Asked on Jul 05, 2014
Squash Plants Large and Healthy and no Squash Growing?
by Jim Ginas
+92
2nd Season in a ROW! Squash plants growing large and healthy leaves and the stems near the roots are looking healthy and turning dark green, getting flowers that grow and open, then die and NO SQUASH. ** This year, I even self pollinated the flowers, which was hard as the flowers apparently would ONLY be open in the morning! Need help understanding why I can't get squash to grow and only the plant does.
2 large plants growing
NOTE the STEM looks like it is DARK Green and has a squash like color and texture itself!
28 answers
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Maybe your self-pollinating efforts aren't working? Have you tried planting plants that attract bees and other pollinators nearby?
![Douglas Hunt]()
Douglas Hunt
on Jul 05, 2014
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Every year someone on Hometalk encounters this problem and ask for help. I had this problem in the past. You have gotten good advice from Doug. Also, be mindful of sprays and insecticides used around your garden. Even something as mild as Sevin dust can kill off the pollinating bees. Be patient and wait for the bees to do their work. Happy gardening!
![Donna J]()
Donna J
on Jul 05, 2014
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Jim,Squash need plenty of sun and good drainage, and they love bits of decomposing leaves or other compost. You might try mixing in a 3-inch layer of compost along with a timed-release or organic fertilizer . Maybe that will help.
![Pat Gordon]()
Pat Gordon
on Jul 05, 2014
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try planting in another location or hand pollinating the female flowers
![Fenya Kashergen]()
Fenya Kashergen
on Jul 05, 2014
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Thank you I have had this problem in the past and did not understand it at all.
![Hilary Korn]()
Hilary Korn
on Jul 05, 2014
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Your squash might be overfertilized and putting all its growth into stems and leaves. You might also try planting a slightly different variety of squash next to them. Sometimes cross pollination does the trick. There are male and female blossoms. If your squash runs to all male or female, you get nothing. You won't notice the blend unless you plant those seeds in a second generation.
![Sally Roesner Fuhr]()
Sally Roesner Fuhr
on Jul 05, 2014
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all squash, melons, cucumbers, all have female and male flowers. when they first start blooming you will only have flowers with nothing behind them. Watch for the flower that has a small bump behind it, and when the flower first opens, pick the flower with nothing behind it and rub the stamens together. this works on everything I listed. I have an apple tree and had to pick flowers off of a wild apple that was 20miles away and did the same thing, and this year I finally have apples. I have 25 and last year I had none. Tomatoes have male and female parts in the same flower, so you can tap the flower and you will get a tomato. well I wish you luck and hope all goes well!
![Donna Foster]()
Donna Foster
on Jul 05, 2014
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could be to much nitrogen, makes leaves healthy and dark green but to much is not good for the veggies, check the amount of nitrogen in the fertilizer if high get one with lower amount
![Bonnie Bassett]()
Bonnie Bassett
on Jul 05, 2014
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I had the same problem last year. Beautiful plant of Jurassic proportions but no zucchini. This year I planted a different species. We got zucchini, but did not like the texture. So I got the seeds I still had left from last year and planted them in a different spot. I finally have zucchini. I have read about the manual pollination method; but I have never tried it. I do tend to be a little lazy about things like that. Good luck.
![Liliana Wells]()
Liliana Wells
on Jul 06, 2014
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im having the same thing going on great big plants & only 6 zucchinis & a couple yellow squash so far this year ... but my Acron has tons of squash set and already softball size
![Cheryl]()
Cheryl
on Jul 06, 2014
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Hi Jim, Squash and tomatoes are both heavy feeders so perhaps they don't like to be close together. They both also like a lot of sun. You might try planing them in separate beds next year and in different beds from the one they are in currently. I find rotating the veggies usually produces a better crop as they aren't depleting the soil of the same nutrients year after year. You might also mix compost into the bed in the fall and put in a cover crop.
![Katie]()
Katie
on Jul 06, 2014
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Be sure you are not watering too often. Squash should be allowed to dry a little between watering, even to the extent of letting the plant stress a little for water. To the plant, it is in danger of dying and will usually set fruit in response to the stress. Then you water and start the cycle over again. Also, too much nitrogen fertilizer promotes growth without setting fruit (fertilize after you harvest some produce). Good luck.
![Bonny McDaniel]()
Bonny McDaniel
on Jul 06, 2014
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They need lots of water feeding at least once a week. 2 years ago I had over 200 squashes on one plant & had to keep removing them, I only left about 5/6 on the plant. I did use organic manure & fish blood & bone when planting, & thick layer of newspaper to hold moisture. Hope this helps for another year.
![Jan318895]()
Jan318895
on Jul 06, 2014
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I noticed that you planted marigolds next to your squash plants. Marigolds are fine along the perimeter or near plants that do not require pollination.. but next to plants such as squash, cucumbers etc... the marigold inhibits pollination due to it's insect deterrent properties.. Pull up the marigolds and move them elsewhere in the garden. If you find few pollinators around you can hand pollinate at any time of the day, (Morning is best, but it can be done at anytime)
![James Bryan C]()
James Bryan C
on Jul 06, 2014
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I have had this problem in the past & it has always been due to lack of pollination. Douglas Hunt always gives good advice, listen to him! Are you aware that there are 2 types of squash blossom, male & female? The male has a long, skinny stem & the female stem is much shorter & thicker just below the blossom where the ovary is. Mine always have a lot more male blossoms than female & judging by your pictures your plant does also. Maybe this will help: http://blog.mountain-plover.com/2009/08/03/hand-pollinating-zucchini/
![Judy]()
Judy
on Jul 06, 2014
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Too much nitrogen.
![Kathy C]()
Kathy C
on Jul 06, 2014
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Donna is right. Melons, squash and cucumbers have seperate male and female flowers. The male flowers appear first. In all your pictures I see only male flowers. Be patient and the female flowers will appear.
![Msb199072]()
Msb199072
on Jul 06, 2014
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I have a question about scented geraniums...just bought one, should I use a plastic or clay pot & does it need a lot of water?
![Anne Fitzpatrick]()
Anne Fitzpatrick
on Jul 06, 2014
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Last year I had the same problem, and it turned out my soil was still missing some nutrients, even with what I thought was a good balanced fertilizer. Have you had your soil tested? I had to add extra calcium here in south Texas, and make some ph adjustments. Good luck! They sure do look pretty! but you can't eat pretty...
![Debra D]()
Debra D
on Jul 07, 2014
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You have all male flowers. My yellow squash are huge and green with lots of flowers. They are all male. The female flowers develop nearer the roots of the plants and look similar to the fruits that will develop later. The female flowers also develop later than the males. I went out and hand pollinated and all I was doing was polinating males with males. LOL. I learned my lesson and am now waiting for the female flowers to bloom. Mother Earth News was a big help too.
![Chris J]()
Chris J
on Jul 07, 2014
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I have to agree with those that said to be patient. Male flowers always appear before the female flowers. I also water mine just about every day, especially if it's been really hot and dry like it is here in central Texas this summer. They DO love lots of water. General rule of thumb is the larger the leaf, the more water it likes/needs. Squash plants actually LOVE nitrogen. The only fertilizer I used in my squash garden is aged horse manure and organic compost tea that I make myself and they absolutely love it. I've had my plants produce HUGE zucchini this year...quite honestly, I don't know what I'll do with all these large zucchini's. LOL
![Jennifer]()
Jennifer
on Jul 08, 2014
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The great thing about getting all those male blossoms is that they are entirely edible, too! So find yourself a good recipe for stuffed squash blossoms and waiting for the females won't be so hard.
![Debbie Luttrell]()
Debbie Luttrell
on Jul 09, 2014
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If you have cucumbers growing nearby that's a no-no. Last year I did this and had a few squash and almost no cucumbers. Neighbor saw it and said that's a no-no but I didn't pull one up so both did poorly.
![Charlene Lovelace]()
Charlene Lovelace
on Jul 10, 2014
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When you have a lot of foliage and no fruit, it usually means too much nitrogen. I don't know what you should add to correct the problem but you can probably find out on a gardening site. More detailed than this one. One by experts. Or ask someone at your local garden centre. Not Lowes or Home Depot. Those people are just minimum wage workers, no offense meant here. I just haven't had much luck asking folks at those stores.
![Lisa Cuddy]()
Lisa Cuddy
on Jul 12, 2014
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Let’s start with the whole basis of this idea that squash plants and cucumber plants can cross pollinate. This is absolutely, without a doubt, undeniable not true. Squash and cucumbers can’t cross pollinate. This is because the genetic structure of the two plants is so different; there is no chance, short of laboratory intervention, that they can interbreed. Yes, the plants may look somewhat similar, but they are not all that similar really. Think of it like trying to breed a dog and a cat. They both have four legs, a tail and they both are house pets, but try as you might, you just won’t get a cat-dog. http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/squash/can-squash-cross-pollinate-with-cucumbers.htm
![Cheryl]()
Cheryl
on Jul 13, 2014
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lol i know people believe lots of strange things ...getting to plants to cross takes a lot of work
![Cheryl]()
Cheryl
on Jul 16, 2014
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Jim is hot!
![Jenny Cox]()
Jenny Cox
on Aug 19, 2014
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Probably you put an excessive amount of fertilizers especially Nitrogen in the plot, at this stage, the plants are undergoing luxury consumption that leads to high vegetative growth at the expense of reproductive structures eg. flowers. Squash is a cross- pollinated crop, the male, and the female structures are found in different flowers on the same plant i.e. staminate(Male) and pistillate flowers (Female) flowers respectively. One of the effects of high dose of nutrients is sterility. the anthers (male organ) does not produce enough viable pollen grains or the pistil (female reproductive organ) have under developed ovules (egg cell), or the style, the slender organ that connects the stigma and the ovary ( contain the ovule) is incapable of transporting the pollen tube (Sperm cells inside) to the ovule to fertilized the egg and consequently lead to sterility even if you have lots of pollinators, no fruit or if developed they are aborted. My advice is regulated or follows fertilizer recommendation for squash.
![Rodrigo Sebidos]()
Rodrigo Sebidos
on Jun 07, 2016
Douglas Hunt
on Jul 05, 2014
Donna J
on Jul 05, 2014
Pat Gordon
on Jul 05, 2014
Fenya Kashergen
on Jul 05, 2014
Hilary Korn
on Jul 05, 2014
Sally Roesner Fuhr
on Jul 05, 2014
Donna Foster
on Jul 05, 2014
Bonnie Bassett
on Jul 05, 2014
Liliana Wells
on Jul 06, 2014
Katie
on Jul 06, 2014
Bonny McDaniel
on Jul 06, 2014
Jan318895
on Jul 06, 2014
James Bryan C
on Jul 06, 2014
Judy
on Jul 06, 2014
Kathy C
on Jul 06, 2014
Msb199072
on Jul 06, 2014
Anne Fitzpatrick
on Jul 06, 2014
Debra D
on Jul 07, 2014
Chris J
on Jul 07, 2014
Jennifer
on Jul 08, 2014
Debbie Luttrell
on Jul 09, 2014
Charlene Lovelace
on Jul 10, 2014
Lisa Cuddy
on Jul 12, 2014
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