Crooked Neck Squash Females not opening flowers before withering

13 years ago

I have had a plant twice now make two female baby squashes but never open up the flower and then start to wither, the flower never even made it to the orange color, yet the baby fruit was about an inch and a half long. I looked inside the flower this time and the Stigma was brown and kinda rotted looking. Is there any suggestions on what's going on and how I can get these things to produce. Things were going pretty well until now, I was hand pollinating because lack of bees in the area...Thanks!

Comments (3)

Macmex
13 years ago
Sometimes the plant cannot support the fruit, and it aborts. Have you harvested fruit from this plant before?

George
Tahlequah, OK
adamhide
Original Author
13 years ago
Yes and No. The plant was giving me fruit, then I had a war with SVB about a month and a half ago. The plant survived, and is larger and healthier looking than it ever has been. I was excited to see it starting to fruit again, but I guess there is still too much damage.
Bob (Seattle, Zone 8a)
13 years ago
It sounds like the plant is stressed. It may still recover if it can get lots of roots into the soil at the nodes. I've had the same problem when the heat sets in, though that seems to be what triggered lots of production on my Pennsylvania Dutch crookneck (winter squash - not sure which crooked neck you're growing). So many variables! I see you posed on July 6; it's almost August now, any improvement?