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Post by oldmobie on Sept 7, 2014 17:03:39 GMT -5
My zucchini are not producing anymore. There are only one or two fruits at a time, and by the time they are 4" long, half the fruit (the blossom end) is black and withered. I don't know what's up with them. Is it the squash bugs? The plants (mostly) look healthy. Not this one. I think this is genetic. It's one of Joseph's. I'm guessing it is partly descended from a yellow squash. Maybe crookneck? Under the circumstances, I'd like opinions about that.
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Sept 7, 2014 18:15:21 GMT -5
I think this is genetic. It's one of Joseph's. I'm guessing it is partly descended from a yellow squash. Maybe crookneck? Under the circumstances, I'd like opinions about that. You guys have all the luck... Looks like a zucchini to me. I haven't had any like that show up yet, but it would be welcomed.
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Post by jondear on Sept 7, 2014 19:20:23 GMT -5
Led zephyr_lin?
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Post by 12540dumont on Sept 7, 2014 20:54:18 GMT -5
Squash bugs, absolutely. Kills em every time!
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Post by oldmobie on Sept 7, 2014 20:58:12 GMT -5
You guys have all the luck... Looks like a zucchini to me. I haven't had any like that show up yet, but it would be welcomed. I didn't understand your comment at first. But I just came from the grocery store, where I learned that there are already yellow zucchini, and that they aren't too uncommon. My kinda yellow zucchini do represent diversity, but not necessarily crossing with other (non-zucchini) pepos. Zucchini are pepo, right?
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Post by oldmobie on Sept 7, 2014 21:03:39 GMT -5
Squash bugs, absolutely. Kills em every time! They resisted so much better/ longer than my pumpkins, gourds and cukes did that I started thinking they didn't mind 'em. Those other types of plants just died so quickly. I guess the zucchini hang in there longer, but just can't maintain fruit production under that pressure? Is there much hope for more fruit (from the healthier looking plants) if I can get rid of the bugs?
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Sept 8, 2014 0:13:52 GMT -5
I was drooling over the two toned color of the fruit: yellow and green. Zucchini are peops. I grow plenty of yellow zucchini, and tan, and dark green, and striped, and beige, and light green, etc... I haven't yet had a zucchini patterned like that, but patterned fruits are available in other pepo squash. The colors are sometimes very distinct and separate. This squash at a young age seems indistinct. I'd be interested to see if the colors intensify as the fruit ages. Here's what the mothers looked like: There were a few pepo weeds in the vicinity. I'm expecting to harvest my zucchini this week or next. I hope to take and post a photo.
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Post by oldmobie on Sept 8, 2014 9:00:59 GMT -5
I was drooling over the two toned color of the fruit: yellow and green. Here's a few that came from two of my four plants grown from your seed, when the plants were still happier. I think it was the same green and yellow plant and the one next to it, but they've been in the refrigerator a while and I couldn't swear it. The yellow and green is present, but less defined. I kinda like the green and white, too. If anything comes of the one I posted yesterday, I'll post another pic.
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Post by littleminnie on Sept 8, 2014 19:35:05 GMT -5
Vine borers.
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Post by 12540dumont on Sept 8, 2014 21:09:27 GMT -5
first photo, leetle grey bugs....juvenile stage of squash bugs.
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Post by steev on Sept 8, 2014 22:17:07 GMT -5
I'll bet that at that early, tender stage, a dusting of DE would have settled their hash.
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Post by oldmobie on Sept 9, 2014 0:37:07 GMT -5
I'll bet that at that early, tender stage, a dusting of DE would have settled their hash. I do like that thought, as I'm trying to use less poison. Google shows it packaged for many purposes, at many different prices. Not sure where to begin. I suppose I'll try to study up and consider having some on hand for next year.
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Post by mskrieger on Sept 9, 2014 9:38:18 GMT -5
That two-tone pepo looks alot like some my farmer used to bring to the Adams Morgan market back in Washington, DC. He said weather conditions and temperature could alter the balance and intensity of yellow/green. At any rate, it's a good-looking zucchini!
And your zucchini very well might be resistant to borers. Doesn't mean it's immune. I recently realized that I have squash borers in my pepos and maximas...that that's what all the scarring along the stems at the base of the plant is from. I never paid much mind to it because I never had sudden cucurbit death syndrome, so I thought it couldn't be borers. But now I realize the plants are all surviving off of secondary root systems they put out at leaf nodes where the stem touches the ground. Which probably explains why the maximas only set one fruit per plant, and why I get only a reasonable amount of zucchini instead of the outrageous bounty some people complain of.
Never year I'm going to keep a closer eye on the plants and try to cut out and destroy the borers before they destroy the main root system.
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Post by mskrieger on Sept 10, 2014 9:06:36 GMT -5
And by the way, thanks for the pointer to the leetle grey buggies, 12540dumont--I'll look for them next year.
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Post by oldmobie on Sept 12, 2014 22:50:40 GMT -5
Still around three inches. Think that's as big as it'll get? If it doesn't get big, how do I know when it's mature? If it matures under these conditions and has a cool pattern, that's gotta be worth saving seeds from right? I can do that now, since the pepo gourds have been dead for weeks. There shouldn't be any crossing.
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