by Zucchini is a favorite vegetable of many, healthy and tasty. How to make them please us with fruits almost until winter? How to rejuvenate the bushes and increase the yield?
Although zucchini is an unpretentious plant, like any garden crop, it requires careful attention and care, which you will have to carry out regularly so that the fruits set before the onset of cold weather.
What to consider when growing zucchini
The rules of care are not complicated, but it is still worth remembering and following them for continuous and long-term fruiting. What to pay attention to first of all:
- observe crop rotation;
- choose varieties and hybrids of squash with long fruiting;
- do not thicken the plantings;
- water generously as the soil dries out;
- remove old and diseased leaves;
- protect zucchini from diseases;
- Feed throughout the entire fruiting period;
- mulch the soil.
To prolong the fruiting of already developed bushes, let us dwell in more detail on the rules for caring for them.
How to water zucchini correctly
Zucchini should be watered quite generously as the soil dries out. Moisture should penetrate the soil to a depth of 50 cm. If the soil is dry, each adult plant will require at least 10 liters of water. Zucchini especially need watering during flowering and fruiting: from early July to late August.
Cold water should not be used for watering: the root capillaries contract, water is poorly absorbed, and the plants experience shock. In addition, this can lead to root rot. The water temperature for watering should not be lower than 20°C.
The frequency of watering depends on the soil: if the soil is sandy, water more often, if it is clayey, then less often, since it retains moisture better.
Which zucchini leaves should be removed?
If zucchini grows on fertile soil, it forms well-developed bushes with a large number of leaves. In hot summers, the leaves help protect the soil from drying out. And if it starts raining and the air temperature drops, there is a risk of fungal diseases, and the zucchini ovaries rot. Therefore, old, yellowed and damaged leaves should be removed periodically. This can be done approximately once a week so that the plants do not experience stress.
Removing leaves solves several problems at once: it provides ventilation for the bush, warms the soil and gives pollinating insects access to the flowers. Leaves are removed with sharp scissors or pruning shears as close to the stem as possible. This should be done in warm sunny weather and preferably in the first half of the day so that the cut dries in the sun.
In climbing squash, you can remove those vines that do not have ovaries. This will help the plant redirect its energy to shoots with fruits.
What to do if signs of disease have already appeared on the zucchini leaves? In this case, the diseased leaves are removed, and the bushes are treated with a solution of preparations based on hay bacillus or trichoderma.
After removing the leaves, the zucchini needs to be fed with complex fertilizer to stimulate further development of the bush.
How to feed zucchini
Throughout the entire fruiting period, zucchini should be fed and added to the soil. EM drugs (Fitosporin-M, Baikal-EM1), which will increase the resistance of zucchini to major diseases and extend the growing season. You can alternate the following types of fertilizing:
1. Baker’s yeast − a popular and affordable product that increases the activity of soil microorganisms. To prepare a solution for watering, 100 g of yeast is diluted in 1 liter of warm water, 1 tbsp. of sugar is added and left for 3-4 hours in a warm place. One glass of the resulting solution is used per 10 liters of water and watered at a rate of 5 liters per bush.
How does yeast work? These are microscopic fungi that, when they get into the soil, stimulate the decomposition of organic matter. As a result, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are quickly absorbed by the roots of plants, and our zucchini grow “like yeast”. But at the same time, the soil quickly becomes depleted, so watering with a yeast solution must be alternated with potassium fertilizing.
Baker’s yeast can only be used on well-warmed soil that is rich in organic matter.
2. Nettle infusion will be an excellent potassium fertilizer for zucchini. To make it, place the grass without seeds in a plastic barrel or bucket and fill it with water. After one or two weeks (depending on the air temperature), when the infusion stops foaming, the fertilizer will be ready. During this time, the contents of the barrel should be stirred occasionally. To speed up the fermentation process, you can add the drug Baikal-EM 1. To water the zucchini, dilute 1 liter of the infusion in 10 liters of water.
3. Mullein infusion – an excellent fertilizer for the garden. To prepare it, one part of cow manure is poured with five parts of water and infused for two weeks, stirring occasionally. To water the zucchini, use 1 liter of infusion diluted in 10 liters of water. To make the fertilizer more nutritious, you can add another 100 g of superphosphate to a bucket of the prepared solution.
4. Effecton-O – a universal organic additive that can be used at all stages of squash growth. This is a natural fertilizer created on the basis of peat and manure with the addition of active elements. For feeding, 2 tablespoons of the preparation are diluted in 10 liters of water. The resulting solution is watered under the roots of the plants, and the leaves are also treated.
5. Wood Ash – an irreplaceable mineral fertilizer that deacidifies, enriches the soil, and improves its structure. Ash contains about 30 minerals that are important for plants. Ash can be used for feeding in dry or diluted form.
To make liquid fertilizer, dilute a glass of ash in 10 liters of water and water at a rate of 5 liters per bush. And sprinkle dry sifted ash on the leaves and soil under the bushes. Dry ash consumption for cucumbers and zucchini: 1 glass per 1 sq.m. Dusting zucchini with ash will help protect them from common diseases of pumpkin crops.
6. Nitroammophoska enriches the soil with nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Plants need these substances throughout the growing season. Nitrogen will help zucchini grow new leaves, which is very important for the bush after pruning. With a lack of potassium and phosphorus, zucchini have a large number of empty flowers, fruits are deformed and ovaries rot. Nitroammophoska granules are dissolved in warm water (10 g per 5 l) and watered with 1 l per bush.
It is essential to feed zucchini after watering.
Why mulch the soil
Mulching the soil under zucchini helps retain moisture, inhibits weed growth, and improves soil structure – beneficial bacteria thrive under a layer of mulch. To reduce the amount of contact between the zucchini fruits and lower leaves and damp soil, the mulch layer should be renewed from time to time.
At the end of summer, when the nights become cold, the zucchini can be covered with spunbond, installing arches over the beds. To speed up the growth of the fruit in the fall, the tops of the main stems are pinched.
By following these simple rules for caring for zucchini, you will be able to harvest the fruit before the frost. Have a good harvest!
