Okay...so before the giant downpour today I pruned back some of the older leaves - the ones that have been around since DAY ONE (they were HUGE). I have to say that in doing so I noticed that my cukes, which are all wandering in this one bed, were getting yellowed leaves and the stems of the leaves were getting "yucky" for a lack of better words - mushy - and the initial cukes that were trying to form were also mushy. So...maybe it was too wet and no sun or ventilation? The flowers on the zucchini are opening, and are hanging out for a while, until the zukes get to about 4" in length (not thick though, maybe 1" in diameter or less) and then the flower gets mushy, sags, and then falls off. I do leave the zukes there for about 24-48 hours, and when the tip where the flower was starts to turn yellow, I clip them as that means they are going bad (mushy). I salvage as many of the little guys as I can - as a matter of fact just sauted a bunch of them with some onions and had them for dinner - so they are very tasty, just very small. I think I salvaged about 7 today...no flowers, starting to turn yellowish on the ends. So...I think I am waiting long enough to see if they keep developing...right? I have a couple of larger zukes out there, so I am now keeping an eye on them. I did not get to pollinating today because I was so busy cutting the overgrown leaves out. I have left many leaves, but the ones on the lower levels are removed so hopefully the ventilation will increase and maybe dry out a bit. I did see many worms - they always startle me, but I was really pleased to see them since these are new beds! - and many cukes coming up that are not mushy. :o) As for nitrogen...I did the beds as lasagna beds and am not adding chemicals. I did add UCGs, but could not do as much as I had wanted a few weeks ago because of the leaf issue! Now that I can get to them, I will add more - this should fix any nitrogen imbalance, correct? I also bury veggie cuttings and eggshells out of the kitchen periodically...I bury around the plants, not too close to disturb the roots. Now, again, since I can GET to the ground (haha) I will be able to do more of that around the zukes and cukes. Is there anything else you guys think I should be doing? DH plays guitar for them (well, he plays guitar outside on the deck and it's near the plants, so...there you go!), we water pretty regularly since the rain has been rare around here (except for this week!). Again, I did check while I was digging around the plants today and nothing was on the stems, under the leaves, or on the leaves....saw a lot of ants, though, but no weird looking bugs that could be sucking the life out of my cukes.

I kind of researched this and was given 2 possibilities. One was blossom end rot. I have 50lbs of calcium carbonate (oyster shell), so I sprinkled that around the roots. We'll see in a few days.(I also heard you can stick a few TUMS down in the roots?!?!) The other was lack of germination, or was that fertilization??? I think the latter. Then you go out with your little paint brush and tickle the male flower, then the female flower (you've heard about the birds and the bees, right?) They say it's a lack of bees. I'm going to plant lavender in my garden for next year! They bring PLENTY of bees! My yellow squash are doing GREAT!!! The Zuks are the ones not producing! Good Luck! Nancy

Wouldn't a borer cause the leaf stems to wilt George? The leaves just looked sunburned, then starting wilting, just the leaves, not the stems. Please correct me if I'm wrong but I thought the borer got into the stems and caused them to wilt not rot. Either way I've pulled the plant and cleaned up the area so will try another planting. Thanks George!

I thought that "bloomers" went out with the horse and buggy ... or slightly after that time! It was omfortable here on Sunday ... but to go to a couple of degrees below freezing tongiht. I put the plants in flats that have sprouts above ground into the barn. They had snow in Saskatchewan and Alberta on Sunday - they can keep it! We have a holiday on Monday ... birthday of a former Queen. ole joyful