Some of you may be familiar with my issues with squash. I just couldn't get any to grow, they all aborted. This year I planted in the back yard, not the front and looky what happened! I'm so excited. Yeah, I know, it's only summer squash, but after everything aborting last year, imagine my surprise and delight when I saw this.
u must have more busy bees in the back !!
I have bee's...lol, but until the female blossoms make an appearance, they arent doing me (or the squash) much good.
I was impatient for the opposite sex to show up too but now have spaghetti squashlets and Peter Pan squashlets! Yipee!
Good for you Pugzley ~ what is different this year?
LOL, I've been waiting 3 weeks... and still not a single female on 4 squash plants
I've been reading up on it but haven't found a fertilizer yet that will stimulate the opposite sex to bloom. It seems it took my spaghetti squash about 3 or 4 weeks of blooms before they started to deliver and stay on the vine.
well then, seems i just need to be patient. Hopefully they show up soon... the nail biting is taking its toll...LOL
If you're having problems with squash aborting, try hand pollination, it is really simple to do.
edited because of accidental double post
This message was edited May 25, 2009 3:44 PM
nope, aborting isnt the problem. getting female blossoms to show up is. doestn do much good to hand pollinate male flowers.
There are more flying bugs in my backyard than in the front. The conditions are more protected back there and it's basically boxed in by the house and 3 walls around it.
In my research I found out that bees are not the only insects that pollinate the plants. There are all kinds of insects that look like flies that pollinate, too. And I've got tons of things flying around back there.
In the front, the plants are exposed to more air pollution and dust, they are on a gravel road and the cars blow a dust cloud into them everytime one passes, several times a day. There are a lot more bad bugs out there, too and slugs, earwigs, you name it.
It was funny because I didn't see any male flowers on my squash plant in that picture until after I already had 6 squash that were forming and growing on there. Wonder how that happened? None of them are aborting now, either. There were no other squash plants with male flowers back there, either. I have 4 more plants, 2 climbing and 2 that do not, none of them have any flowers opening on them as yet.
This message was edited May 25, 2009 9:57 AM
