patty - Welcome to the Forum and to gardening. The bloom will fall off by itself. Just as a warning, a lot of people have had trouble this year with squash not being pollinated. If this should happen, the blossom end of the squash will begin to rot while it is still on the vine. This usually only happens with the earliest squash. I just want you to be warned in case that should happen.

If it continues to grow, then you are home free, but otherwise you might need to hand pollinate. You can pull the squash at any time you want, but I like them about 8 inches long. A big zuke will have large tough seeds inside, so you want to harvest in the smaller stage so you have tender squash.

A lot of very experienced gardeners have had squash trouble this year because of the SVB and squash bugs, so you are lucky.

"SVB" = squash vine borer, the larva of a kind of moth, which burrows into the stem of susceptible vine crops. It eats away the stem, causing the plant to suddenly wilt, and usually die. Zucchini are especially susceptible to this pest.

Welcome to the forum Patty!

George
Tahlequah, OK

Patty, I pulled 2 squash yesterday that had been in the ground less than 3 wks. These plants were started in a roasting pan in the garden, in a paper tube filled with potting soil. I felt that this was too soon for svb, but all the signs were there. The moth may have laid the egg while the plant was still in the starting pot.

I will try to plant some seed today and maybe mix some DE in the planting area. I dont have a lot of faith in the DE helping but its worth a try. I have one plant that looks healthy, I think I will try injecting B.T. into the stem of that plant.

If anyone has a better idea I would sure like to hear it.

Larry

Hi Patty,

I hope you're doing well. I also hope you know that there are no dumb questions here.

I harvest my zukes small just like Carol does because I believe that's when they are at their highest quality. You can let them get larger (much larger!) but at some point the quality deteriorates.

Squash Vine Borers (SVBs) may not find your plants every year, but most years they find them sooner or later. This year, I've lost the two squash plants in our granddaughter's garden to squash bugs, but haven't lost any of the 8 squash plants in the main garden yet to SVBs, which is actually pretty surprising. I think the SVBs will find them sooner or later, because I see the SVB moths around all the time.

Larry,

There are almost no sure-fire methods to keep SVBs from finding your plants The most successful method is to grow your plants under a barrier that prevents the moths from landing on them. Even when you do that, you have to either uncover the plants at blossom time so the pollinators can find them, and it is likely the SVBs would find them at at that point. Or, you have to remove the barrier long enough to hand-pollinate the squash plants yourself and then there's a chance the SVBs will get on the plants while you're hand-pollinating.

The barrier could be a free-floating summerweight row cover made out of Reemay or Agribon or something similar. You would have to weigh down every edge of the material securely to keep the SVB moths out. Or, you could suspend the row cover fabric over a frame made of something like PVC pipe or electrical conduit or wire hoops.

The other option would be wood framed cages that fit securely over the squash beds. These could be made of 1" x 2" framing and metal window screen type material. I say metal screening and not fiberglass screening because grasshoppers can eat through the fiberglass and might conspire with the SVBs against you.

I have pretty good luck some years by putting the leg portion of pantyhose over the squash stem when the plants are very young. The bottom portion of the hose is beneath ground an inch or two to keep small SVB grubs from crawling underground and getting on the stems that way. I cut the leg 6" or 8" long and at the time the plants are small, it lies bunched up on the ground. As the plants grow taller and larger I pull the stocking up, up, up to cover more and more of the stem, packing mulch around it to hold it close to the stem. Is it foolproof? No. Do the SVBs usually find the plants anyway? Yes. Usually, though, by the time the SVBs finally get the plants, I have harvested all the zucchini and summer squash we care to eat and freeze and am ready for the plants to die.

Some people spray their plants with Surround, a kaolin clay product and believe that its grittiness keeps the SVBs away. I don't know if that is true nor do I know how effective the kaolin clay is in keeping insects off plants. I really don't like the look of kaolin clay on plants, but that's just me.

Dawn

I think I just want to live in a glass house with a cage for a yard. I am so tired of insects.

I just got in from tending to my pattypan plants. I dig around in the stems with a bamboo skewer and kill the worms. It has kept all my plants alive so far except one. The stems look ugly but there are still squash growing.

The problem I'm having is the baby squash seem to grow mold and rot off. I don't know if it's all the rain we had or if I have another problem.

tigerdawn - I've had some of the same problem. I think mine has been cased by all the compost added to the new dirt along with all the rain we received. Couple that with the size of the leaves shading everything growing at the base and there you have it! As suggested in another thread earlier (I think by soonergrandmom), try setting a upside-down growing tray under them to help hold them up off the ground and get a little air around them.

Paula

There might be another couple of reasons that any kind of squash, winter or summer, develop a rotted looking spot and drop off the vine.

If the fruit are smallish, maybe only an inch or two or three long and that happens, then it is likely they weren't pollinated. Often the little squash try to develop despite a lack of pollination and then cannot progress beyond a certain point and rot and fall off.

Also, squash are prone to choaneophora fruit rot which develops in high moisture conditions. If this is what your fruit have, you'll see shriveling of the squash and some decay on the immature fruit. In addition, if you leave the fruit long enough without removing them, you'll see a bread mold type fungal growth. I don't know of any treatment, either organic or chemical, for choanephora fruit rot once it sets in. It is easier to prevent it by planting on raised beds that drain well, spacing plants well apart to allow good air circulation, and avoiding overwatering. There's really nothing you can do, though, to offset the effects of heavy rainfall or high humidity.

Dawn