The Sweet Dumpling squash I am just worried about it having flower buds even though the plant is so small still... For the cucumbers, I have two pots with 4 that germinated in one (which is the one in the photo) and 3 that germinated in the other. I was always planning in thinning it to two in each pot. I think I will let it grow a little more and thin to the healthiest ones. Bejay, both zucchinis are the same variety...just in different sized pots. At lay I hope they are the same! Be11me, the zucchini plant in the 30 gallon pot is the same pot that had my zucchini that was decimated by the aphids. That was a Costata Romanesco variety. For some reason it wouldn't grow past the first couple true leaves... the aphids got to it by the second week. The Tondo Scuro di Piacenza zucchini that are growing in those photos were fertilized with a pelleted fertilizer for tomatoes, bat guano, and a seaweed fertilizer... These grew to the size in those photos in about 15 days from germination. I was shocked at how fast they grew. I only had the pelleted tomato fertilizer for the CR zucchini plants that ended up not growing much after it got its first two true leaves ...then dying (one of them from the aphids.) So I guess they needed to be fertilized more and that is why they got stressed. I am growing new CR in different pots now..but they just germinated the other day.

'grats to you! And your first success was with some more challenging veggies - at least they are for me. I remember my newbie victory (back in the day, a year and a half ago) of green beans and radishes. I was thrilled, but later discovered those two crops at the top of all the 'easiest for beginners' lists (aka the 'any idiot can grow' lists) But bugs have made my brassicas and squashes a challenge, so I'm impressed by your success! I don't know of any way to increase the size of your already growing heads, but depending on the type of broccoli you planted you may get enough side shoots to make it more worthwhile. Congrats again, ~emmers

Thanks everyone for the comments! The pot is a 15" diameter, what should it be? And I have been hand pollenating my zucchinis since the beginning as I am not sure if the bees are doing it. The one in the picture never had a flower that opened, it just turned brown and fell off.

Zucchini come in all shapes and sizes. The major production problem lies in lack of pollination. They are insect pollinate and with scarcity of pollinating insects like bees, you may have to resort to hand pollination. Epsom salts is a magnesium source. Only useful in soils which have low magnesium levels. Magnesium is one of the minor nutrients for plant growth. Nitrates, Phosphates and potassium are the major. With even moderate soil fertility, most zucchini are abundant producers. The long types can be harvested any time but are better under 10 inches. Round types are best at baseball to softball size.