening after my dad and granny passed.
Thank you so much!! I've been frustrated this season with all my flowers falling off. I thought I was having a pollination issue and started manually pollinating every blossom - couldn't figure out what was happening. After watching this I inspected my plants and found that 99% of the blossoms were male and I could only find two female flowers. I've gone ahead and prune and am hoping this stimulates more female growth. Thank you!
You're welcome. More female flowers should form in time. I'm the meantime you can fry up and eat the extra blooms.
I am actually amazed anyone would have any kind of trouble getting zucchini. We only plant one zucchini and get a hundred zucchini fruit for months, although it seems like more and absolutely more than we can use. We can't give it away because everyone else has too many zucchini also. We try to pick them when they are still very small and tender, although if we miss one it can grow into a giant zucchini almost too heavy to lift. We can take seeds from that one, although one seed is enough!
We do not fertilize the zucchini plant, but start with a good composted soil in the raised planting bed which is added to yearly. I also use GreenCure Fungicide every few weeks because I get powdery mildew fungus on my squash where I live. If I start using the GreenCure when plants are still young, I avoid the fungus altogether. Also one tip might be useful, we love stuffed zucchini flowers and pick them using the large male flowers when they first appear. I think picking them promotes more flowers to grow.
Good compost is awesome for so many issues. Healthy soil, healthy plants! Great idea for eating the squash blossoms!
You solved your problem by picking the male flowers early.
You talked to me at the best time Thanks so much!
Thank you SO much!! I just ran outside to look and have 1 female on each of my 6 plants... fingers crossed! Thanks again, very well explained.
You're welcome Bridget! Thank you for watching. :)
Thank you! Maybe that’s why my father picked the flowers and my mother had to flour and fry them. NO WASTE!
It's a great use for them and the no waste idea is awesome!
Pruning the leaves also help. Air flow and pollution is the key. After I removed 40% of the leaves the zucchini went crazy in growing.
That's a great result!
Christy Hernandez thats a useful tip as you would think that it might damage the plant
How long did you plant take to bounce back after doing this? I pruned mine and am quite concerned about it.. a week later and it's not looking that happy..May have gone a bit hard on it. Lots of flowers and a couple of tiny fruits but slow growth
I've had a garden for over 20 years and never knew this!! I'm blessed with numerous zucchini and yellow crook neck squash, however my neighbor gets only a few. I'll share this info with her. Thank you!! Also I grow a row of zinnias in my garden, it helps with pollination, tons of bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. Blessings to you
Zinnias are awesome for attracting pollinators to your garden. It's a great strategy!
Perfect timing even though a couple years ago, I just saw it tonight! Earlier today I was looking at my honeynut squash plants and only saw male blooms. I never had that happen before so wasn't sure why it happened or what to do about it. Tomorrow I'll cut off about half the male blooms and hopefully some female blooms will develop. Thank you very much for this video! 👍💕😀
This was a big help. Last year was my first year of having literally no fruit--and I guess this was the problem.
I had plenty of flowers, plenty of bees, but no zukes. Thank you for the info!
Do you ever eat the yellow flowers? Delicious
@IvoryPearl dip them in pancake batter and fry light INSANE... or Google recipes, you'll be amazed
I kept thinking there were ants on my screen. 😂 Thanks for the video!!
Lol, glad you didn't try to treat your screen for ants!
I'm in Tucson for the past 8 months and determined to grow a few vegetables.
With our uncertain 'soil', I cut 22" sections of 4" PVC pipe, dug them down 'bout 4", filled the tube with
compost and soil, and can easily water and the roots have lots of room and they get full sun.
The tomatoes are going crazy, and lots of blossoms but no fruit on my Black Beauty Zucchini plant.
Glad I looked you up. After seeing your explanation, I went back for a closer look - knowing now what
to look for - and sure enough, there are female flowers forming.
THANKS!!!
You're welcome Jerry! Just pinch off the blooms. Many times it's the first few blooms that are male then they begin producing a more balanced mix of flowers. I think it may be this way to attract pollinators to the plants initially to get them hooked on the plant.
Thanks for the great info. Hoping this helps. I have six plants that are very large and have been producing flowers but no fruit. I checked and only found two small female flowers (with the ovary pouch underneath), so I went a little trim happy and snipped off about half of the male ones. Hopefully new females come on. I'll check back in a couple weeks.
Update, 1 week has passed and have already harvested two squash and many more are developing. Great tip, thank you!
When you trimmed off the male flowers, did you trim just below the flower or down to the base of the plant? I’m doing this same thing today and I’m excited to hopefully see results!
Is there a specific spot along the stem where you cut off the male flowers?
@@emilyhawley9029 no I just pinched and popped them suckers right off at the base of where the split off the main stem... more will come... they are incredibly invasive.
I wish I would have watched this two weeks ago because I pulled up my plant due to fruit not forming 😭
I will definitely try again!
So sorry! The good news is the grow pretty fast so you should have time to get some squash this season.
I actually grow my plants for the flowers for stuffing!
Thanks for sharing the gardening information. Very helpful. 😉
You're welcome. :)
I nibble on the blooms when I'm gardening. I believe most squash leaves are edible cooked. Good video,Thank You.
I just heard from a friend that they are delicious!
Thanks so much. This is very informative. I have seen ants on my zucchini plants, but I had no idea what it's for so I kept straying water to wash away it. Now i know this, I will not chase them away.
Just watch for the aphids ants sometimes harvest from. I would remove them but leave the ants be.
Thanks for that! this was the first year for lack of zucchini !!! Now i know why..
Pumpkin the same way, thanks for posting/sharing, good video.
Edit, gave it a like.
Thanks Len! I appreciate the like!
@@Growingthehomegarden Home Garden, your welcome!
Wow thank you so much. I had no idea and was thinking a critter was eating my zucchini. Also thanks for the info about the ants helping pollinate i was getting upset they were doing damage and was wanting to get rid of them! But now i know!! ☮️
You're welcome! Just watch the ants and see if they are farming aphids. The aphids can be a problem and the ants use them for their secretions. If there are aphids you can smush them with your fingers, spray them off with a hose,, or use an insecticidal soap. Ants aren't a problem but could indicate the presence of aphids.
My husband is saying -- those males are always ready, the females are slow to open up. But once they do they produce. Lol
Lol, that seems to be true!
@@Growingthehomegarden yep! For sure.
I have TONS of blooms but no fruit. I will check out if I have female and male flowers.
My tomatoes plants are giant too but no tomatoes as well. It’s very frustrating
Excellent video and explanation...God bless you and I love the beautiful plants with birds singing songs
Thank you!
Very interesting! At daytime temperatures over 100° and night over 80, I figure just keeping the plants alive until it cools off will be a triumph!
Yep, that would be my goal too! Where are you at with 100 degree temps?
@@spooky9327 That's hot! Here in TN we've been in the 80's and it's been fairly pleasant most days. We had a hot couple days in the low 90's last week.
Lol, but you can grow stuff we can't like citrus or avocados. I would love to have the ability to grow an avacado tree outdoors. Unfortunately our winters won't work for them.
@DUZTEM DE7IL I'm sure there are a ton of challenges in that climate. Just the arid nature of the area must make it hard to grow certain things.
@DUZTEM DE7IL Those experiences could make for an interesting gardening channel. I'm sure lots of people could benefit from learning about gardening in those xeric conditions.
I have a squash plant and I did not know that the big thick thing will produce fruit now I want to see if my squash plant has any thank you so much!! this my first year of planting squash right now they look beautiful I hope they stay that way have a wonderful day and great video!
Thanks Caleb! Just keep an eye out for squash bugs and vine borers and if they don't show your squash will probably be great!
Thank you for this very helpful advice. I going outside right now to remove some male zucchini flowers. 😉
Same!
Great info! Thank you!
Subscribed🙏
It's our assorted squashes that are doing this. Lots of crook neck yellow zukes happening.
We thought it was due to cooler summer nights. We'll definitely give this a try.
Really helpful! We built a small green house and one plant is all male blooms so far. I did not realize that about ants helping out. I will trim some leaves as well.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thankyou!!! I will do this tomorrow! So far from 20 plants, I have one zucchini. Tons of flowers. I will nip a few of them off, as a lot of the are male going by your description.
A couple years ago I had over one hundred beautiful healthy large squash plants in my garden that did not produce one fruit. I thought it was because I live in the woods with no bees ever flying through here. This video makes me want to try growing them again. Thanks for the info bro.
Too much shade can be a factor. They may be producing so much foliage that they aren't making as many flowers.
Thank you, very helpful, I appreciate your site...
Thank you Donna!
Thank you so glad you gave me the right answer.
This has been very informative for me! I have flowers all over the place, but no bees. My grass is covered in beautiful clover, maybe two bees I’ve seen all summer. I remember a time I’d never walk barefoot in the grass with that. I do today. So I’ve been pollinating myself and am getting my beautiful yellow squash. I’m not sure of ants? I’ll look more closely for that. Thank you for the video…Zone 6b Michigan
You're welcome! Just keep planting pollinator friendly plants. Cilantro is a great one if you like it. Let it flower and it attracts a lot of tiny bee polliators. Achillea (yarrow) is good too. Get some of those flowers in your garden right next to you plants and it should help!
I normally thin down my squash/pumpkin plant after 1 month of growing. Only leave five leafs and cutt down the growing vine. This promotes more new growth and fruit buds. Without this step the vine will keep growing giving weak fruits.
Good tip!
Thank you. I knew I was getting male flowers but did not know that if I pinched the male flowers then I might get female flowers.
It just tells the plant to stop sending energy to that flower and redirect elsewhere. Hopefully for female flowers!
With the blooms mama used to sauces for pasta or add yellow chilli and yellow tomatoes and flowers and make a salsa in the blender. Very delicious.
Sounds good!
Thank you! Been Google searching why I get a TON of males. 1st time gardener. Orlando, FL.
first time gardener and my squash looks just like this, I was looking for a solution of how to make sure I have veggies and came across your video, thank you for your help. I can see male and female but some of the male has already bloomed but the female is only about an inch. again thank you so much
The male flowers do tend to bloom first. It's like a sign saying to the pollinators "here i am!" Then the pollinators begin coming and the female flowers form and get pollinated.
@@Growingthehomegarden thank you
Thanks. Going to thin out the male flowers now. A natural pesticide is bacillis thuringiensis otherwise known commonly as BT. It works on a variety of worms and caterpillars.
Bt works well! I have some ready to go this year.
Thanks for the info. A bit too late for this season but I'll try it next year. I only have one fruit from two onion squash plants.
Thank you for clearing that up
Wow, never thought of such! Awesome, beautiful video. Subscriber from NW FL Thanks so much for sharing your wisdom.
Thanks
You're welcome!
Thanks you answered my question and thoughts about why I’m getting so many male flowers. I will be patient and if necessary I will cut some of them off.
How do you remove the male flowers. Do u pull them out or cut them at the stem ? Ty for your help
Me too.
Where I live in CA. It so hot and ground is clay. So we have raised beds.
Plants 2 types of squash,growing male flowers, some female. But its like of bees etc. I grow a lot of flowers, to bring bees in.
Too many neighbors spray, grrr!!!
I have to self pollinate, so upsetting. Used to be so easy to grow. People are killing the bees!!
It really is irritating! I interplant flowers to attract pollinators. No board spectrum insecticides in my garden.
I was spraying month ago to avoid around tomato plants for those bad worms. That is in different beds than squash.
I have 2 plants, different kinds..I just fed everything.
I did have female, male flowers when they first grew back early May.
Now like I said no female.
I did your trick of pull few male and some of the leaves. Here it is June 8th. So hope I get more female flowers.
Thank you I learned some new things
When you say remove some of the male flowers... do you just pinch off the flower itself or cut it off where the stem meets the plant?
Either is fine. Removing the reproductive part of the plant is the main idea.
Thank you kind sir I was having a meltdown because my flowers were dropping 🤗
Perfectly normal! Keep on growing!
Same problem here.……😄
This is good to know...I have kabocha squash starting to flower and I'm excited to see if I'll get fruits from it.
Thanks Dave great job n teacher! Lord Bless!
This totally answered my questions! Thank you!
You're welcome!
Thank you for your video and info. Learned something new.
Plant Nasturtium as a "trap crop" for the vine borers. Nasturtium is also edible and attracts pollinators.
Thank you for this video! I planted 4 zucchini plants and starting to see some growth but hasn’t gotten past 3 inches. I have noticed that the majority of the flowers are male. I’m going to check again in the morning and then cut some of the flowers as you suggested. Maybe/hopefully that will make a difference.
If you aren't getting much growth and the flowers are already forming the plant is probably putting too much energy into making the flowers. You may need to add a little compost to the soil or amend with a balanced fertilizer with a little nitrogen. Maybe a 4-4-4. Hope that helps!
Thank you, very insightful video!
Thanks Dave ✌
You're welcome, thanks for watching!
I can hardly wait to start my garden this year! I haven't had a real garden since we bought our house 6 1/2 years ago, just maters mostly.
Go for it! You can't beat the home grown food!
Thank you Dave Subscribed and needed to see this video 👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼
My grandmother always did that even in papayas, pumpkins, water melons, cucumbers and bitter gaurds
Thank you....your video addressed all my questions.
Thank you for watching and commenting!
Thank you soooo much! I been letting the ants to polinate and now that is warmer bees and butterflies are coming to visit! Besides I plant other flowers to bring those good visitors to the garden! But thank you so much for sharing this knowledge with us. I have butternut squash. I've been eating the flowers insted because of male only and some females are dying in the process. Finaly I got a chance to takes some weeds out the garden?.
You're welcome, thanks for visiting and watching!
Very helpful, I appreciate you. I'll keep you up to date lol!
Thanks for the information !
Great video thanks for sharing .
wonderful advice...Thank you!
This was very helpful. I have all male flowers on my entire garden this summer. All flowers no good. Go figure!
Same here
Same here
Me too
Excellent video very helpful information!
Thank you for the positive comment!
omg. you also got those georgeous zucchini. love them so dearly.
Your flowers are mostly males but u also have a female one .
Very helpful. Thanks
I’m growing crookneck squash, I have plenty of fruit with blooms, and no male blooms yet. The males are there, but the fruit are maturing pretty fast.
If it is fruiting, then the female flowers have already been pollinated. Are you sure you mean the fruits are maturing? if so, then the job is done. If you mean that you have only female flowers with that ovary, then you have a problem. That isn't a fruit, yet. Not until the pollinization happens.
Thank you very much!!!
You're welcome!
I only got 1 large squash off my plant, I was wondering why I did not get more. This was probably the reason! I also noticed some of the small fruits where turning brown. Now I think the plant has powdery mildew, I harvested my 1 squash I don't think it is likely I will get more. Haven't seen any new blossoms on it for a while now.
Me too
Thank you for posting this video it was very helpful
Thanks for this info. What's quite odd to me though is that this issue seems to be dramatically increasing...been planting squash without this issue since the 80s and I have never seen this until the last 10 years or so. Any ideas or was I just lucky for 30 years?
I'm really not sure. I've had this issue randomly over the years and other gardeners have as well. It may be more prone in certain varieties but I can't say for sure. Are you growing hybrid or heirloom squash?
We eat them in Mexico i think it’s flor de calabaza
Delicious delicacy 🌸
A lot of people here in the US eat the flowers as well, usually fried!
If I have a few squashes growing on a small plant should I get rid of the small fruit and some male flowers so the plant can focus on the ones that are actually growing big? One thing I do is place some fragrant flowers in a container next to my squash plants to attract bees to the area. Also a water bath is great for attracting insects.
Thinning out fruits is something you can do but I think it depends on what type of squash you are growing. Summer squash is best at 4 to 6 inches and you don't really want it to grow. A winter squash might be better with a larger size and thinning a few smaller ones may help others to grow larger.
Thank you for the video and the advice it has helped me.
Thank you
You're welcome, hope the video helps!
Did not know that. I'll take a look. (ps. insect controlling sprays and powders are referred to as insecticides. The term pesticides includes a broader category of pests including weeds).
Makes sense. Just seems like pesticide should only refer to creatures (insects, animals etc).
You could spray an insecticide in a very small amount on the main stem to control the borers. the chemical will not be absorbed by the plant as the stem at the ground level is rather a woody material and the fruit will be chemical free. (former entomologist).
That actually what I've been doing this year. A periodic spray of neem oil is doing good so far
👍🏽10 thumbs Up!! Thanks! This Helped a Bunch!
Wow!! Thank you!!...
You're welcome!
Thanks! I tried to grow a tomato plant once and birds ate every blossom. I tried planting lima beans this spring and tiny flying bugs killed all of them. I live in the deep south and insects rule. I had figs on a two year old bush, raccoons ate them. Lillies with bulbs, opossum dug them up and ate them. Frustrating but I keep trying. But I haven't tried squash yet, so this will be good to know.
Hazel, you should investigate the use of row covers and see if that helps with the insect issues. I like to use companion planting to help mask the vegetable garden from the pests. I have an issue with raccoons where they ate all my grapes so I know how you feel!
.22 cal rifle cures lots of things
@@bobmchugh9965 lol sure would! But you'd have to be awake at the hour of the theft!
@@bobmchugh9965 LOL! I live inside city limits. Can't shoot. Gave in and just feed the critters so they will leave me alone. Twin raccoon cubs, baby opossum. Hope to relocate them soon.
Get yourself a greenhouse.
Thanks, that was very helpful
Thank you Theresa!
Thanks for the Video it does help others people like me who are going through the same problem. CAN YOU DO A VIDEO ON GARDENIA PLEASE. MINE HAVE A LOT OF BUDS THEY DON'T OPEN UP AND I GET A LOT OF YELLOW LEAVES. AND HOW TO FERTILSE IT PLS. CHEERS 👍
Thank you! Unfortunately I am not growing a gardenia right now. They won't do well outdoors in our TN winters and I don't have the room to bring them inside at the moment. Maybe someday though!
@@Growingthehomegarden Cheers anyways 👍 God Bless
Hi Dave, Thanks for the info on lots of blooms but no squash. We are eager to take your advice! Also, your leaves look nice and dark green, whereas ours look pale green. Do you know why that might be?
Pale green could be the variety or the nutrients in the soil. Adding a light layer of compost to the soil may help if its the soil. Or a balanced organic fertilizer.
@@Growingthehomegarden Great, thanks!
I have a big squash plant I have four of them and I have big squashes on them they did good this year no problem with bugs and they look beautiful but I have another one it looks different than the one I have it is so big it look like all that's a squash but it is huge I was trying to figure out what kind it was but I'm fixing to cut it now and see what the inside look like have a great day
Thanks. Very helpful. Now I know why I don’t have zucchini to harvest ..make flowers & sad my first time to plant. Are the flowers edible?
Thank you for watching! They do have edible flowers. You could eat them fresh or fry them up. However you like!
Thanks for timely response. I just picked all my male flowers & will add to my soup. Plan to buy another plant today. Fingers cross.
@@orkids5551 They grow so easily from seed, depending on where you live you may have time to get a seed grown crop going.
From So Cal. Will check big box store for another plant. Thanks again.
Thank you so much for this explanation!
Nice, my Zucchini also doing the same
You tube is so awesome. Much thanks for the education. About to cut some flowers and relieve garden performance anxiety in the process. You certainly earned my “Like” 👍🏽
Gardeners in the deep south should be aware of pickle worm. I had no idea why my zucchini fruit was rotting while still very small. My plants were robust and I had many male and female flowers. After pruning to allow pollinators better access, and adding bone meal, I was stumped. Then I noticed that the flowers looked "bruised". Upon pulling them apart, I found worms. In nearly every bloom! And in buds as well. I lost all seven plants. The pickle worm's favorite crop is zucchini, but they will attack any cucurbits. Next year I will cover my plants with netting at night when the pickle worm moth lays her eggs.