Squash are insect pollinated. With only four plants, they may not be attracting insects. Sevin dust would kill any that did show up. Sevin is pretty usless against squash bugs and squash vine borers which are the major squash pests but quite effective against bees and other pollinators. . At any rate you will need to hand pollinate.

It sounds like they're not being pollinated correctly. Fruit will abort at the sizes you describe if they are not pollinated. Do you have male blossoms? If so, you might try hand-pollinating them. Or you'll just have to wait for them to come in.

Agree with the above. If you check out the FAQs linked below you'll find several that discuss these issues with squash.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Vegetable Gardening FAQs

Yep, 1.5-2 inch long squash aren't squash. They're female flower proto-squash. No male pollen, and they'll dry up and fall off ... usually. I've had a case of parthehogenesis in butternut, where the female flowers appear to self-pollinate. It's actually not pollination, but more of a self-cloning. Squash can do that, but animals can't!

Hand pollination is in order here. If possible, pollinate from a flower on the other plant. Don't "self" pollinate from the same plant if you can avoid it. That's a good reason to have more than one plant!

I would have thought that Sevin would work pretty well against SVBs, but that's correct, it'll also work effectively against pollinators. If you use Sevin, you want to keep it on the stems and not on the flowers, at least when they open up.

Thanks for all replies. I had no idea. Will try hand pollinating or just lay off the spray for while.

I just saw the post saying you should pollinate with flowers from other plants, i have been hand pollinating with male flowers from the same plant. Why should this be avoided? It has been working pretty well so far, but i have more than 1 plant, so if it should be avoided I can.

My understanding, after talking with a professor of botany, is that while fertilization of a flower on one plant with another flower on the same plant will probably work, such self-breeding can activate recessive genes that might not be good to activate. So if you can manage it (which we can't always manage, especially if you don't have many plants), try not to do that.

I'm not quite sure how plants that can self fertilize (e.g. tomatoes and peppers) manage to survive, but I understand that often they don't really self-fertilize.

Interesting. well I guess going forward I will try to pollinate with flowers from other plants.

There are no bees so I tried the Q-tip ponination method a few days ago. Used pollen from another plant as that was the only one with a male flower. Now the little Zucchinis are about 4 inches long so I am hoping that the pollen took.

Rita, sounds like you're good to go. But zukes aren't going to grow to 4 inches in a few days. So I'm suspecting that they may already have been pollinated a week or two ago.

Honestly, they have been growing really fast. But they are at least an inch and a half before the flowers even open. And I am sure about that because I just went and measured one with a not near opening bloom. If they where poninated before that then that would be great. I just haven't seen any bees.

Honestly, they have been growing really fast. But they are at least an inch and a half before the flowers even open. And I am sure about that because I just went and measured one with a not near opening bloom. If they where poninated before that then that would be great. I just haven't seen any bees.

IF the flowers haven't opened, the fruit isn't pollinated. And yes, they can grow to 4 inches in just a few days.

The flowers are only open for a short time, usually in the morning. Once they close, they don't open again.

I want mine to set fruit! Impatient here! :-))

Hand pollinating is the only way I've been getting squash and zucchini this year. There is a major lack of bees in my area this year it seems. Last year it was hard to pick any squash because of all the bees buzzing around the plants in the morning.

Well it took cause it grew and I picked it today.

Stir fried and eatten!

Looks delicious!!

Oh my second zucchini was ready today. A nice one.

Zucchini ready to pick.

Keep up the good work! Before long you'll have than you know what to do with.

Keep up the good work! Before long you'll have more than you know what to do with.

" My understanding, after talking with a professor of botany, is that while fertilization of a flower on one plant with another flower on the same plant will probably work, such self-breeding can activate recessive genes that might not be good to activate." danyinthedirt

Well, supposing that what the professor has said is true, it will only affect the seeds , not the fruits that OP in interested about.

Few years ago, also the said here on GW that in orders for tomatillo plant to fruit, you have to have more than one, despite the fact that it has perfect flower. To investigate it , I just planted ONE tomatlllo plant and I got a bumper crop of it.

But obviously, having more than one plant can help in the case of cucurbita, due to tha fluctuation and scarcity of male flowers.

Not sure about that. Gregor Mendel did his experiments on peas, and he was looking for effects that recessive genes had on the pods (that is, the fruit). I guess, simplistically, the way I look at squash fruit are squash pods for the seeds within. The fruit is, in fact, the seed.

I too am sure that you can get fruit with one plant. The question was whether you'd risk problems from recessive genes. I suspect that doesn't happen very often, because I suspect that lots of plants are fertilized from their own flowers. But if you're doing hand pollination, and have a choice, that's a useful strategy.

Mendel was growing the seeds of a cross to see the effects on the pods (the genes expressed in the next generation.)