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lama26

Average yield per zucchini plant

lama26
15 years ago

I am planning my sfg for next spring. Right now I am in containers. I have a couple of zuke plants crammed into an 18 gal sterilite so I am not sure if I am getting a good impression of the yield to expect with a 3'x3' area per zuke plant.

What kind of yields are you all getting on your zuke plants this summer? I know it will vary but if I can get an idea to give me a rough estimate I will know whether to plant one, two, or three zuke plants next summer. We can eat at least 2 per week, plus I would like to freeze some (either sliced and blanched, or if possible, shredded to make zucchini bread - or make and freeze the bread itself). So I guess 3-5 zukes per week would be a guess of what I am looking for.

Thanks

(Right now in my 18 gal container, my two plants have produced two zukes this past week and two more should mature next week. Still waiting for it to "take off" like people say they do, if it will ever - might be too crowded.)

Comments (19)

  • lama26
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Thanks. Sounds like one plant might do it then. I bet mine are just overcrowded and not fed well enough.

  • carolynp
    15 years ago

    I would rather not let this die out, because I have a similar question. We have had our growing season cut short by 2 weeks because of weather. My zucchini plant has just started producing. I have only gotten two small ones so far. Is four to five a week because you grow a special variety? Or do you have a special method? Or, is that pretty normal from year to year? If mine doesn't produce more that two a week, I'd be ok, but if I don't get more in the next couple of weeks, maybe I should plant two or three plants next year?

  • kwik1
    15 years ago

    They are Black Beauty zucs and they are grown completely organically with no fertilizers or amendments (other than The Mix). This yield has been pretty consistent for me -

  • organic_mamag
    15 years ago

    This year I grew two zucchini plants in my garden. (It isn't a SFG yet, but I'm planning that for next year.) Anyway, at their heyday, I was getting 1 zucchini per plant every day or two. I had a huge harvest that I couldn't keep up with. I ended up shredding most of them and freezing them. Based on what I was harvesting, I was planning on cutting back to just one plant next year. But then one of my plants was just recently hit by squash vine borers and it died. The remaining plant had 3 zucchini on it in various stages of ripening. I picked one today and left the other two to keep growing. These are not a special variety as far as I know. It is just the only zucchini variety our nursery had in May when I went shopping for plants. I did add some organic fertilizer to the soil just a couple of weeks after I planted them but that was it.

    Anyway, I don't know if this helps at all, but I thought I'd share my experience with you.

  • carolynp
    15 years ago

    Thanks very much you guys, btw. When you said, "I don't know if this helps", it REALLY helps.
    I DO have some black beauty seeds, lol, go figure. I will try that next year. My mother just gave me four large ones from her plants and hers are black beauties, also. It's a sign, eh?
    BTW: I will grow at least two plants next year because I've read that I can shredd them and dehydrate them and use them in bread and such with just rehydrating in hot water. Also, I had someone else tell me to slice them and dehydrate with seasoning salt on them and use them like potato chips! At this point, I'd try anything, lol. I have them dehydrating as I write this, also.

  • koicool1
    15 years ago

    Not only do the shredded zukes dehydrate well but they also freeze well too. I prefer the freeze method because it is easier in my opinion. Be sure to freeze in usable quantities though because chipping out a cup and a half of zukes from a three pound bag isn't fun.

  • carolynp
    15 years ago

    ROFL! The zucchini chips were ok, but hubby remains unconvinced they are as good as potato chips, lol. I'm guessing the freezing method would be best b/c you leave all the liquid in them. I just don't have much of a freezer.

  • diamondheiress
    13 years ago

    Hi there! I've been growing zucchini as well and have had some issues with some sort of white powdery stuff growing all over the leaves when the seedlings were just starting out. However, I read somewhere that diluted chamomile tea works as a great fungicide as well as a natural fertilizer. I've therefore been using a combination of green tea, nettle tea, and chamomile tea as a foliage spray for everything from my zucchini to carrots. It really, really works and my zucchini plants both started producing baby zucchini as well. I'm so excited! I thought they wouldn't survive, but now they are thriving. I can't wait for the orange blossoms to show up on mine, but for some reason, the baby zucchini are there already...

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  • beannie
    13 years ago

    I'm getting rotten ends on my zucchini both crockneck and regular. does anyone know why?

  • joellenh
    13 years ago

    I get 2-3 per week. Whatever I don't use I will freeze. Next year I will plant several (as opposed to one). What's not to love about a plant so easy to grow and so productive? I am in LOVE.

  • diamondheiress
    13 years ago

    Yes, and actually, if you're getting a lot of zucchini and have more than one plant, you can try harvesting the baby zucchini already. I see them at my local supermarket. They are about 3 to 4 inches long and are great grilled with a bit of garlic, olive oil, and Provence herbs. I think if you have sufficient space, it's always great to have more than one zucchini plant - especially if you're planning to harvest the blossoms then stuffing and frying them. Gosh, I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. : )

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  • diamondheiress
    13 years ago

    Hi Beannie,

    I would prune all the affected parts of the plant and then water the zucchini plants with a diluted tea solution comprising green tea and chamomile flowers. If you have nettle available, I'd add this to the mixture as well. Green tea, chamomile, and nettle are all fungicides. Then, you can spray the whole plant with this solution, avoiding any flowers but including the roots. Check your plant often in 2-3 days to see if there's some improvement. I'd also get one or two new zucchini seeds in the ground in case this one doesn't make it.

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  • sjkly
    13 years ago

    I have 4 Black Beauty zuchini plants.
    My results may not be typical.

    3 of my plants are in half gallon flower pots. They produced early and are each producing 1-2 zuchini per week.

    The fourth plant was the biggest and best of the seedlings so I transplanted it into a ten gallon container. It produced it's first squash a full four weeks after the others started and so far has produced only two zuchini.

    The ones in the half gallon pots of course require watering twice a day.

  • greenbean08_gw
    13 years ago

    Beannie,
    How big are the squash? If they're just a few inches long it's probably that the squash weren't pollinated (meaning they won't grow). If they're larger squash, it could be blossom end rot (BER).

  • greenbean08_gw
    13 years ago

    lama26,
    Are you at high elevation? I always read about the zucchinis mass-producing squash but mine don't seem to, I'm thinking it's the cold nights (I'm at 7000'). Last year I had 3 or 4 plants (I can't remember exactly). According to the yields I posted online, I got about 17 lbs of zucchini (I pick them at 6-8", not baseball bat sized). While there were times I ate a lot of zucchini, I didn't freeze any. I dehydrated a couple.

    This year, I'll be lucky to get any at all. Something keeps eating the seedlings as soon as they sprout. I suspect pill bugs. I'm about to start attempt #4.

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  • rossello44
    11 years ago

    I put down six plants and getting more zucchini than I can handle. I average 10/day. I've been giving them to my neighbors, but I am afraid soon they are going to start avoiding me. We've cooked them in many different ways: Zucchini bread, fried, zucchini and salmon sauce over spaghetti, baked with cheese etc. So far in my area (upstate NY) I've picked up about 75. We also use the flowers in our recipes.

  • Liz321
    11 years ago

    HI there! I put in two 4 x 4 beds this year and put two Zuchs in on one side of a bed with a cucumber in the middle. The cucumber was muscled out by the end of August and I pulled it out. I get 6 or so a week depending on if I water or not. My tendency is to not water so when it rains they go nuts. I'm expecting to get about 10 this week. I just shredded 4, and have 4 more in the garden that I could pick if I wanted little ones to grill.

    When I did them last year in very large pots, they succumbed to blossom rot after they got big. I don't use fertilizer and only watered during the hottest part of the heatwave this summer so my yield is probably lower than most. I also didn't plant until beginning of June.

  • Michael Bobo
    8 years ago

    using landscape fabric on top of the soil before you plant will reduce the powdery mildew on your plants. Also when watering, don't spray the plants. Use a soaker hose or when watering don't let water splash up from the dirt to the plant. Evidently the plant can grow in dirt but gets sick if it gets dirty. who'd a thunk it?

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