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Vegetable Gardening

Crookneck and Zucchini not thriving

10 years ago

Hi,
I'm a first time gardner this summer, and I planted 4 zucchini and 4 yellow crookneck plants. I am almost positive I planted them too close together, because while they started to thrive, they are pretty much a tangled mess right now. I've gotten a couple of good zuc and squash from a couple of the plants, but have also gotten lots of blossom rot squash and a few small yellowish zucchini.
I have some powdery mildew on the zucchini that looks like its spreading to the squash. Some of the plants even look like they're growing out of the ground now, the bottom of the plants have gotten thick and vine like, and the plant itself feels pretty loose.

Sorry about the ranting, this is my first year and I want to learn from my mistakes so next year isn't as bad. Is there any way to save my plants and get some good veggies?

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Comments (2)

lkzz
10 years ago
I just pulled mine because of Squash Vine Borers BUT I have planted a new crop because the zone I am in (7b, Upstate South Carolina) has a long enough season to do so. I will admit, this was not a good year for squash for me - last year was much more prolific even though SVB's finally did the plants in.

You are right about too close...these plants can get quite large and do need good air circulation.They do get thick bottom stems and if you are concerned that they are too shallowly rooted you can cover the bottom stems with some more dirt to anchor them better. The buried stems should root.

Here is a link that might be useful: Powdery Mildew Control (Organic)
spookypaws
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks I did end up pulling them up and I am just going to be planting one of each to get me through the rest of the season, because of space. Next year though, I'll expand and make sure to start them farther apart.
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