Female Blossoms, But No Male Blossoms To Pollinate Them

These hybrid 8 Ball Zucchini plants grow fast and strong, but they put out female blossoms first!?  I have had 4 female blossoms so far, but not a single male cucurbit blossom to pollinate them with.  Since I’m not saving seed, ANY male cucurbit blossom would have worked – squash, cucumber or melon.

What a waste.  I decided last season that I didn’t plan to buy anymore 8 Ball seeds because they could be hard to harvest.  Often, the round fruit would form on the bottom of the plant stem so that to harvest it I had to move the stem around a bit.  I don’t like to move the stems – they could snap or bend.  And then when I cut the plant off, if it was under the stem, the plant would usually fall over because the fruit was holding the plant up.  Just too messy.  However, since I still have seeds, I will plant some each year until the seeds are gone.

Stunted Squash Plants

This spring, with the new garden not being finished on time, I planted my crops at least a month late, and some plants, like this zucchini, were planted weeks later.    The zucchini that I planted ‘only’ a month late grew into very large, healthy plants.  This even later zuch, along with all the yellow summer squash that I planted even later, never fully grew.   Interestingly, all of these super-late squash were stunted.   This 8 Ball did grow big enough to produce at least one fruit.  Look at all of those male bloom on this plant.

I am totally fascinated with these late plantings being stunted.  They just never grew big enough before the extreme heat and drought arrived.   This is a hybrid 8 Ball zucchini from Twilley seeds, usually a very strong and large plant.

Hybrid Summer Squash Out-Performs Open Pollinated Varieties

I prefer to grow open pollinated/heirloom varieties of plants. (I get a thrill out of saving seeds). However, here in east Texas, the growing conditions are harsh during the summer. As a result, the past few years gardening has not been as productive as I would like. (And this includes fresh seeds from seed sellers).  Last fall, after talking with a road side vegetable vendor, I decided to go hybrid this season. The vendor recommended Twilley Seed of North Carolina. I purchased all of my tomato, summer and winter squash and melon seeds from them (plus other seeds also).

The last 2 growing summer seasons were a total disaster for my yellow summer squash. This was due to a wide variety of issues from armadillos to squash vine borers to the drought. Also, my heirloom yellow summer squash just didn’t ever seem to produce well. This, along with me watching those volunteer cantaloupe grow very strong and well in the garden – they had to be hybrid and although they were the seeds of hybrids, they grew exceptionally well and strong.  I figured that real h1 hybrid seeds should do exceptionally well.

I planted 2 varieties of hybrid zucchini: 8 Ball and Obsidian. I planted 2 varieties of yellow crook neck squash: Sunglo and Horn of Plenty. While it is quite obvious to tell the 2 zukes apart, I can’t tell the 2 yellows apart.

I am so utterly amazed and thrilled with how totally prolific these hybrids are. I never had this many baby fruit on my open pollinated squash. This yellow squash has 6 babies, in various stages of development.

This zucchini is Obsidian. It has one ready to harvest zuch with buds for more.

This beauty is an 8-Ball zucchini.

You will notice the leaf mulch I use. I have to mulch because otherwise the soil would dry out in a day. It is so hot and dry here. Also, the white powder you see around is diacatamous earth. It’s main purpose is get rid of the excessive number of pill bugs (which DO eat and destroy seedlings) and hopefully damage squash vine borers and their offspring.

This is my very first zucchini harvest of 2012:  (The 8 Balls are coming in at just a few ounces over a pound.  The Obsisian is just over half a pound.

If I can fight off the squash vine borers and am allowed to water my garden, it should finally be a good squash year. Lord Willing!

Late Season 8 Ball Zucchini

Originally published late summer/fall 2011

After the excessive 100 degree weather broke and things cooled down – down to the 90s, I replanted some summer squash plants. Actually what I did was plant about 8 or 9 squash seeds – left over from the spring planting – that I accidentally mixed up and didn’t know what they were.  I ended up with one 8 Ball/Tonga zuke, a few yellow squash – both crook and straight, an unidentifiable odd squash – possibly one of my lemon squash that grew weird and one winter squash – a long crook butternut.  That plant grew vigorously – it sent out lots of sprouts at each leaf junction.  Very impressive.  None of those particular long crook butternut seeds that I planted in the spring grew –  but the one seed I had left sprouted and grew like crazy, setting lots of small fruit, until it froze out.

This lovely plant is an 8 Ball/Tonga  zuchi:

This is it’s first fruit. This round zuch is simply beautiful. It cut beautifully. No seeds. Nice, thick meat. Simply lovely. About the size of a softball.  I think that this will be one of my main zucchini varieties for next season.

These plants started to freeze out at the end of November and were finished out the first of December, when nights started to consistently freeze.  With an occasional overnight frost/freeze, like we had in early November, I covered the delicate plants – these squash and the peppers.  When the nights start to regularly frost/freeze, it is time to let these summer plants die off.  Sad, but it is past their season.  I did get a few squash to stir-fry.