How to Manage Zucchini Plants

[@theresachalmers8189]

There are a lot of "experts" giving advise on YT, you are one of the few I trust and rely upon. Its obvious that you know what you are talking about. Thank you.

[@JAvery777]

The running through dog is the highlight... stealing the show...cute!

[@georgeruzich1443]

Thanks for all the info. I've tried 3 years in a row to grow zucchini. Without any luck. This year with your help I will grow these guys. thanks

[@usuextension]

You might also watch some videos on squash bug control. Here’s one I did on how to chase them up out of the crown so you can find them: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rGmThqSHrdpohrc Thanks for watching.

[@mazinali4589]

USUExtension

[@CaliKim29]

Thanks so much for these tips, as my zuc plants and yellow squash plants are out of control. Not getting a lot of yield from zucs, but lots of leaves so I am hoping this helps with production. Nice closing line - Just another way to have fun in your garden! Looks like you are doing just that!

[@jumpoffa5011]

The season is almost over. My zucchini survived the 2 weeks of 105 degree temp her in California. I really didn't get the little zucchini you see in the store; but, I got 4 large club size zucchini. They were hidden from sight. Thanks to your video, I how know what to do. Plus from my first season growing zucchini experience I how know what to expect from my zucchini. Lucky thing I planted my two plants at the end of my raised garden. I allowed them to overhang and grow wild to their hearts content. LOL Thank-You, your video is something that I should have seen a few months ago. It is very informative.

[@eileensforte]

Thank you so much for this video. I just started gardening and one of my favorite things to eat and grow is the zucchini and squash. This is a very valuable tip for me!

[@Buttrfli75]

I love the dog! ... So happy running through the garden..

[@ciceroaraujo2552]

Rachel Loving-Spears I love your mind

[@kimyeelee2121]

Rachel Loving-Spears i

[@inhibited44]

I grow zucchini in self watering , 15 gallons containers I made. They are loving life with good soil int the containers, 2 cups of coop poop under them and a 2" deep basin of water on the bottom of the container.

[@fredricsimonton3805]

Thank you Ron, employing these techniques this year here in the District of Columbia. Thank you for sharing your insights and cheers from our urban gardening household!

[@yvonnemartinez1316]

The dooooooogs 😍😍😍! I was going crazy looking through videos to find out how to cut down some of our “little shop of horrors“ type zucchini! I put Them next to a my cucumber plant in a garden bed, needless to say HUGE mistake! The leaves are taller than my 4 year old son :/. Trimming them tomorrow!!

[@truthseeker3977]

Great video Ron. I will give it a try. Thumbs up

[@usuextension]

As long as you have at least 6 leaves beyond the last fruit you picked it shouldn’t affect the production of that stem by much. Reducing the number of stems to 3 or 4 may reduce yields a bit, but one zucchini plant managed this way should keep a normal family in plenty of zucchini. If you want more zucchini for something like zucchini bread you could always let them get bigger before you pick them.

[@StaceyHerewegrowagain]

Thanks for sharing great advice can't wait to get produce off my fall Garden this year

[@lmbarak]

Great video for a newbie zucchini grower. I love the dog, too!

[@Kafuinga]

I love the doggies in the background doing their own thing :3 popó!

[@tracyliu1873]

I like the spontaneous appearance of the doggies :) Thanks for the video now I know to trim some of the leaves as well.

[@rosewood513]

I love the trimming. I used to grow zucchini just like yours for years, ate the blossoms and love the larger ones for frying and smaller ones for salads. All of a sudden I could not grow them anymore, can't figure out why. I will try the pruning since I did have some bug problems. Thanks

[@ccmarketgirl]

What a great suggestion! Thanks my zukes can seem to overgrow my garden and I was fearful of trimming leaves.

[@benniewalker2362]

Very good video!

[@chelleweatherspoon2226]

Thank you for the informative tutorial. It is very helpful

[@alaskansourdoughwormsgarde4392]

I really like the large zucchini. I slice round circles 5/8 in thick and cook in butter and garlic just to tender. My Italian version since I was a little kid.

[@marthajf73]

Excellent advice.

[@usuextension]

Monday, March 25, 2013 1:59 PM I live in Price, Utah - I haven’t had problems with vine borers. While the leaf petiole is hollow it does not leave a hollow hole into the stem so I doubt the vines would be more susceptible to vine borer because of the pruning. That would be an interesting trial to run.

[@tambar327]

This was helpful and straightforward, thank you! Makes perfect sense about the leaves not being there to get mildew on them; I'm sure that prevents its spread as well. By the way, have you ever read the transcript KZbin generates (next to the 'Add to' button under the video)? They're hilarious and nonsensical.

[@incapachacutec2015]

I love the idea of trimming everything back but will my Zucchini/Squash still produce the same amount of fruit? Will pruning so much have any negative effect at all?? Very nice video as well very informative! Thank You!!

[@kimlee3607]

Hello there. Please advise if you grow any other plants too?

[@flyinsaucer138]

your dog is quite the ham, reminds me of mine

[@kathygeiger4899]

Thanks for teaching me !

[@MyDogStares]

The dog was the highlight lol

[@DesertDigger1]

I always thought cutting the leaves off and exposing the open tube was a an invitation to diseases and pests,guess I was wrong.I'll be doing this to mine,thanks for the tip.

[@itsyreverafter]

This was my first thought too! I've always been told that this would give access to bugs and such and water into the vine that causes rot, etc...Ron, can you please advise why trimming the leaves is a good idea? I planted 2 rows of crookneck and zuchinni 3 ft apart but they're SO GIANT now that they're taking over my entire garden. I'm not kidding! I had to remove my fencing and they just won't stop growing. I'm shocked!

[@ronpatterson8751]

itsyreverafter The leaf petioles are hollow, but they are solid where they attach to the stem. The main advantages to removing the older leaves is that the plant is much more manageable, the fruit is easier to find and harvest at smaller stage, and some disease and insect pest control is a possible result, but I haven't seen research on that so it is just my opinion. I would actually need to do some research on yield reduction, but I'm sure yields will not be as high with this method. That being said, one or two well-managed zucchini plants will provide more than enough fruit for one family. Thanks for watching.

[@SuperSaltydog77]

DesertDigger1: I was under the same impression that cutting the leaves was bad for the plant. It appears that I am wrong. I will also try this method for summer of 2018.

[@papakumar]

Thank you for these tips!

[@bowler8]

looks like the dogs were having fun too

[@jenniferhagan2513]

My zucchini to my surprise has taken over the garden. We eat ratatouille a lot in the summer and into the fall. However, they are choking out my tomatoes, thanks for the video.

[@christopherwoodall3464]

I've always pruned back my zucchini, but I really like this method; prune from base to new growth. How far from the vine do you prune the leaf? I usually leave 4-6", this way, as the leaf trunk dries and slowly reascends I don't have to worry about it rotting the main vine. I will definitely be trying this.

[@usuextension]

I cut mine close to the stem. I have sen it done both ways, but haven't seen any research to indicate if one way is better than the other. Thanks for watching

[@christopherwoodall3464]

What cultivar are you growing in this video. I've grown a few varieties in the garden but none have produce tertiary growth; never noticed any nodes nor growth points for this to occur.

[@usuextension]

I believe the variety I grew that year was Black Beauty. Usually what happens is that there are a couple of strong stems that I keep and leave a secondary stem coming off each of those.Tertiary stems are usually not very vigorous in zucchini. Crook neck, straight neck, and scallop branch a lot more. Since I have had powdery mildew late in the season I have been selecting my summer squash varieties based on their resistance to powdery mildew. Combined with this pruning method powdery mildew has not been much of a problem lately. Thanks for watching.

[@harmonferrell9843]

My zucchini plant had vine borer. I did surgery on the plant to get rid of it and covered it back with soil. Before I did all of that, I cut off a zucchini that was ready to be picked. Took off the dried up end blossom and there was little white like maggot!... Where the blossom was. The vegetable look perfectly fine. Is it still safe to eat? P.S It wasn't over ripping. Can please help me with this problem.

[@mrstn123]

How do you know how many leaves the plant needs to survive?

[@LittleBeek]

Do you get vine borers in Utah? I'm just wondering if the hallow stem left from the leaf cut will leave the plant more likely to have problems with borers.

[@terrim.602]

Is it smart to cover the left over open circles part of the stalks? It seams bugs would get in them.

[@ronpatterson8751]

I haven't noticed any issues with the small petiole stump. I cut quite close to the stem. Thanks for watching.

[@crispusattucks4007]

Cute dog

[@lisabetholson]

Does the zucchini still have enough energy to reproduce as much fruit as without pruning?

[@nj3808]

nice 👌👌👌

[@Gardeningfirstyear]

Nice video. I do that too. Wasn't shore if it was good for the plant, until I saw your movie. Thank you for all the nice tips .

[@darlenescott5213]

Do you need both a male and female plant to produce fruit

[@AnimusZen]

Yes, a male needs to fertilize the females, otherwise you'll only ever get flowers. Most plants work this way. I'd keep 2 males per plant, and the rest you can prune. Leave all females, unless they're rotting.

[@ronpatterson8751]

Zucchini are monecious. Which means one plant has both male and female flowers. They do not have male plants and female plants. So, you need both male and female flowers in order for the fruit to develop, but they are on the same plant. As far as I know they have not developed a gynoecious zucchini plant (fruit doesn't need to be pollinated to develop). Thanks for watching.

[@sherryn39455]

I have never been able to grow them, those boar worms get them before I notice it is too late.. what do I use for that and also what kind of fertilizer do you use?

[@usuextension]

Squash vine borer is not an issue in the Intermountain West, so I have no personal experience with it. ATTRA has a study of research on organic control options of squash bug and squash vine borer. Organic options don't seem very promising attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/download.php?id=138. This fact sheet from Texas A&M may help citybugs.tamu.edu/2018/08/13/living-with-squash-vine-borer/ Hope this helps. Thanks for watching

[@sherryn39455]

Thanks

[@jann2759]

Do zucchini attract snails and how to stop pests eating the zucchini ?

[@JohnSmith-pe6kk]

Question- I planted 4 round zucchini plants and they are not very large yet and the stem bases are very twisted and knarled. From the way yours and others look, clearly that is not normal and how they should be. how do I/can I fix it from here and if I can't, what can I do to prevent it from happening in the future? Does it happen if you put the plants too close together? Thanks so much!

[@ronpatterson8751]

It's a little difficult to picture your issue. Mine will, on occasion, get a cabby texture at the base of the plants. In my case this damage is usually caused by the feeding habits of squash bugs on young plants. I have another video on how to use water to help control squash bugs. A picture of your problem may help to diagnose it. You can send it to my email at [e-mail]. Thanks for watching.

[@toordog1753]

I just let them go longer so they stay for months once you pick them.... another way to manage these for mildew is to trellis them, it keeps them off the ground and keeps the plant nice and air flowing. The zucchini also grows better this way.

[@Yosef97099]

Thanks Sir!

[@cocoagirl6693]

Thank you .

[@vegasvic66]

I'm a little confused. I was told that you could get a loofah out of zucchini since they are part for the gourd family. Is this true or would I need to actually grow a zucchini tree. I have plenty of zucchini coming up but didn't plant any loofah tree's. I would love to leave these on the vine long enough to get zucchini out of them if they actually produce them but if they won't dry into a zucchini inside the plant I had rather pull it when it's ripe.

[@christopherwoodall3464]

Hey Vickie, you won't be able to get a loofah(sponge) from a zucchini fruit as they are different plants . You can grow loofahs from seed then allow the gourd to dry out. Inside that gourd will be your loofah.

[@vegasvic66]

Thank you so much for your advice. That is my next step :)

[@usuextension]

Christopher is absolutely right about the loofahs. How large to harvest zucchini is purely a personal preference. If the fruit grow to over 8 - 10 inches then the seeds will be bigger and harder--I prefer them small and soft. Thanks for watching.

[@FancyFarmOFFICIAL]

great vid thanks

[@kathiserr6612]

When the leaves turn yellow iis it because my zucchini plants are getting too much water or not enough?

[@usuextension]

There are a number of possible causes for yellowing-one of which is over watering. Too little water will usually cause a blue cast to the leaves, before wilting. It could also be a lack of nitrogen. How often or how much to water depends on your irrigation system and soil characteristics. Diseases, spider mites and maybe insects may also contribute-check with your Extension agent.

[@brycerush98]

Why do yours grow like a pumpkin or winter squash plant? All the zucchini I've grown grow like other summer squash as in more of a bush

[@ericmiller2189]

My Zucchini is filling out big on top but small in the bottom. Anything come to mind?

[@usuextension]

If the fruit is large at the stem end but the flower end is small the most likely culprit is you are only getting partial pollination. I usually get fruit like that at the end of the season. Thanks for watching.

[@shirleyb432]

did u c that streaker

[@erickv1977]

what do you do with the flowers, do you know how good are the flowers for to make quesadillas, delicious find a reciped of "quesadillas de flor de calabaza" or " squach blssoms" you will like

[@FancyFarmOFFICIAL]

Nice video thanks

[@joeypro2407]

can I prune the plant back so it doesn't take over without harming the plant? I'm trying a 3 sisters garden and I have a feeling it's going to be a holy mess

[@ronpatterson8751]

Master Jedi I would be cautious of pruning off the terminal growth. I haven't tried that and I haven't seen any research about it. But the hormones released by the terminal bud is what keeps the secondary buds in check for a while. You may end up with a tangled mess close to the crown of the plant, which is what I am trying to avoid here. Removing the inner leaves may give you less sunlight competition and the taller plants of the combination should be able to get going. Sequence of planting is one of the major keys with three sisters--get the corn and beans going first. Be sure to use pole beans, rather than bush beans, then they can use the corn stalk to grow above the squash. If they are up before the squash takes off then there shouldn't be much problem. I think this pruning technique would actually be beneficial for managing the three sisters system. Thanks for watching.

[@SparklyGirl9911]

Doesn’t this predispose the Zucchini plant to insects by attracting them to areas of the plant that have been severed?

[@ronpatterson9846]

I haven't had that problem. It does make scouting for insects easier. Thanks for watching.

[@amyr3285]

What happens when you have all female of all male flowers? Mine look like those--they I guess are all male because I don't see any fruit behind any of my flowers. How can I get some females ones to grow? I only have 2 plants--do I need more? Thanks.

[@usuextension]

I don’t know of anything you can do to encourage more female blossoms. It seems as though the majority of the early-season blossoms tend to be male. This may be a sort of evolutionary type thing to encourage pollinators so there aren’t so many un-pollinated female blossoms. Be patient and you should be fine.

[@mtchea]

I just cut big healthy stems, is that bad? My zucchini only has big thick stems, no fruit and only very young flowers, green!

[@usuextension]

Sorry I missed your question. Hopefully, your zucchini are growing and thriving well. The earlier flowers are usually mostly male flowers. I find that four stems are more manageable so that is my aim when I start pruning my zucchini

[@pipefitters1]

My zucchini gets about one and a half inches then it rotts off. what is my problem?

[@usuextension]

Sounds like they are not getting pollinated, although they will usually get a little bigger than that (maybe up to 3 inches) before they decide there are no seeds to support. This is a common situation early in the season. I would think that by now the flowers would be getting pollinated. If the problem continues we may need to look at some pictures.

[@DesertDigger1]

pipefitters1 I use a Q-Tip to help pollinate,it made my production triple.A good way to attract bees is to throw a few pears near your garden and let them rot,the bees go crazy over them.

[@theresachalmers8189]

That's very interesting about using pears to attract bees. I'll try that. Should I cut up the pears some, like quarters?

[@Rockys-Mum]

You can eat the leaves, it makes a tasty soup.

[@lelawxs27]

Really?? I thought they were poisonous or something, very interesting I think I'll look up some recipes

[@lelawxs27]

They do smell good too

[@TheGohbomba]

We don't have zucchini seed sold in malaysia pumpkin Seed yes they sold here

[@michaelcook2459]

💚

[@rootwad87]

How did you grow that beard! Nice

[@nchevrea]

I planted zucchini in my garden and also many other types of winter squash all from seed. The good news is that they all grew. The bad news is that they are overtaking my garden. Same thing with my cucumbers. I am guessing I should prune them. I do not want to kill them though.

[@usuextension]

Winter squash definitely require a lot of space. The cucumbers can be trellised to grow vertically-see my videos on making a trellis and how to trellis cucumbers. You can find all my gardening videos if you google “gardening 101 Patterson”. I haven’t figured out a way yet to grow winter squash vertically--the heavy fruit will need more support. Thanks for watching and good luck.

[@theresachalmers8189]

How do zucchinis do in containers? 5-gallon size ? Can summer squash such as zucchini be trellised ? I will keep them small - 4-5 inches.

[@SuperSaltydog77]

Utah State University Extension: A couple of weeks ago I was watching a video where the Butternut Squash was grown vertically on a box trellis made from PVC tubing and the yield was incredible. The channel is "The Living Farm" and the vid is titled How to harvest butternut squash. This is the method that I plan to use for this upcoming growing season for butternuts.

[@chrisjx2196]

Eat the leaves! Google how to cook them.

[@lettybromenschenkel5807]

waste of time YOUR SOUND is not audible

[@usuextension]

check your equipment and browser, there is no issue with the sound on this video

[@itsyreverafter]

The sound isn't the greatest quality, but by no means hard to hear or understand.

[@roberthuffman4354]

YOU CAN EAT THE FILLERS