What did you do in the garden today?

[karenerwin]

Well watered myself left me able to water more or less of what I wanted done
I have a bit more tomato and zucchini also

I thought I was going to finally get some zucchini because I saw 2 small ones finally, but the first one got to about the size of my pinky finger and then turned yellow and rotted. It kind of looks like the 2nd one is going to do the same thing.

 

[WthrLady]

I fertilized the orchard today. I went to water and I had nicked a secondary line with the mower, so I'll have to repair that tomorrow morning and get the 10-10-10 into the soil.

Will walk the garden and grab any close to ripe tomatoes.

Tomorrow the canning jars get packed away (most of them).

I hauled a full truck load to habitat for humanity today.

Managed all the chores scheduled today.

Tomorrow is another full day. I'll be simmering pizza sauce to can all day tomorrow while I work.

Still hoping the hay guy shows up tomorrow.

 

[pennyJo1960]

I thought I was going to finally get some zucchini because I saw 2 small ones finally, but the first one got to about the size of my pinky finger and then turned yellow and rotted. It kind of looks like the 2nd one is going to do the same thing.

crap sorry that happened wonder why

 

[IamRainey]

I thought I was going to finally get some zucchini because I saw 2 small ones finally, but the first one got to about the size of my pinky finger and then turned yellow and rotted. It kind of looks like the 2nd one is going to do the same thing.

The female blossoms never got fertilized. This often happens at the beginning when you have a ton of either male or female blossoms but not both.

It can continue to be a problem if you don't have pollinators in your garden. But that can be fixed because squash are easy to hand pollinate. A female blossom has a tiny squash at the base of it. A male blossom is on a long slender stalk. The female has a complex anther with parts forming a circle. The male has a single long one. While the female blossom is open, find a male one. Rip away the petals so the stigma is well exposed. Now use it like a paintbrush to coat the female's anther with pollen.

Next thing that will happen is the blossoms will close up and wither away. But the fertilized squash will go on to develop. I've successfully ripped open a female blossom and still gotten pollination but, mostly, the pollination has to happen within 48 hours. The male blossoms stay fertile for a bit after the blossoms close. A male stigmao has enough pollen to fertilize a few female blossoms.

After I've hand pollinated, I stick the male stigma right into the anther and leave it there. That way I remember that that one is taken care of and don't waste a second male blossom on it.

This method works for me since my garden is small and a have just a few plants. But, hopefully, in a larger garden you can count on attracting more pollinators. One advantage of hand pollination is you can control the female being fertilized by the right pollen. If you pick a male and female from the same plant you get something true to the variety. If you leave it to the birds and the bees you get some mix of whatever they've visited.

 

[IamRainey]

OMG, those Norwegian meatballs look delicious!

 

[Acre4Me]

All of you have been so busy!! I walked around the garden today and ate some cherry tomatoes! Peppers are finally ripening and we have a few we like and some we won’t grow again. Cucumbers have been a disappointment, but I picked a small one today.

 

[WthrLady]

OMG, those Norwegian meatballs look delicious!

Thanks!

 

[WthrLady]

Un garden related.dont think I shared this here. Made this two weeks ago during my evening "downtime ". If I did and I forgot...sorry. but it's not in my attachment list, so I don't think I did. 4 foot square. Freehanded fjordhorse for the ranch. Weighs crazy amount.heavy base. I love it.

 

[Sueby]

It's beautiful!

My zucchini did the same thing, the females don't even get to the point of opening to pollinate them. But I got a powdery mildew early on & it decimated the plants, they never recovered. Hoping for regular vine types next year, I have bushing types this year because they're in containers.

 

[Acre4Me]

Squash in my garden did get some kind of wilt and/or mildew. Does not appear to be a vine borer, though. I did have cucumber beetles, and they can spread a disease, so guessing they were part of the problem, along with the wet weather. However, the mounding summer squash has done well. Two plants that still look healthy. I planted two butternut squash that were starts in pots from a garden center. They produced small size butternuts and then succumbed to the wilt type disease, although the growing ends of these vines are still green, but not producing anything. All females turn yellow and fall off before the flower opens. Then I direct-seeded a few large (Goliath?) butternut squash. These did produce larger butternuts as compared to the other vines, but not really huge. These have fared better, but still have a lot of mildew, etc and are also not producing, and any females fall off before they bloom. Overall, I have 10 butternut squash -some are quite small and petite, but otherwise look good.