[owein]

Can anyone tell me why some of the fruit on my squash plants go brown and drop off :?:  this has happened in previous years and I have normaly managed to get a decent crop as some usualy seem to be ok.

The plants in question are in the polytunnel, with a black plastic mulch. I'm watering direct to the roots via a cut off 2ltr plastic bottle.

Thanks

[gobs]

They might not get pollinated in the polly?

[owein]

They do pollinate because fruits form and get to about and inch diameter and then some seem to go brown before dropping off. In past years probably about 50% do this the rest grow well.

[gobs]

In these plants, fruitlets form before pollination.

[owein]

Thanks Gobs I didn't know that.

Can I hand pollinate them as other plants? as obviously the polytunnel is having an effect then.

[deedee71]

what? :shock:

this happenned to me loads last year, and i assumed they were getting too much humidity. i never gave it a thought they'd not been pollinated and dying.... :oops:

thanks. this year i have chives so hope they attract the bees to pollinate them this year lol

[vegmandan]

It's true ,you'll always get a tiny fruit and if it's not pollinated it'll just shrivel and die.

Keep your doors open as much as poss if you have them inside or just hand polinate them by taking one of the other male flowers on a long stalk and remove the flower petals and just touch the bit inside against the equivalent bit  of the unpollinated female one. :shock:

[Mamooska]

A few years back, I worked on an allotment project and one of our greatest success stories was Butternut Squash.

We didn't poly tunnel but the ground was covered with black pastic sheeting. The squash plants did over run the place a little but the number of fruits were HUGE! This may have been beginners luck but maybe try yours with out the tunnel???

Hope this helps  

[love-my-plot]

Agree, lack of or poor pollenation is the problem with brown shrivelled fruits.

[annie b]

how do you sex a squash then?
 :o
What's the difference between male flowers and female flowers??

[gobs]

See here, picture with labels and all.

LINK

[annie b]

i must have missed that thread.....thanks gobs!

Now I know...

[owein]

Thanks very much for the advice, I had no idea about the pollination of Squash. Had always wondered why I was loosing a lot of, what I thought were pollinated, fruits.
Will get busy with the male flowes