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Explore DiscussionsFeatured Home DiscussionsFeatured Garden Discussions
Pumpkins, Squash & Gourds
jlem_gw

Are my Costata Romensco zucchini OK?

JLem
11 years ago

I am concerned about my heirloom Costata Romenesco zucchini plants. I planted them 2 weeks ago, along with the rest of my garden (a variety of tomatoes, peppers, beans, cocozelle zucchini, and sugar pumpkin). Everything else looks great - nice and green and healthy (for a lack of a better word). The Costata are the only plants that do not look healthy - they're not nearly as green, but on the yellowish side and they seem to have what I imagine might be powdery mildew on their leaves. They're also not growing like the other squash. They've been flowering, but all the flowers have withered down (and even these withered flowers look "unhealthy"...even for a withered flower!). I have some photos in the link below comparing the two Costata to one of the Cocozelle and the sugar pumpkin.

Basically, compared to my other squash, the costata do not seem to be thriving at all. We've had a pretty wet and cool couple of weeks. Could this be it? Should I just let them be and see how things go from here now that the sun has reappeared? Any advice?

Here is a link that might be useful: Photos of my squash plants

Comments (8)

  • Macmex
    11 years ago

    JLem,

    Aren't they a little older than two weeks?
    I wouldn't worry about flowers withering. They aren't old enough to support fruit. The problem could well stem from your conditions. I'd give them a top dressing of well rotted compost and see if they pull through.

    I couldn't see powdery mildew. Perhaps I overlooked it, or it didn't show well in the photos. If it is there, then I'd recommend that you pull them and plant again.

    George
    Tahlequah, OK

  • JLem
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Thanks for the feedback so far...

    I purchased the plants from a local nursery on May 27 - I did not start them from seed. I wish I could remember how they looked when I picked them, but we bought so many plants that day! I can't imagine I would have purchased plants that looked like this. However, they definitely already had flower buds when I transplanted them.

    When I planted I top-dressed with some "home-grown" compost - definitely well-rotted. I have not added any fertilizer yet. I have some granular 3-4-4 (Espoma Organic Garden-Tone) and some Neptune's Harvest Fish/Seaweed 2-3-1. Would either of these help now...even as a desperate measure?

    As for the powdery mildew...the leaves of the Romanesca have these small whitish/grayish powdery patches - I think you can see them in the two Romanesca photos in the above link (the other two photos - the cocozelle and the pumpkin - do not have these).

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  • JLem
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Thanks for all the info...I didn't realize transplanting squash could be so tricky...I might see if I can get some seeds somewhere, but I think I may be pushing things a little in terms of timing.

    I used the fish and seaweed liquid fertilizer on the plants yesterday. It's been raining again since last night and is expected to continue throughout the day, so hopefully the fertilizer won't be completely washed away.

    Fingers crossed!

  • JLem
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    weirdtrev - I hear ya...I guess I figured plants with flower buds were nice and healthy. Maybe I didn't look closely enough at the overall plant or maybe I grabbed the two that looked best of the bunch so I figured that was just how this variety looked. I also didn't realize their root system was so sensitive. Anyway, live and learn...hopefully these plants can recover and at least produce some fruit for us. That is if the sun ever comes out again...another 24 hours of rain here!

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