A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 squash

my zucchini squash plants have healthy looking foliage and flower well and small fruit grow but before they can gain any size they rot on the vine. I have tried reducing the water but it did not help. I put a general purpose dust on the plants but also no improvement. Any ideas on the cause or cure? thanks

how is the sunlight/soil? do you use any fertilizer?

Macevets,
It sounds like what you have is BER!!!!

Do a FORUM SEARCH HERE and type in
BLOSSOM END ROT or BER
*mostly should be found in the Vegetable sections, either in the resent sections or the archives*

Then let us know if it sounds like what you have!

One cause of fruit drop is insufficient pollination.

If you don't see bees visiting between 7:00a.m. and 8:00a.m., it means the flowers are not getting any or enough pollens. Use an artist's paint brush and hand pollinate or follow the instructions at the link below.

http://www.thegardenhelper.com/cgi-bin/ubb/cgi/ultimatebb.cgi/topic/16/1397.html?

I think Papito is right, My zuchinnis this year are cranking out fruit faster than I can eat and use them- but I have LOTS of bees busy in my garden and nearby. The ones that dont get pollinated turn yellow and shrievel. You may try and hand pollinating to see it it makes a difference. Get a small paint brush, and pollinate the female flowers (the one with the baby zuchinni behind it by hand, by brushing off some of the pollen dust from the male flowers, and brush it in the center of the female flower. If it takes, you will have a zuchini growing in no time!