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Vegetable Gardening

Squash shrivel

14 years ago

I've only grown good squash one time, several years ago.

In the past, I've tried yellow crook neck, started from seeds and this yr. strait neck from bought seedlings.

The small squash all shrivel up, at around 2" long, beginning at the end. This year, I planted in a large pot, for the purpose of ruling out nimtodes in my soil. I used miracle grow potting soil for veg, mixed with my compost, even pollinated by hand! What's up?!

Any suggestions or help, PLEASE!

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Comments (4)

jean001
14 years ago
Lack of pollination.

Check the FAQ at http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/organic/

Read both of these articles.

1. Squash/cucumber/melon flower: male vs. female
1. My squash/cukes/melons are not fruiting!
Here is a link that might be useful: the FAQ
digdirt2
14 years ago
If you are hand pollinating and the plant is still aborting the fruit then something else is wrong.

Common causes of fruit abortion on otherwise healthy plants that have been hand pollinated is (1) excessive nitrogen fertilizer - kicks the plant out of production mode and back into growth mode - use a low nitrogen higher phosphorus fertilizer.

Or (2) plant is root bound in the container or suffering root rot if in the ground. Any chance you have have excessive amount of rain recently or may be over-watering?

Dave
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Are these in-ground or in containers? That point is a vital difference. It can be either BER (blossom end rot) or lack of adequate pollination. From your description, most likely is BER which can be caused by either over-fertilization or inconsistent soil moisture levels. It is fairly common given the spring weather and once you can stabilize the soil moisture level - not too wet OR too day - it goes away. There are FAQs here on both - just click the blue FAQ button at the top of the forum front page. Dave
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grandmapoo
Original Author
14 years ago
Yes Dave, excessive amounts of rain, but good drainage in the pot. I have sandy loom soil with a very high water table and have thought too much water could be the problem in the past. It seems the year I had good yield was in a high spot that required daily watering.

So do squash like a well drained, full sun location?
I'm determined to figure this out this year!
Thanks
soupaman
13 years ago
I have yellow squash in raised beds within 3 feet of each other. In Box A the plant is small but I have gotten one foot long squash off of it. In Box B the plant is huge and healthy and puts out squash like crazy but they shrivel and die at about 2 inches or so I haven't been able to harvest a single squash-- very frustrating. They have roughly the same soil and receive the same water.

This is 'square foot gardening' so Box A has some okra planted around it - Box B is next to cucumbers and am getting a bunch of cucumbers if that is maybe making an impact.

Im getting ready to just pull the plant out and replace it with something i may actually be able to eat :)

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