blossom end rot or not pollinated

13 years ago

Hi all.

This is my first year gardening, so I'd like to pick your expert brains.

I have 12 4x4 modified sq ft garden beds (ammended soil, but not raised beds) and one of them contains zuccini, yellow crook neck summer squash, green cukes, and yellow cukes.

My first yellow squash of the season is about 5 inches long and the 2nd on the same plant was about 2 inches long. We got about 4 inches of rain last night, and I went out to pick lettuce today, and look at the garden, and the 2nd little squash was brown for the last 1/2 inch (on the blossom end.) I picked it, and tossed it, in case there was something contageous going on, but "blossom end rot" rung in my ears from devouring gardenweb for the past few months.

I did some reading.

Could the 2nd squash have blossom end rot (in your collective experiences) if the 1st one did not? Do you think that the rain diluted the calcium from the soil and the fruit didn't have a sufficient amount for uptake as it was trying to grow? or is it more likely that it wasn't properly pollinated?

Or do I just wait and see how the next ones progress?

Thanks for your time and insights :)

-Veronica

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Comments (7)

greenbean08_gw
13 years ago
Because it was so small still, I think it wasn't pollinated.

All my reading about BER a couple years ago made me think the same thing when my baby zucchini turned brown.
veronica_p8
Original Author
13 years ago
Hm. Bummers. I guess better than the alternative, though. Ty for your thoughts, greenbean. I'll keep watching them.

I found a zuccini yesterday that's about 7 inches long that I didn't even know was growing in the same bed :D I'm quite excited.

-v
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I am not an expert but my cukes and squash and pumpkins did some growing. I also suffered some similar fates to you. From what I gather, A bag of fertilizer will not do the fertilizing you require. For that you need a nice wind, bees, birds, squirrels or a paintbrush. The "little" fruit you mentioned are not the set fruit created by a successfull pollination. These are the plant's attempt to go through with the process without the pollination and the eventual withering and drop off of the "hip" (for lack of a better term, like a rose hip) or tiny bud after the petals of the flower are gone. I am not sure what creatures are in your environs but I plant complementary butterfly bushes and some other easy to grow flowers which bring bees to check out your flowers. You can check with your local gardner place as to what brings bees and birds and butterflies and they will all fertilize for you. You can also try the "paintbrush method" where you literally take a small clean watercolor brush or something like it and lightly tickle the insides of your male flowers and spread this on the available females when they appear. Be careful to not cross the varities if you intend to keep seeds for the next generation. if anybody can correct any inaccuraccies please feel free. I can't think of the best methods and sometimes there are no "one size fits all" methods.
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Okiefamily, Sounds like blossom end rot to me. There's also a rare internal form of BER where the tomatoes look fine on the outide and then you cut into them and find the BER inside. I've only seen it happen once or twice. I've never seen pollination problems cause anything that looks like BER. Although BER can happen on any kind of tomato, it is very rare on the cherry and other bite-size types, and it is very common on Roma types. About all you can do is keep the plants evenly moist. BER has more to do with the immature vascular system of a tomato plant not being able to take up and distribute calcium evenly than with an actual deficit of calcium in the soil. It is even more common than usual when young plants set a heavy fruit load before their vascular system is large enough to support the heavy load. A little time/plant maturity generally resolves the problem. Dawn
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Growing Tomatoes FAQ: What is blossom-end rot? How can I prevent it? Blossom-end rot is a disorder of tomato, squash, pepper, and all other fruiting vegetables. You notice that a dry sunken decay has developed on the blossom end (opposite the stem) of many fruit, especially the first fruit of the season. This is not a pest, parasite or disease process but is a physiological problem caused by a low level of calcium in the fruit itself. Symptoms BER, or blossom-end rot usually begins as a small "water-soaked looking" area at the blossom end of the fruit while still green. As the lesion develops, it enlarges, becomes sunken and turns tan to dark brown to black and leathery. In severe cases, it may completely cover the lower half of the fruit, becoming flat or concave, often resulting in complete destruction of the infected fruit. Cause Calcium is required in relatively large concentrations for normal cell growth. When a rapidly growing fruit is deprived of calcium, the tissues break down, leaving the characteristic lesion at the blossom end. Blossom-end rot develops when the fruit's demand for calcium exceeds the supply in the soil. This may result from low calcium levels in the soil, drought stress, excessive soil moisture, and/or fluctuations due to rain or overwatering . These conditions reduce the uptake and movement of calcium into the plant, or rapid, vegetative growth due to excessive nitrogen fertilization. Management Adequate preparation of the garden bed prior to planting is the key to preventing BER. Insure adequately draining soil in the bed by adding needed ammendments, maintain the soil pH around 6.5 - a pH out of this range limits the uptake of calcium. Lime (unless the soil is already alkaline), composted manures or bone meal will supply calcium but take time to work so must be applied prior to planting. Excess ammonial types of nitrogen in the soil can reduce calcium uptake as can a depleted level of phosphorus. After planting, avoid deep cultivation that can damage the plant roots, use mulch to help stabilize soil moisture levels and help avoid drought stress, avoid overwatering as plants generally need about one inch of moisture per week from rain or irrigation for proper growth and development. Once the problem develops, quick fixes are difficult. Stabilize the moisture level as much as possible, feeding with manure or compost tea is recommended by many, foliar applications of calcium are of questionable value according to research because of poor absorption and movement to fruit where it is needed but many have reported that foliar application of magnesium (epsom salts) can effect added calcium uptake. Other various suggestions consist of powdered milk, crushed egg shells tea, bone meal tea, Tums tablets, etc. but prevention is the key. Some recommend removing affected fruit from to reduce stress in the plant. BER should not be confused with fruit abortion or inadequate pollination although the symptoms may appear similar. The onset of BER occurs only after the fruit is well on it's way to development while insufficient pollination problems terminate the fruit while still quite small. Here is a link that might be useful: BER FAQ
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Blossom-end rot is a disorder of tomato, squash, pepper, and all other fruiting vegetables. You notice that a dry sunken decay has developed on the blossom end (opposite the stem) of many fruit, especially the first fruit of the season. This is not a pest, parasite or disease process but is a physiological problem caused by a low level of calcium in the fruit itself. Symptoms BER, or blossom-end rot usually begins as a small "water-soaked looking" area at the blossom end of the fruit while still green. As the lesion develops, it enlarges, becomes sunken and turns tan to dark brown to black and leathery. In severe cases, it may completely cover the lower half of the fruit, becoming flat or concave, often resulting in complete destruction of the infected fruit. Cause Calcium is required in relatively large concentrations for normal cell growth. When a rapidly growing fruit is deprived of calcium, the tissues break down, leaving the characteristic lesion at the blossom end. Blossom-end rot develops when the fruit's demand for calcium exceeds the supply in the soil. This may result from low calcium levels in the soil, drought stress, excessive soil moisture, and/or fluctuations due to rain or overwatering . These conditions reduce the uptake and movement of calcium into the plant, or rapid, vegetative growth due to excessive nitrogen fertilization. Management Adequate preparation of the garden bed prior to planting is the key to preventing BER. Insure adequately draining soil in the bed by adding needed ammendments, maintain the soil pH around 6.5 - a pH out of this range limits the uptake of calcium. Lime (unless the soil is already alkaline), composted manures or bone meal will supply calcium but take time to work so must be applied prior to planting. Excess ammonial types of nitrogen in the soil can reduce calcium uptake as can a depleted level of phosphorus. After planting, avoid deep cultivation that can damage the plant roots, use mulch to help stabilize soil moisture levels and help avoid drought stress, avoid overwatering as plants generally need about one inch of moisture per week from rain or irrigation for proper growth and development. Once the problem develops, quick fixes are difficult. Stabilize the moisture level as much as possible, feeding with manure or compost tea is recommended by many, foliar applications of calcium are of questionable value according to research because of poor absorption and movement to fruit where it is needed but many have reported that foliar application of magnesium (epsom salts) can effect added calcium uptake. Other various suggestions consist of powdered milk, crushed egg shells tea, bone meal tea, Tums tablets, etc. but prevention is the key. Some recommend removing affected fruit from to reduce stress in the plant. BER should not be confused with fruit abortion or inadequate pollination although the symptoms may appear similar. The onset of BER occurs only after the fruit is well on it's way to development while insufficient pollination problems terminate the fruit while still quite small.
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greenbean08_gw
13 years ago
Sounds like the surprise zucchini is nearly the perfect size for eating :-)
veronica_p8
Original Author
13 years ago
That's what *I'm* thinking! Tonight or tomorrow, definitely :) Ooo, I was thinking of making a mexican beef stew with the stuff I have on hand tonight ... I think some summer squash added to it would be stupendous :D

-v
amlinde78
13 years ago
It was definitely pollinated, however, the plant sounds stressed. Could be insect damage given the time of the year. I get squash bugs every year that cause similar damage. I just did a blog post on this so you may want to check it out.

Here is a link that might be useful: My Blog post
veronica_p8
Original Author
13 years ago
*sigh* ... new yellow summer squash rot death #2. I don't get it. The plants are healthy. Green and thriving. Tons of blossoms. Tons of pollinators. I have a *few* cucumber beetles hanging around my pumpkins (40 feet away), cantalope (10 feet away), and a few in the bed in question with the zucchini, yellow squash, green and yellow cukes.

I think I've been keeping a decent handle on them by going out every day and spraying them (they like to congregate on the flowers because they are fresh and I haven't Neem Oil sprayed them yet) with insecticidal soap individually and I have been applying Neem Oil spray once or twice a week. I also spray BT at least once a week.

The baby squash was about 2 inches long a couple of days ago, and it was brown an mushy about an hour ago, so I picked it and tossed it. There was also *one* leaf in the bed that was strangely dry and curling from the edges.

If the cucumber bugs have given my plants bacterial wilt, I'm going to be Ticked Off! >:( :P But if that were the case, shouldn't the whole plant(s) be looking sickly? So far, just the new fruits, and so far, just two. I got a healthy squash and a healthy zucchini two feet away last week, but haven't gotten anything else since (except 3 yellow round cucumbers.)

There have been no squash bug sightings at all. I'm thinking (hoping?) the Neem oil has been keeping them away? (fingers crossed.)

Is this sounding more like blossom end rot now? Do I have to figure out how to get more calcium into my soil? Last time it happened, it was just after a bunch of rain so I thought the calcium in the soil may have been diluted when the fruit was trying to grow, but no such circumstances this time. Also, when I did a soil ph test a couple of years ago, it tended toward more acidic, which I don't think is unusual here.

My soil is clay, ammended with lawn clippings, straw, and wood chips rotted into the soil for 2 years before planting, and then topped with about 2 inches of compost and 1 inch of mushroom manure.

Suggestions? I don't want to lose all of my cucurbits (a word I just learned a couple of weeks ago ;) ). Thanks so much for your time ... again.

-veronica
greenbean08_gw
13 years ago
Be careful, if you're spraying an insecticide on the flowers, if it's one that kills bees, you won't help your pollination rates.

Try hand-pollinating. You can tell the males from females- the males are on a plain stem, females have a baby squash behind the flower. Pick the male, pluck off the petals, and introduce the happy couple. Pay attention to which ones you've pollinated and see how the squash does.

blossom end rot or not pollinated

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blossom end rot or not pollinated

Comments (7)

greenbean08_gw

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greenbean08_gw

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