I have been reading up on to prune or not to prune one of my zucchini squash for the last few days. Seems I couldn't find a straight answer so for anyone interested I pruned one of them tonight. It was so thick to the ground with leaves that I was having trouble getting rid of the rot. The others next to it had plenty of airflow and seemed fine so I just lopped off 7 or 8 stems that were close to the ground, now my arms are itchy from the pricklies! We will see what happens... Either way I will have learned something I guess... I will keep ya updated on what happens.
Pruning shouldn't do any harm and should aid in the zucchini growing. I cut back the leaves on mine, as well as the pumpkin and it never hurts the plant.
Thanks Gardenmama, You were one of the posts that made me decide to take the plunge when I was reading earlier! Though those big tube stems look like an inviting highway for pests I am hoping that they will do okay and I will have found a solution to my tendency to overwater a bit!
Update on my Zucchini pruning For anyone that is searching for info on pruning zukes, it went great, the tip rot went away on all of the new little ones that have come out since I pruned. The earwigs showed up and set up camp the first two weeks but didn't seem to do any harm. the pruned stalks have sealed up and I am scrambling for zucchini bread recipes because I have so many to use! I "missed" one and found it today... 25 inches long! Yikes! I also layed way off on the watering after I pruned and pulled off any rot that was there before I pruned. I wouldn't hesitate to try it again next year if I have the same problem!
Sounds like you had great success with the zukes. I imagine your freezer is loaded with Zucchini bread and muffins.
My zucchini are doing alright..it is a very wet and rainy summer and a lot of people around here are having a hard time with the zucchini. The lady at the local plant hut told me that they had to pull most of theirs because of powdery mildew. I cut mine back and they seem to be doing better... a few of had to be pulled they were rotted at the base. But hopefully I will get a few more before any more rot happens.
Amazingly we are nearing the end of season here in Wyoming. It was a cold and rainy spring followed by a hot and dry 60 days. It is already beginning to show signs of cooling down but I may try one last crop of radish, beet and lettuce where I have some room.
I pruned my zucchini and they were doing well until the temps went over 110F. I guess it was karma that I lost them, I used to complain back in the States about how many I had. I gave away what I could but couldn't bear to throw away good veggies so I made a ton of bread, muffins, pickles, salad, gazpacho and pancakes.I have a ton of zucchini recipes so let me know if you need some!
hmmm made lots of bread yesterday, mostly just freezing for soups this winter and doing a little pan frying this week. Watermelon, warm fresh tomatoes and fresh breaded zucchini. YUM!
I see mildew on the zucchini and yellow squash and I just lopped off the branches that had it. The rest are doing well. The lack of rain seems to be taking a toll on most of the garden.
