The sight of a healthy zucchini plant covered in bright, yellow flowers inspires great joy. An endless supply of fresh fruit will soon be harvested. But then suddenly most of the flowers of the plants fall off and you start to worry. In this article you will learn why the zucchini flowers fall off and how to deal with it.
Zucchini flowers fall off: what are the causes and what can be done?
Zucchini have large, yellow flowers that play an important role in the growth and development of the plant. However, sometimes they fall off before they can produce delicious zucchini and this can be frustrating for gardeners. However, this is not always a catastrophic problem and can even be a natural part of the plant’s life cycle. Here are the main reasons zucchini plants shed their flowers and the possible solutions to them.
It’s the male flowers
Zucchini plants have both male and female flowers, but only the female flowers produce fruit. Often only male flowers form at first, which are narrower than the female ones and have no scar in the middle. Once they have shed their pollen, they simply fall off the plant, making it appear as if it is losing all of its flowers. However, the female flowers will soon open and you will reap delicious fruit.
Remember that these flowers are edible if you catch them before they fall off. And if you only eat the male flowers, leaving a few for pollination of course, you shouldn’t sacrifice any fruit.
Due to insufficient pollination
One of the most common causes of zucchini flowers dropping is lack of pollination. Zucchini plants need insects to carry the pollen from the male to the female flowers. Poor pollination can be caused by a lack of pollinators such as bees or butterflies, high humidity that causes pollen to clump, rainy weather, or a lack of male flowers. And when the plant realizes that pollination of the flowers is not enough to produce ripe fruit, it drops them and blooms again.
To encourage pollination, consider growing several plants in your garden that attract beneficial insects like bees to increase their numbers. Or you can fertilize the zucchini flowers manually by transferring the pollen from the male flowers to the female flowers with a small brush, as it is heavy and sticky and cannot be carried by the wind.
The plant suffers from stress
Zucchini plants are very susceptible to stress and then produce more male than female flowers.
Most stressful situations that cause buds to drop are lack of sunlight, inappropriate temperatures, improper watering, or root damage.
High temperatures can cause the zucchini flowers to fall off the plant. Be sure to water the plant regularly and cover it during the warmest part of the day. In this case, you can also notice such symptoms as wilting and yellowing of the plant.
A lack of nutrients can be the cause
Zucchini need healthy soil rich in nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium to thrive properly. However, if the soil is poor in nutrients, the flowers cannot produce fruit and they eventually fall off.
Make sure to feed your plants regularly with a balanced fertilizer and water them thoroughly once a week to avoid waste. Test the soil pH and try to keep it between 4.5 and 5.5 so your plants can thrive in the best conditions.
Pests and diseases can cause the waste
Zucchini flowers can also fall off due to pest infestation.
To protect your plants, keep your garden tidy and tidy and use natural pesticides.
There are many garden pests that love to feed on zucchini plants. Most sap suckers weaken the plant, which can lead to bud dropping. Cutworms, for example, can completely detach the flower stalks, while thrips are particularly attracted to the flower buds.
Powdery mildew infection can also be the cause of zucchini flower dropping, although this is rarely the case.
Zucchini flowers fall off: Planted too close together
If your plants are planted too densely, it can cause the zucchini flowers to fall off. With a smaller distance, the plants cannot grow properly and shed their flowers.
Planting your courgettes 60cm to 90cm apart will give them enough room to develop. Also, try to topple the zucchini with trellises so they aren’t too crowded.