Squash plants undergo several growth stages, including seed germination, seedlings, vegetative growth and flowering, pollination, and fruit development and ripening. Both summer and winter squashes are bushy, vining plants with large, lush foliage that spreads and can cover a large area if left unchecked. They thrive in well-draining soil that is fertile and packed with organic materials.
Squash plants go through several stages of growth during their lifespan, including germination, seedlings, vegetative growth and flowering, pollination, and fruit development. Summer squash varieties like zucchini, yellow squash, and butternut squash are available, with both vining and bush types to grow. The first stage is watching the squash grow, which is when you wonder if they will grow as big as you remember. Trust the seedlings!
Squash seeds are usually started indoors in spring, and after pollination, the growth stages transition from flower to fruit. This period is marked by rapid development as the plant grows. The seed is the embryonic stage of the plant life cycle, and it contains three main parts: seeds, embryonic stage, vegetative stage, and harvest.
Squash is a rewarding and easy-to-grow vegetable that adds richness to meals and replaces high-carb, low-fiber vegetables. It is grown in a similar way to other vegetables, thriving in rich soil, with lots of sun, and regular watering. After pollination, the growth stages of summer squash transition from flower to fruit, marked by rapid development.
In conclusion, squash is a rewarding and easy-to-grow vegetable that adds richness to meals and can be a great addition to any vegetable garden.
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ATTENTION RAISED BED GARDENERS ** Are you tired of using nuts, bolts, screws, and significant others to assemble your …
Do squash like sun or shade?
Squash thrive in warm, full sun conditions in moist, but not waterlogged soil. They require ample space, even compact bush varieties. Before planting, prepare the ground by creating a 30cm wide hole, filling it with soil, compost, or manure, and scattering a general purpose fertilizer like Vitax Q4. Space individual sowing sites at least 90cm apart for bush plants and 1. 5m for trailing plants.
How many squash do you get from each plant?
The yield of squash per plant is typically between five and six fruits, with larger squash and pumpkins yielding two to four fruits. The optimal planting period for squash is March, April, and May, with seedlings planted in late May and June after the risk of frost has passed. It is recommended that squash seeds be planted at a depth of 2. 5 cm (1 in) vertically and at the same level as they were in the pot.
Will all squash blossoms turn into squash?
To pollinate a plant, identify the male and female flowers. Female flowers bear fruit, while males are needed for pollination. Remove a male flower and observe the pollen on the anther. Brush the pollen to the female stigma a few times, and the female flower should be pollinated. Alternatively, use a q-tip to transfer pollen from the male anther to the female stigma. This simple process ensures successful pollination.
What does an overwatered squash look like?
Overwatering squash plants can cause yellow, droopy leaves and wet soil, which can be alarming for gardeners. The reason for this can be related to watering, pests, disease, or sun level. Underwatering squash, on the other hand, is a common issue as the plant is not receiving enough water to thrive. Water is essential for the squash to function properly and transport nutrients from the soil into the plant. To save your squash, it is important to monitor the watering levels and address any issues promptly.
How often should I water squash?
Squash plants require adequate soil moisture, especially in dry weather, due to their long taproots and branching surface roots. They are heavy water feeders and require about one inch of water from rainfall or irrigation each week during the growing season. Sandy soils need more frequent watering but with lower amounts applied at any one time. Drip hose, soaker hose, or careful watering are ways to water these crops. Vertically trellised plants may need more watering.
Frequent, shallow cultivation with a hoe or hand tool kills weeds before they become a problem. Scratch the soil surface with a hoe just deep enough to cut weeds off below the surface. Continue cultivating as long as possible without injuring the plants. If cultivation is no longer possible, pull large weeds by hand.
When harvesting summer squash, pick them when they reach the desired size but before they become over-large, with large seeds, hard skins, and fibrous or watery flesh. Harvest small “baby” fruits or medium-sized fruits for smaller plantings. Squash blossoms are edible and should be harvested the day they open.
Have fruit harvested often but be careful not to disturb the plants, as they often send out new roots from joints in the vine. Do not pick fruit when the vines are wet to avoid spreading diseases.
What makes squash grow faster?
Squash is a versatile vegetable that can be grown in various climates, including summer and winter. To grow, plant summer squash when frost has passed, while winter squash can be planted in mid-summer. Space squash plants 3 to 6 feet apart, in an area with 6 or more hours of sun and well-drained soil. Mix aged compost or other rich organic matter into the native soil for nutrient boost. Squash require consistent moisture, but avoid wetting the leaves. Water 1 to 1. 5 inches of water weekly for optimal growth.
Squash require good soil, with plenty of sunlight and good drainage. To prepare the ground, mix a 3-inch layer of compost or Aged Compost-enriched Miracle-Gro Performance Organics® All Purpose In-Ground Soil with the top few inches of native soil. Space squash plants at least 3 to 6 feet apart and provide a steady source of nutrition with a continuous-release fertilizer like Miracle-Gro Performance Organics® Edibles Plant Nutrition Granules. A light mulch is sufficient for squash plants, as they minimize weeds and provide cooling shade.
How long does it take for squash to fruit after flowering?
Squash exhibits rapid growth in hot weather and typically reaches maturity within four to eight days after flowering. The female flowers produce fruits that are susceptible to damage from external factors, such as physical impact or abrasion, due to their immature nature.
Do all squash plants climb?
Squash and other cucurbits can be grown on a form or trellis, which can be as simple as crossing boards and threading twine across to support the vines. The best varieties for trellising are delicata, acorn, zucchini, and yellow summer. Winter squash, like turban and butternut, can become too heavy and large for a successful vertical garden without additional support. Some squash may require supplemental support in the form of tying and fruit slings to prevent the developing fruit from pulling off the vine.
To grow squash on a trellis, you will need two vertical supports, such as stout wooden or metal posts, spaced 5 or 6 feet apart. Hammer the pieces in at an angle to each other in a tepee shape, and the bottoms of the posts must go deeply enough into the soil to help support a heavy plant laden with large fruit. Space the posts 5 or 6 feet apart and brace them with a cross angle at the base and across the middle to screw or nail into each piece. For larger squash, use a three-post system for better stability.
Why is my squash flowering but not producing fruit?
Gayla Trail, creator of YouGrowGirl. com, shares her experience with zucchini plants that produce flowers but lack vegetables. She suggests that the reason for this is that the plants are not being pollinated, which can be due to a lack of pollinators or a lack of pollinators moving between flowers and transferring pollen. Hand-pollinating squash plants is an easy and quick way to help these plants produce more fruit.
Despite constant watering, the plants are still not producing enough fruit, indicating that they need help from pollinators. This can be done by hand, which takes just a few minutes and is easy to do.
Will one squash plant produce?
Squash plants produce both male and female flowers, making it essential to have multiple plants in the same area for better pollination and fruit set. Having multiple plants at different stages of growth and in different soil patches can encourage a range of flowers at different stages, ensuring that there are always enough male and female flowers in bloom.
In some cases, having plenty of female flowers may not ensure the fruit starts to rot or drop off, as the female flower wasn’t pollinated or was not pollinated enough. Including more flowers in and around the productive plot can help improve pollination rates throughout the garden by drawing in more insects.
To improve pollination, look for a mature male flower that’s just opened or on the cusp of opening and gently rub it back and forth onto the stigma at the center of the female flower. This can be done earlier in the morning, when the flowers are at their most receptive.
Do squash need full sun?
Squash thrive in warm, full sun conditions in moist, but not waterlogged soil. They require ample space, even compact bush varieties. Before planting, prepare the ground by creating a 30cm wide hole, filling it with soil, compost, or manure, and scattering a general purpose fertilizer like Vitax Q4. Space individual sowing sites at least 90cm apart for bush plants and 1. 5m for trailing plants.
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If you want to grow Squash that will produce until frost, you can not afford to make these mistakes! Thanks for the kind words and …
At the beginning you show starting a second root system for a squash plant. QUESTION: when that second rooting system is established enough to nourish the plant do you cut off and remove the original root to eliminate the offending “bug home” or just leave it for later clean up at the end of the plant’s life?
Beginner gardener here. This is the most helpful article I’ve seen on growing zucchini. I had a great bumper crop and got about 9-10 fruits and then all of a sudden my female flowers started dying off before opening. I thought it was a watering issue or calcium deficiency but it turns out the pesky SVB got me. Thank you for suggesting burying the vine. I tried it this morning and I’m hoping to see improvement in a few weeks. Thank you so much!! Next year I will do butternut squash for the summer and plant zucchini for the fall.
It’s nice to hear that young ones are perusal the website as well! Our four-year-old grandson was out in the garden today helping his grandpa by weeding in our raised beds. I asked him if he enjoyed it and he said he did! That was a win for us!! We hope he will grow up with a love for gardening. Our grandchildren have already enjoyed going through the garden and eating the raw asparagus and strawberries!
Knock on wood BUT I’ve had zero issues with SVB or powdery mildew since I started growing my summer squash up stakes. I tie the vine to the stake with twine as it grows. And then I keep any leaves that reach the ground off at the vine. This method has saved me from pests and disease and it takes up much less space in my tiny garden 🌱
My dad taught me to put something like a toilet paper roll or a frozen juice can with the bottom cut off to go down into the dirt and ring around the plant. This will have to be done when first planting or while very young. If you try to do this with a mature plant you risk damaging the stems and vines.
The SVB lays its eggs under and all along the stems, and squash bugs lay clusters of eggs under the leaves. They hit my pumpkins first, then go to my butternut squash and zuchinni. Not enough time to plant a second round of pumpkins or butternut, but I did replant squash later. I used lures this year that caught 2 doz males and I caught 2 doz adults with my jar while they hang out on milkweed. If they get into the stems, you can slit the stem, crush the larvae, and treat it with BT or Spinosad. I bury the stem along the vines as much as possible… works great.
Love your enthusiasm – you have a great articulation and personality – talking fast BUT so clearly – I am in my 60’s and you have a great Voice – sound and clarity – and tips! Thank you! Fun things for kids also – so important to offer to young ones so they can learn if they are interested – or just get them interested!
Another tip for people who want to just make a lot of zucchini bread.. you can let the zucchini get really big before harvesting so you get more meat per fruit. It takes a while before they actually start overripening. I often pick them the length of my arm and several times the diameter! If the seeds look too mature just scrape them out, but this will really provide more food without necessarily sending the plant into ceasing production
On good advice from you and other gardeners, I planted Blue Hubbard squash last year and I have to CRACK UP!!! It grew large early, it was planted in March, and produced abundantly with NO pest problems. My acorn produced some, but my crooks didn’t perform at all. I’m trying again this year and will try your methods with rooting further along the vine and the Kaolin clay. Thank you, James, I really appreciate all your good advice. Hugs to the Tuck, too. PS: I learned to roast the BH in the oven, process and freeze it for soups, and surprisingly, the smaller sized green squash can be eaten like summer squash.
I had this issue about 4 years ago with the vine borers, on varieties that aren’t resistant to vine borers I put an aluminum foil collar around the base that goes into the ground half an inch to an inch and up the plant 6-8 inches and I’ve had no issues since. Butternut squash is highly resistant to vine borers and other things, very easy to grow. Always hand pollinate, it’s worth the little time it takes, I check for open flowers in the morning if I didn’t already tie up the flowers the evening before that I know we’re going to open the next day!
I’m going to try to 2nd plant this year. Our last frost date was 3wks later than last year, and so far, our weather has been quite cool for us. That resulted in stunted squash and cucumber plants. Then I got hit with a huge infestation of false chinch bugs, that sucked the life or of every green thing in my little garden. I had beautiful head of lettuce growing, that I was enjoying daily till these pests showed up. They’ll be greatly reduced in a couple of weeks, so back to planting I’ll go. I really enjoy going out every morning, checking my squash plants for new female flowers, grabbing a male flower, and pollinating away. I try to actively pollinate all of my fruiting plants, just to be on the safe side. But then, my garden is very small. Thank you, James! You’re always so informative and encouraging. And Tuck, looks like a great helper with pollination patrol.
i am in zone 7b/8a .. my squash this year, and was blessed enough that i did not see any evidence of vine borers until the plants were some of them over 5ft long .. i had never seen them do that before .. our plants had produced enough to give to the homeless and share with the those who could not or were not able to grow them, the cucumbers were just prolific as the squash .. God had blessed those plants aplenty and yes due to my inability to keep up with them i did have some that i had to throw away .. we saw little to no evidence of vine borers until i started pulling the plants .. then did i start seeing some eggs that had recently been laid, but no penetration of the stem yet .. thank you for your teachings and your advice in your very informative articles, i refer to them often .. thank you again and give Tuck a good belly rub for me
thanks for the info! Sending love from up in north Jersey! I’ve been perusal your website for a while now but never checked out your description, just wanna say that I too am very excited about growing my own food!! Not only for health in the traditional sense but the way it connects you to the earth and to nature! Every time I go into the garden I feel so much gratitude.
James, big fan from Jersey! My parents and I love to Garden. We have about 600 sq ft and a greenhouse in North Jersey. We love your positivity and outlook on both gardening and life. Keep up the great work! I would like to see more articles on how you manage obstacles in the garden for ex. Pests, storms, funguses, root rot, diseases, etc. Would also love to see even more variety attempts on your garden and partnerships with seed companies to give us seeds. Thanks for everything James and Tuck! ❤
Fantastic tips!!!!! I am a life long gardener and you are always offering up things I have not heard about anywhere. Am loving it James. You are a wealth of very useful information and am so grateful. I am in California and all your tips can be used here. Zone 9. You and Tuck are a dream team. Thank you!!!
I live in UK in zone 8b/9 and keep moaning about the cold and how it stops me from doing more. I just realised your zone is 7! You produce so much in your garden it’s unbelievable. Your website is inspiring and I’ve been following you and Tuck since last year. Great stuff James and Thank you for your hard work and sharing vital information. Please do some winter protection and projects later this year if possible. ❤🙏💐
Hey, something that also works well is spraying white vinegar diluated in some water (with a ratio of 1 to 5 max or a bit less). It is very effective against bugs. Just be careful not to spray it on a hit sunny day because it might burn the plant. Doing it at the end of the day is usually the best 🙂
Running so far behind this year that a “second sowing” of summer squashes will be the first sowing of summer squashes. Might still try a few winter squash varieties. Many thanks for this article! And, a suggestion, if I may: I plant white icicle radishes in my squash and cucumber hills to help deter the squash vine borers, and for the years I’ve done this it seems to work just fine.
I never knew you could take the tip off the zucchini plant to force more growth…..I feel an experiment coming on in my garden 😅 The only thing….that I can do is bottom water, because my garden is massive and I plant everything together for the most part, but i also only water in the morning so hopeful my leaves have time to dry thoroughly 😊
james, you’re wonderfully helpful, thank you so much. one thing to add for you to confirm or deny RE: summer squash pests. someone (who has a garden)said that the first year of growing squash, there were no pests. the second year he planted in the same bed and dealt with a pest infestation that took out his crop. the third year he relocated the squash patch to a different area on the property — no bugs. from then on out he rotated the squash patch to avoid infestations and it worked. what do you think about that?
CT zone 5B. I love squash. Grow several types every year. Have 11 varieties growing now. This is the WORST YEAR in my 40+ years of organic gardening for squash pests. Despite numerous preventative measures and daily checking/removal of pests – they are relentless. Vine borers, squash bugs and cucumber beetles in mas numbers. Waltham butternut squash is my favorite winter squash. As you said, they normally aren’t appealing to pests. This year, I can’t find A SINGLE LEAF that doesn’t have a cluster of squash bug eggs on it DAILY. I spend hours scraping them and the next day, they are back. Yesterday, I pulled 74! adult, mating, squash bugs off 3 butternut plants. It’s insane. I spent a lot of money buying squash Vine borer traps from gardens alive. Love them. They work better than advertised. In 2 days, so many borers were caught the new ones were simply walking across the stuck ones without getting trapped. It’s a BAD year for pests. Very bad. I have had very good success manually removing the borers from inside the stem. Seems to be the best approach for borers but the squash bugs are different. I found at least 1000 young hatchlings on the lower leaves of my crookneck squash yesterday. Question on the surround clay you discussed? Does rain wash it off? We’ve had severe thunderstorms almost daily with pounding rain. If it needs reapplying after rain, I’ll go broke….. Where did you get it? Cost? Nothing is working for me this year. Sad, but I refuse to give up organic growing and refuse to give up my rare heirloom summer squash varieties that I (and the pests🤬) love so much so the war wages on😂 B t w – I just ordered a shirt😊
I don’t have squash vine borers or cucumber beetles here in Western Wa., but the powdery mildew is so bad late in the summer that I have to transplant all my squash in one batch as early as possible after greenhouse germination. The summer squash bear long enough to almost get tired of them, and the winter squash ripen before it’s too cold and wet and they can rot on the ground. Every location has different challenges to overcome to bring in the fat harvest. But it’s very satisfying when you overcome the pests and weather!
Thank you so much for the squash tips. I went thru pulling a few squash plants today. We e had so much rain over the last few weeks that I’ve had some bad leaves & squash, along with some vine borers who have destroyed a plant or two. I’ll be adding soil over the lengths of squash vine. I really need to treat the entire garden. I’ve been a bit lax this year bc I have impinged nerves in my back along w a bad knee that requires me to under injections to add a cushion in my joint. I go Monday for my next knee injection, which will put me out of commission for a week & a half. 😢
I use to have two large english mastiffs, for treats I used carrots, they loved them!! Carrots are sweet and crunchy, both dogs love, and they are cheap! Best treats I’ve ever used. They got their share of cucumbers out of the garden too, people dont realize how easy it is to give dogs veggies, they love them!
I have enjoyed perusal tuck grow up, as an owner of 2 yorkies, keep a keen eye on their eating habits. They can get intestinal blockages and die from eating large undigested items. If your pup is ever acting strange, keep that in mind and get to the vet asap. Thanks for your articles, they have helped me out alot!
Cucumber beetles have completely destroyed my cucumbers, and squash bugs have neatly destroyed both pumpkins and butternut squash. I just cut out the bad leaves and heavily fertilized and sprayed with Sevin one day and BT the next evening. I hope the pollinators aren’t too affected because it is nearly impossible not to get the garden dust on flowers too. I just discovered a tomato hornworm, too! Pests really make gardening so much harder!
I already lost all my squash plants (butternut squash included) to vine borers. I had to pull all the plants and start over. Getting ready to transplant the new seedlings. Diatomaceous earth around the stems and regular BT treatment are my plan for these. Vine borers are two generation pests where I am. They lay from May-August
I’ve done over-riping before. Some plants produce big squashes and are fine. Others stop if you let it get just a little bigger. It helps if you know your variety well. Now I harvest them a little smaller and avoid the risk of them stopping to produce. Same goes for all zucchinis. Once you get the squashes going you eat well my friends! Trying round yellow squashes this year XD It’s gonna be fun!
I hate to tell you this, James, but here in N Texas my butternut squash have been decimated by vine borers several years in a row. They are less prevalent later in the summer, but not entirely gone. I’ve tried foil when the plants are small, but they grow so quickly it takes constant vigilance to keep the stems covered. What has worked has been covering the base of the plants with black tulle. Burying the stems also works, as you mentioned, if they’re buried soon enough. So, I start burying as soon as there’s enough stem to bury. Finally, regular, almost daily inspection of the vines for eggs is absolutely necessary. Once the main stem hardens, it’s not as susceptible to vine borer damage, but that just means the SVBs move further down the plant where they can do enough damage to kill the vines in a short amount of time. The only thing I haven’t tried is planting a trap crop. If I had room, I would try it. Great article, thanks. ~ Lisa
Thank you for these tips and encouragement. I may plant more squash yet! My few squash seedlings that survived are planted at the foot of a very large, kind of bent up pair of old, wire, round cages that are stuck together, sitting in a corner near the compost heap. It happened by accident one year, and now that is where I grow at least some type of squash. They like the privacy, I guess. haha
1st timer as my plants grew, I barrier the root System, put coffee grounds at the top. I check every other day, with zucchini, summer, acorn, butternut, cucumbers, and watermelon. I have a big turn out, from the birds, snakes, my Cat. I ve found eggs several times, caught bugs in relation to the pests per type of plant. No problems with plants yet knock on wood
What I do when I do not catch the worm before it gets in the main stem is pull up the plant to keep the worm from going into the soil and produce the next cycle. The Melittia Cucurbitae moth as you said is gone by July or August which is why I way until then to plant my summer squash. Now winter squash in another story that I have not found a work around yet.
Thank you James for showing what to do for the squash vine borers! I’ve said this for so long and when I hear of someone trellising squash, I beg them to take them down from the trellis. You really need squash plants to run along the ground because of those joints that can root into the ground. Melons/cucumbers cannot and will not do this, but squash do and need it. That way, if the back part of the plant dies, the rooted joints will continue to bring water and nutrients to the rest of the plant and fruit. I had thought of doing a article on this, but I never have squash vine borers in Wyoming. We are moving to Missouri pretty soon, however, and it’s very possible that I will run across the squash vine borer again.
I saw this article 4 days too late. I went out to look at my squash and zucchini and found the vine borer in every plant. I wasn’t sure what it was and they weren’t producing, so I got frustrated and pulled them all up and threw them away. But, it’s only July 12th, so I can go out and plant another round. Thanks for the tips.
I bought this clay and it was delivered today. What is the ratio of water to the clay? And do you have a special sprayer? Also besides the squash bugs what else can I use this deterrent on? I know my eggplant leaves have thousands of tiny little holes in them. Can I use this clay on other vegetables? And what vegetables should I not use it on? I know there’s a lot of questions but I just want to make sure I’m applying this to the correct vegetables thank you Love your website by the way
Thanks so much! The borers have gotten me so badly that I had sworn I wasn’t going to plant squashes ever again. But with the clay spray and the July plantings, I’ll give it another go. I really love summer squash, so I’d love to be able to grow my own. I’ve already sworn off growing corn. Any suggestions? Grows just fine, but It never makes large fruit nor makes many kernels. I’ve tried artificial pollination. Didn’t help much. The only thing I never have trouble with is okra. It LOVES my garden! And I discovered red okra, which is short, tastes even better (i often eat it straight off the plant) and starts producing very early, so I’m growing a lot more of that now and will grow even more next year. I have a lot of luck with cherry tomatoes, except when the red spider mites kill all the tomato plants. Broke down and used Sevin spray this year. Seems to have saved the crop. (I tried blasting with water, using soapy water, Neem Oil, and a concoction of mint and other essential oils. Nothing made a dent until Sevin spray. That took two rounds to kill them completely, of course I’ll keep an eye out to make sure. I’ve never had much production from my larger indeterminant tomatoes until this year but then most had end blossom rot. Probably due to watering. Trying to install an irrigation system now to deal with watering. Suzy from Tulsa
I wish all of my leaves stayed dark green like yours.Especially things like cabagges and stuff, the leaves always get a reddish purple and yellow coloring on some of the leaves. I fed them heavily with several inches of compost, Bio Tone Starter fertilizer, Blood and Bone meal, and I feed them a couple times a month with a fish fertilizer. I used to think they did this because we usually get about 60 inches of rain per year, so I thought the rain was washing away a lot of the nutrients, but this year we are experiencing several bouts of drought, and it’s still happening! What do you fertilize with James?
Q4U, my pickle plants were growing fabulous. One day they started to die. I can’t tell if any nug has gotten to them. Could I bury the main root as you did with the squash? If that helps. BTW, I’ve been perusal your articles for couple you now. Luv em! I have 2 gardens. One of them I call my “Forever Garden ‘ which I believe I adopted from you.
Great article! Thank you! It does seem that the bugs like the summer squash as much as us. I have netting that I will try this year. I also have extra seeds to stagger the production. I also rotate them as far away as the previous year, to try and prevent any emerging eggs from getting a quick easy meal.
I hope you see this, though I don’t know if you will. How does the kaolin clay not stop photosynthesis, I’m very curious . I have a terrible time with squash bugs, stink bugs and vine borers, etc.. I would like to be able to produce squash, better, specifically zucchini. Plus, I’m curious, when you talked about the butternut squash, was it a specific variety of butternut? Because my butternut had problems with squash burgers, without a doubt. I was extremely sad.
I wish more seed packets would indicate which squash are vining.. last year I was looking all over for vining zucchini because of you having mentioned the vine burial method to get more roots growing, but none actually said they were anything other than open habit or bush habit. I had to just plant a bunch to see!
You can also kill the squash vine borers by poking a hole vertically a few inches above the main stem and injecting a small amount of BT into the Center of the main stem. I aslo had pumpkins that volunteered in the active compost pile that didn’t get affected by the borers. I thighs smell of the compost disguised the squash smell. I’m going to try growing zucchini in the compost next year
James bro I am 9 months late on this article, my daughter and I continually watch all of your content but I just found you about a month ago. Idk if anyone has done this yet or not but I saw your gnome at 5.20 on this article!!!😅 If that does count could you please send my daughter a 10-12 youth t-shirt. She saw this and literally as I’m typing she’s picking your next vid on the tv. Great content man keep it up.
If I have naturally occurring clay in my soil, do you know if that prevents these pests? I’ve been incredibly lucky so far this summer. So I don’t want to change anything right now and upset the balance. I have going on, but i’m waiting to make it through a season to see what happens. Have you heard of spraying whey or milk on your Squash plants and tomatoes to prevent pests?
How do you use the Kaelin clay? I found it on Amazon it’s a powder form do I add water or do I sprinkle the powder form on the plant? I battle squash bugs and vine boards terribly and they’ve already started attacking my plants I try to do everything organically to prevent adding any poison to my garden. I saw that Kaelin clay is supposed to be safe how do you apply it or mix it?
I was growing plants indoors in a sun room where I get tons of light. I planted them in potting soil straight out of the package, and somehow I got bores anyway. The darn things are ubiquitous here. I have no idea how they got in. Our house is pretty tight because we need to keep it warm in the brutal winters we get here. I refuse to use chemical pesticides. We also get some sort of little striped beetle which eats pretty much everything living in sight. They even go after our tomatoes, which is devastating when you have a lot of really enormous green ones just starting the get a hint of pink on them. After 3 years of loosing just about everything because of these horrid little bugs, I’m about ready to throw in the towel. I need help in the way of some really good suggestions.
I amazed you described pruning a vining zucchini plant by topping it and causing it to bush out through growth points! I understood that correctly, right? Would this mean it can be grown vertically still? I’m growing a rampicante zucchini vertically to save space, but it gets too long overall for the space I have. I want to try your suggestion as I have room for it to bush out. Thanks!
Love your show Tucker, oh and yours too James, j/k. Your energy is great and mad respect to you for doing all of this without a big fancy greenhouse. So I lost all of my squash and melons last year to squash vine borers last year, so this year I am using the white mesh brand that you recommended and it is great. Thank you for the tip. I also grew some blue hubbard squash and they got attacked as soon as they became teenagers. Luckily I have one that is still half alive that I keep under a screen dome that i have from my fire pit. Unfortunately the underground characters got to it, especially snails and caterpillars (including the dreaded Symphylans that you taught me about). So it’s only half of a plant right now, but I do think it helps. Lastly, I am using an oil diffuser with a strong concentration of mint aroma to help mask the smell of my summer squash and watermelon plants, hopefully this whole combination will work. It’s now June here in Florida (the peak pest season) and, fingers crossed i will have some squash by the end of the week and some watermelons and Tomatoes in July. Just planted my next round of seeds for the next succession. Btw, because of your show I realized that Symphylans is what was stunting the growth of all of my vegetables that were planted in the ground. I am not experimenting more with using 5 gallon buckets with mesh in the bottoms that I can move to different areas for light and pest pressure. I’m also planting garlic in the fall to help next year with warding off pests underground (fingers crossed) and hopefully won’t attract any wire worms.