Grow Camp with HUGE plants and some diseased leaves

mimilenihan 8/2/2011, 6:15 pm

Hello everyone- I am experiencing some difficulty producing fruit w/ my yellow squash and my zuccini plants. The plants are huge, they have tons of flowers yet the 3 fruits that were produced only grew about 3 inches and then shriveled up. I noticed that some leaves are brown around the edges and some leaves have small white spots on them. Also I heard that plants need to be pollinated which is impossible to do with the Grow Camp as the netting prevents insects and critters inside. Any thoughts?????? or advice????

**Furbalsmom** 8/2/2011, 6:47 pm

mimilenihan wrote:Hello everyone- I am experiencing some difficulty producing fruit w/ my yellow squash and my zuccini plants. The plants are huge, they have tons of flowers yet the 3 fruits that were produced only grew about 3 inches and then shriveled up. I noticed that some leaves are brown around the edges and some leaves have small white spots on them. Also I heard that plants need to be pollinated which is impossible to do with the Grow Camp as the netting prevents insects and critters inside. Any thoughts?????? or advice????

Grow Camp with HUGE plants and some diseased leaves 654548

mimilenihan

We are glad to have your join our forum and hope you will enjoy it too. We have a great group of people who like to help when we can.

Perhaps some problems with your grow camp and its protective netting can be overcome with hand pollination. It sounds like your loss of baby squash could be due to lack of pollination as the female blossoms already have baby squash before the blossom opens. Pollination failure will cause the fruit to die off before maturing.

check this video on hand pollination

SQUASH POLLINATION

As to the brown leaf edges and white spots, we may be better able to help if you could post pictures.

**camprn** 8/2/2011, 8:51 pm

Hi Mimi, I am not far from you. Welcome to the forum. Is there a way to ventilate your greenhouse? You may just have to lift the netting for you will need the pollinating insects if you want vegetables.

mimilenihan 8/2/2011, 8:55 pm

Hello- thank you for responding Smile

Yes I can lift the netting, and as it turns out from what I have read in the last couple of hours that is exactly what I will have to do. Are squash plants the only ones that need to be pollinated? You would think that my Grow Camp would have informed me of that somewhere in the literature-lol-Well it's my 1st year with it-so I am sure I will keep on learning new things. Where are you from?

**Furbalsmom** 8/2/2011, 9:05 pm

mimi

A rule of thumb (mostly accurate) is that any plant that makes flowers that turn into fruit or veggies, like squash, tomatoes, beans, peas, peppers, eggplant, all need to be pollinated. Sometimes, the wind or bees will take care of it for you, sometimes, you need to help them out.

If there is not flower that turns into a fruit or veggie, or where you eat the flower, like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, beets, turnips, kohlrabi, artichokes, pollination is not necessary.

Unmutual 8/4/2011, 1:41 am

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/gourds/msg0611545713356.html

http://green-change.com/2009/05/20/hand-pollinating-zucchini-flowers/

First link is squash, second is zucchini. Like cucumbers, squash have male and female flowers. If you're not allowing insects in, then you will have to hand pollinate. Wind might do the job, but that's a little more hit and miss.

The female flower grows from the end of an ovary(it's not actually a fruit yet, but looks like a mini-cucumber/squash). I've never grown zucchini. but apparently they also fall under this too(male and female flowers, female will grow from an ovary that looks like a zucchini).

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Grow Camp with HUGE plants and some diseased leaves

Grow Camp with HUGE plants and some diseased leaves

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Re: Grow Camp with HUGE plants and some diseased leaves

Grow Camp with HUGE plants and some diseased leaves

Re: Grow Camp with HUGE plants and some diseased leaves

Re: Grow Camp with HUGE plants and some diseased leaves

Re: Grow Camp with HUGE plants and some diseased leaves


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