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“What’s wrong with my squash?” and “Why isn’t my squash fruiting?” are two common squash questions. Often, these squash problems are related to a lack of pollinators. Here are the short answers and how you can ensure a full harvest of squash thisyear.
Why Is My Squash NotFruiting?
If your squash plant produces ample flowers but never bears actual fruit, or it bears fruit that stops growing when it’s very small, then you’re likely dealing with apollination issue.
Most squash are monoecious, meaning a single plant produces both male and female flowers.Male blossoms are borne on a straight green stem, while female blossoms sit atop a tiny bulbous growth (the eventual squash fruit).
To develop fruit, pollen from male flowers must be physically transferred to the female flowers by bees. Usually, the bees do a fine job, but if you don’t have enough bees in your area, you may end up with less squash than you had hopedfor!
Hand-PollinatingSquash
Luckily, it’s easy enough to masquerade as a bee for a day and pollinate the flowers yourself. To do so, you’ll need to transfer pollen from the male flowers to the femaleflowers.
How toHand-Pollinate:
- First, identify the male and female flowers. Female flowers have a small bulbous growth at their base, which will eventually develop into the squash fruit. Male flowers do not have thisgrowth.
- After finding a male flower, use a Q-tip, pipe cleaner, paintbrush, orsimilar object to gently dust around inside theflower, being sure to gather pollen on the end of the pollinatingutensil.
- Locate female flowers and gently dust inside them as if you were a buzzingbee.
- Repeat this with as many male and female flowers as you like. The pollen from one male flower should be enough to pollinate a few femaleflowers.
See our video demonstrating how to hand-pollinate your squash:
What If I Only Find Male (or Female)Flowers?
Don’t worry! Squash plants don’t always produce male and female flowers at the exact sametime.
What usually happens is the following: You’ll see male blossoms first, and you’ll wonder where the female flowers are.Be patient.If there have been unusually high amounts ofrain or cold weather, this can delay the emergence of the female flowers by abit.
Subpar weather can also impact the activity of pollinators,which is another reason to hand-pollinatesquash.
If you see fruit that is shriveling and/or rotting, this may also be a pollinator issue. However, it can also happen because the conditions are so damp that the fruit gets killed off by a fungus, blossom end rot.
LearnMore
Squash can also have pestproblems, but that’s another story. See our Squash and Zucchini Growing Guide to learnmore!
FAQs
If your squash plant produces ample flowers but never bears actual fruit, or it bears fruit that stops growing when it's very small, then you're likely dealing with a pollination issue. Most squash are monoecious, meaning a single plant produces both male and female flowers.
Why are my squash not fruiting? ›
A. More than likely this is the result of incomplete pollination. Cucumber and squash are in the same plant family (Cucurbitaceae or Cucurbit for short). Plants in the cucurbit family have separate male and female flowers occurring on the same plant.
How do you encourage squash to fruit? ›
Encourage More Squash Flowers
Excess nitrogen will encourage lots of leafy growth at the expense of flowers. Either reduce the amount of nitrogen you are applying in your feed, or switch to a feed with a higher concentration of potassium, which should encourage more flowers and, hence, fruits.
How to make squash produce more? ›
Squash plants have high yields, making them a heavy feeder. To encourage squash growth, it is important to fertilize prior to planting the seeds and during its growing season as well. Prior to planting seeds, mix up to 3 inches of compost into the soil where you plan to plant the seeds.
How do you increase squash yield? ›
A garden situated in full sun with warm, well-drained, fertile soil that's slightly acidic (pH of 6.0 to 6.8) is the ideal spot for squashes. Using compost and soil amendments usually eliminates the need for synthetic fertilizers, which are high in nitrogen or phosphorus and can actually lower fruit quality and yield.
Why won't my zucchini produce fruit? ›
Early in the growing season, squash plants tend to produce more male than female flowers. While you may have tons of flowers, in order to produce fruit you must have both male and female flowers at the same time.
What helps squash produce? ›
Like other members of the family — cucumbers, gourds, melons — squash plants like plenty of sunshine and nice warm soil. While in many growing regions indoor seed-starting is unnecessary for squash, preplanting indoors will be beneficial in our short growing season.
What is the best fertilizer for squash? ›
Bone meal is an excellent source of nitrogen, phosphorus, and calcium– all essential in helping your squash plants grow to their best potential. This fertilizer gives your plant a stronger root system, more beautiful blooms, and tastier vegetables.
Why is my squash producing only male flowers? ›
If squash were planted later in the season and exposed to primarily hotter temperatures, there will be a bias for production of male flowers. This is particularly true when nights are above 70 degrees F and days are above 90 F.
How do you induce flowering in squash? ›
Take a male flower, pull off the petals, and use the stamen and anther, which are covered with pollen, as a brush to pollinate the female flowers. Apply the brush to the central stigma of the female flower. Fertilization occurs, and fruit will develop quickly.
Early Pinching: When the plant is young and establishing itself, it can be beneficial to pinch off the first few blossoms. This allows the plant to focus its energy on developing a strong root system and healthy foliage before diverting resources towards fruit production.
How long does it take for squash to bear fruit? ›
Unlike winter squash that takes upwards of three months to mature fully on the vine, summer squash is harvested at an immature stage, before it has a chance to develop hard seeds and a tough skin. Most varieties grow from seedling to flower in 40–50 days with squash reaching harvestable size less than two weeks later.
Do squash need to be pollinated to produce fruit? ›
The squashes (including pumpkins and gourds) are a crop native to the Americas that require a pollinator.
