Good Morning from Northern Minnesota

haav6 2/19/2013, 11:35 am

Hi everyone, I have been creeping here for a few years, lol. I am on my fifth year of square foot gardening and have loved the ease of it, but I do have a few struggles, growing zucchini and yellow squash have been almost impossible. We have such a short season as it is, that I am at my wits ends to make this work. I end up with blossom end rot every year, our local extension guy told me we need to add calcium and magnesium....any other thoughts? Would love to get some ideas to get this working! Thanks!
Nina

Triciasgarden 2/19/2013, 11:27 pm

Welcome Nina! welcome

I don't have advice for you but wanted to make sure I welcomed you! It will be nice to have your experience here!

cheyannarach 2/20/2013, 10:07 am

Epsom salts and eggshells sprinked in your beds will add calcium and magnesium! Good luck!

**walshevak** 2/20/2013, 10:01 pm

Powdered milk and epsom salts work great for blossom end rot on tomatos. Should work for your squash too.

Kay

**camprn** 2/21/2013, 7:04 am

I am curious about your squash blossom end rot. Do the squash fruits grow to near maturity then get BER, or is it that the baby fruits end up rotting on the vine? If it a case of the latter, it could be a pollination problem or a complete lack of pollination..

haav6 2/21/2013, 8:52 am

They get to baby size...usually only an inch or two, last year I did try to crush up egg shells and add that to the soil....might not have been enough, as I did get 2 zucchini that were close enough to full size, lol! I have been doing the tying to a pole, like Mel suggested on one of his blogs, love the idea, but really worry about being able to actually grow the stuff! Keep in mind, my growing season is very...very short. We have had frost into late June and as early as Aug 10th...so we do spend a lot of time covering, trying to squeak out our season as much as possible....

**camprn** 2/21/2013, 9:05 am

If they fail when they are that small it is most likely a pollination issue. Have you seen bees in the garden in the past year or two?

I understand the short growing season and it's many challenges. lots o

haav6 2/21/2013, 9:53 am

we have actually had plenty of bees, especially since we planted a "sunflower fence", two years ago...plus I have a pond area relatively close to the garden beds, and it is surrounded with all types of blooming plants and grasses, so we have bees and hummingbirds all over the yard.
How do you link your weather station? I really like that, lol!

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