Zucchini flowers falling off

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HighCntryGrdnr Kremmling, CO(Zone 4a) Aug 22, 2007

My Zucchini plants are producing well, but after a few days the flowers seem to drop and pthe plants are about 4 inches long. Will this stump the growth of the zucchini's? Should I harvest them once they drop?

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Farmerdill Augusta, GA(Zone 8a) Aug 23, 2007

Not sure that I understand your question. Are the zukes getting about 4 inches long before the blooms fall off? that is normal. Are the baby zukes , shriveling or developing rot. It is normal for a few to do this as the plant knows how many it can support. If you are not getting zukes to develop at all, then you have a stress or pollination problem. I f your plants are healthy we can rule out the stress. Zukes are insect pollinated, so an absence of pollinationg insects could be a problem. I have never had to resort to hand pollination, but you will find many threads here from folks who have become experts at it.

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HighCntryGrdnr Kremmling, CO(Zone 4a) Aug 23, 2007

I guess my question was, will they keep growing once the flowers drop or should I harvest them? Some of the Zukes are 4 inches, some are 2 inches and slightly shriveled, so my guess is to get more 4 inches I need to pull some. Right?

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Farmerdill Augusta, GA(Zone 8a) Aug 23, 2007

If they are pollinated, assuming you have one of the cylindrical green types, they will keep growing up to about 18 inches long. For best best quality, pick at about 4- 8 inches. Unless there is some type of stress involved, the plant will usually take of itself, by abort fruits it can't bring to maturity. In my conditions, that is two to four zukes per plant at a time.

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HighCntryGrdnr Kremmling, CO(Zone 4a) Aug 23, 2007

Thanks Farmerdill. You're always such a big help!

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