Do your zucchinis produce flowers but not fruit? A common problem with zucchini and squash

Zucchini, squash and pumpkin varieties are very popular plants in our gardens Especially, zucchini are very common. Some love them, some hate them, but the advantage of these plants is that they have many different uses. You can prepare zucchinis as a main course or use it as a side dish and you can make and sweet or salty. Whatever you like. So, to make sure that your growing efforts do not go in vain, you should be able to deal with various problems that you may encounter during growing. That way you can enjoy a great harvest.

Pumpkin issues that you may encounter

If your squash or pumpkin blooms but does not bear any fruit later, or bears very small fruit that even stops growing then the most probable cause is an incorrect pollination. Most squashes and zucchinis have separate male and female flowers. The male flowers develop on straight green stems, while the female flowers sit atop small fruits. Only female flowers produce fruit and in order to produce fruit pollen from the male flowers must be physically transferred over to the female flowers – this is done by bees. But if bees didn’t do that for some reason, you have to do it yourself.

Photo: Pixabay

Why may bees fail to pollinate your plants?

It is common that male flowers appear first and then it takes quite a long time before female flowers appear. If, in between, there is a rainy or cold weather, bees will hide in their hives and will not fly out do their job . If this happens, you have to pollinate yourself. Don’t worry, you can do it. Use a small brush, sold in stationery stores, brush to remove the pollen from the male flower and transfer it to the female flowers.

Pollination

You need to identify male and female flowers first. Male flowers grow upright and often open much earlier than female flowers. In addition, you can see a yellow “tail” in the middle of the flower. Brush this little tail – carefully, but get as much as pollen as possible. Pollen sticks to the brush and you transfer it to the female flowers. Female flowers usually kind of drop – they do not grow upright, like male flowers.

Preview photo: Pixabay