zucchine flower

I have a few zucchini fruiting..one of the was about 4" long...in my effort to maneuver it...I pulled the flower off   ..is it done for?

You may as well shoot it with your rifle, put the poor suffering thing out of it's misery....  
Don't panic It will be fine!   

if you pulled it off before it got pollinated, it'll probably shrivel up and die. If it's big enough, go ahead and eat it

The fact your zucchini is 4 inches long I'm betting pollination has occurred. I would not pluck it! See what happens, that is how you learn. If it goes to zucchini heaven you will know to leave it the hell alone next time.....  


Pappy

Thank pappy & southern...it DEFINITLEY pollinated as pappy said because there is a definite zucchini there... The flower came off the end of the existing zucchini... Think I'll leave it the hell alone just like Pappy said.... Spoken like a true gentleman and scholar Pappy

All female flowers will have a zucchini (or whatever the mother plant is) behind the flower. That's one way to tell the female flowers from the male flowers. One variety of zucchini we have grow a full 6-8 inches long before the flower opens! Our Tromboncino squash grow almost 12" long before it opens! Good luck and keep us posted!!

jrfrommd wrote:  Thank pappy & southern...it DEFINITLEY pollinated as pappy said because there is a definite zucchini there... The flower came off the end of the existing zucchini... Think I'll leave it the hell alone just like Pappy said.... Spoken like a true gentleman and scholar Pappy

Nice!
 

Just browsing topics here, and Pappy is cracking me up! Leave it the hell alone.... Sometimes I think I do more damage trying to help. I needed that laugh!

so let me get this straight..I can have what appears to be a 4" long zucchini(4 or 5 of them in fact) & still not be pollinated?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpGGAjKjvuk

jrfrommd wrote:so let me get this straight..I can have what appears to be a 4" long zucchini(4 or 5 of them in fact) & still not be pollinated?

found this

jrfrommd wrote:so let me get this straight..I can have what appears to be a 4" long zucchini(4 or 5 of them in fact) & still not be pollinated?

Yes! depending on the variety, some grow several inches before the flower opens for pollination. Here is a zucchini and a tromboncino squash flower that haven't opened up yet. The zucchini should be open in the morning I'm guessing. The zucchini is prob about 5" long and the tromboncino is about 6-7"?  I have a spaghetti squash that's only about 1" and it's flower willl probably open tomorrow, it just depends on the variety

Wow, so different from the zucchinis I've grown and seen growing around here. They only look like a skinny inch-long pickle before they're pollinated.

ok thanks Southern....the photo really helps...my zukes look EXACTLY like yours at this point. I'm guessing if they start growing, mission accomplished..if not, maybe some hand pollination could be in order.

Hi JR,

How about an update on your zucchini?

Pappy

Pappy Slip wrote:Hi JR,

How about an update on your zucchini?

Pappy

Pappy,
 Going real well..I had a good # of bees(and ants) but my first few zucchini blossoms shriveled to nothin'.

I tried hand pollinating & viola!

I've pulled 4 or 5 like these since....same story with the summer squash...





I go out early am with a small brush & play "Dr Love" and get results....

I guess I'll stick with it...(although I'm pretty sure some pollinated through insect transfer)

My cucumbers seem to be a bumper crop all on their own. I had to go out and emergency raise my trellis from 6 to 9' yesterday.....Jalapenos/Serrano's/Bells/Sweets  are  all starting to really set also..

Hope & trust all is well with you & yours!

yup...sounds most likely non or poor pollination! All is good, they are very prolific and you'll get lots more! We have a really cool "Crown of Thorns" squash growing...I hope she grows, really cool looking squash!  TY for the update

That's great! I'm glad to hear things are going well. 


Pappy

jrfrommd wrote:so let me get this straight..I can have what appears to be a 4" long zucchini(4 or 5 of them in fact) & still not be pollinated?

Pollination is not a binary event (one shot), but progressive, with multi-seeded fruits. Zukes need 300-400 grains of pollen delivered to make a perfect fruit. Watermelons need 1000 grains of pollen.

This takes many bee visits. A lot of gardeners see a bee visit a flower and think that pollination is accomplished.

Ain't so!

If no pollen is delivered, the ovary will not grow into a fruit; it will wither or rot and drop off.

If just a little pollen is delivered, there may be just enough plant hormone stimulus from a few fertilized seeds to start growth, and then it will stop, usually with some opportunistic rot on the blossom end, and abort. People often, mistakenly, think this is blossom end rot. BER is common in tomatoes, rare in squash (and it would not stop the fruit from growing on to maturity).

If a little more is delivered, a fruit may form and grow, but be wrinkled, stunted, and misshapen.

If the full complement is delivered, the fruit will be perfect, and grow fast and tender.

More detailed info - with pics: http://gardensouth.org/2011/06/15/evaluating-squash-pollination/

Pollinator,

Today I hand-pollinated a Horn of Plenty squash.  Is it okay to pollinate a plant of one variety with pollen from another?  I have about six plants, all in different stages of development.

donnainzone10 wrote:Pollinator,

Today I hand-pollinated a Horn of Plenty squash.  Is it okay to pollinate a plant of one variety with pollen from another?  I have about six plants, all in different stages of development.

Don't know for sure but I tried it with zucchini + summer squash and sure seemed to work....

I don't have bees so when I have a female flower, I grab what ever male squash is available for the pollen. Just don't save the seeds for next year unless you like to "experiment."

Things are worse than I thought in California.  We are keeping our fingers crossed that we keep enough healthy bees  We do not have varona mite but are getting some other kinds of mites I understand.  And with the heavy duty horrible pesticides on the GMO crops here who knows if our dear bees will survive.

sanderson wrote:I don't have bees so when I have a female flower, I grab what ever male squash is available for the pollen. Just don't save the seeds for next year unless you like to "experiment."

So even with the borage you planted, you still have no bees?

You know, I have many more bees this year and planted fewer flowers. I think if we just keep planting and keep blossoms available for as much of the season as possible, we will at least be creating the conditions to keep bees around should we get any.

Nope, no bees after they pollinated the orange tree. If it wasn't for syrphid flies, I wouldn't have any cucumbers, cantaloupes, or tomatillos. Well, there's a big black bumble bee that I have seen on the cantaloupe, and a bee "sleeping" in a squash blossom. I use paint brushes for pollinating.

The borage didn't seem to attract any bees. I think I will plant those in the flower garden in the front next year. The zinnias were at least attractive to the butterflies, though.

kauairosina wrote:Things are worse than I thought in California.  We are keeping our fingers crossed that we keep enough healthy bees  We do not have varona mite but are getting some other kinds of mites I understand.  And with the heavy duty horrible pesticides on the GMO crops here who knows if our dear bees will survive.

I do not intending to derail this thread, however I need to point out that varroa has been found in honeybee colonies in Hawaii. http://www.beelovehawaii.com/blog/varroa-mites/