8 tricks for a large zucchini harvest

Zucchini contains vitamins A and C, potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium and other beneficial substances. Its dietary fiber adsorbs toxins and reduces cholesterol levels in the blood. This vegetable is considered an essential dietary product. Thanks to its delicate pulp, easily digestible by the body, it is recommended as the first complementary food for babies. At the same time, zucchini is not that difficult to grow. But there are some tricks that will help you get a truly rich harvest from each bush.

Following them, to satisfy the needs of one average family for zucchini, it is enough to plant 3-4 bushes of the plant, from which you can get 2-3 fruits every day during the season. Zucchini is unpretentious, grows well and very quickly, and produces a large harvest until October.

Grow zucchini through seedlings

The seedling method of growing zucchini helps to get the first harvest much earlier. Especially in regions with a temperate climate or in years with a cool, long spring. Naturally, the seedling method also increases the size of the total harvest taken from one bush.

Zucchini seeds germinate more easily if you soak them in a small amount of water for one hour.

To grow zucchini seedlings, it is better to take a large container, because this vegetable first develops a root system, and then the green mass grows.

Approximately 25-30 days after the first shoots appear, the zucchini seedlings are ready for planting in the ground. There is no need to feed the seedlings; you only need to monitor the soil moisture.

When planting zucchini seedlings in open ground, the temperature during the day should be about +24...+26, at night not lower than +14...+15 degrees.

Seed selection

Growing zucchini starts with choosing the right seeds. The quality of the seed largely determines whether the vegetable harvest will be good.

You can only be confident in the seeds when they have been collected yourself. In most cases, gardeners use purchased seed.

When buying seeds you should pay attention:

on the reputation of the manufacturer - read reviews about its products;
for the presence of treatment of seed material with special agents against diseases and pests - if there are no marks on the packaging, this procedure will have to be carried out independently;
on belonging to the variety - the choice of planting method and subsequent care depends on this;
for shelf life - after 5 years of storage, the germination rate of seeds significantly decreases.

Plant zucchini correctly

Zucchini loves organic matter, so for a large harvest they are planted in warm compost beds or in warm holes. When planting on a compost heap (due to fermentation inside), the soil seems to be warmed up. In this case, the zucchini will grow, even if the snow around has not yet melted. At the same time, they need to be protected with a double greenhouse shelter with a distance between the coverings of 30 cm (the effect of a thermos is created).

A warm hole is made like this: a hole with 2 spade bayonets is dug and filled with weeds. Ideally, fresh nettle along with dry herbs. All this is sprinkled on top with soil, into which the zucchini seedlings are planted. A couple of days before planting seedlings, water the holes well with undiluted infusion of fermented grass.

Between the zucchini bushes, the ground is mulched with a thin layer of dry grass or weeds. This retains moisture and keeps weeds out.

Seedlings should be planted at a distance of at least 80 cm to give each bush a sufficient feeding area and to make it convenient to harvest.

Forming a bush is a mandatory procedure

The formation of a zucchini bush is carried out in dry, sunny weather so that all cuts dry quickly and infection does not get there. It is advisable to sprinkle the cut areas with ash or activated carbon.

What to trim?

All leaves lying on the ground are removed (to reduce diseases and infections). Do not cut off the leaf spine! It nourishes the ovary.

Not every squash flower bears fruit because there are male and female flowers. In female flowers you can see a thickening where the fruit will be located; in male flowers this thickening is not present. The first male empty flowers are removed almost completely so as not to deplete the bush. But later you can’t remove all the barren flowers. Male flowers are needed to pollinate female flowers.

When growing self-pollinating hybrids, male flowers are not needed and can be removed completely.

In addition, when forming zucchini bushes, the largest leaves are partially cut off, leaving only their stem. This is necessary so that they do not shade the ovary and there is good ventilation inside the bush. Removing the largest leaves on a zucchini bush is a good prevention of rotting of the young ovary.

Choosing a variety

Perhaps this is where we should start growing zucchini. After all, the success of the harvest largely depends on the choice of variety! Not every variety is suitable for a certain climate and soil.

Variety	Description
Belogor F1	This early-ripening hybrid variety has short shoots, the fruits are cylindrical in shape, the weight reaches 1 kg - they are not very large. Zucchini pulp is white and quite dense.
Masha F1	The variety is good - resistant to pests, a changeable climate is also not a hindrance. Ripens well in dry weather. Fruit weight is 3.5 kilos.
Apollo F1	Many people will like this variety, because in any weather a good harvest is guaranteed! It also bears fruit in the shade. The vegetables are large - up to three kilos, white-green.
Hybrid Nemchinovsky	Increased productivity. Light green fruits 700 g.
Kveta	The variety is early, ripens in seven weeks. The fruits have a ribbed surface and weigh 1.8 kg.
White	The fruits are tasty, weight – 900 grams. Resistant to powdery mildew. It tolerates other diseases well.
Spaghetti	An interesting variety, named because of the pulp - it tends to disintegrate into fibers if it is subjected to heat treatment. Weight – up to 2.5 kilos. Direct their lashes in the right direction in time, otherwise this variety will easily take over the entire area! If this is not part of your plans, then try to avoid the active growth of lashes.
Gribovsky-37	High yield. Vegetables with a white smooth surface ripen after sowing in forty days. The flesh is tender. The variety is good for transportation and can be stored for a long time. But it is not without its drawbacks: growing it will require more space, since the bushes of this variety are very large.
Beloplodny VIR	High degree of productivity. From one square meter you can collect up to 20 kg of fruit.
Video clip	Produces a huge number of ovaries. The fruits have a pleasant salad color and are delicate in taste. Can be stored for a long time. They ripen early.

With proper care, any of the varieties will delight you with their harvest. The main thing is to follow some simple rules.

Feed your zucchini three times a season.

To get a really large harvest, zucchini requires fertilizing. During the season, zucchini is fed at least three times.

On the 10th day after planting the seedlings, nitrogen fertilizing is done. This can be a herbal infusion diluted with water in a ratio of 1:10.
When the zucchini begins to bloom , the same nitrogen fertilizing is done again.

The herbal infusion is made as follows. Fill the container with grass (it’s good to put dandelion leaves, burdock leaves, nettle stems, shepherd’s purse, plantain there), fill it with water, and cover with a lid.

After 7-10 days, when the greens have fermented, dilute the infusion at the rate of 1 liter per 10 liters of water, mix and add each zucchini bush.

In the early fruiting phase, potassium fertilizer works well. Pour 2 liters of wood or grass ash into a bucket of water and leave for a day. You can simply scatter the ash under the bush before watering.

Carry out all fertilizing in dry, cloudy weather to prevent burns on the leaves.

Additional fertilizer for zucchini ( if the ovary is poor or the fruits are rotting ) based on boron (Boro Miltelial). 5 g of boron per bucket of water, add 40 drops of iodine and 1-2 cups of whey (up to 1 liter). Whey is lactic acid bacteria that prevent fungi from developing, which is very good for plant immunity. Iodine is a good antiseptic.

Preparing seeds and beds

The health of future squash seedlings directly depends on how the seeds were prepared for planting and in what soil they were sown.

Seed material

Seed preparation includes a number of simple but mandatory manipulations:

calibration At this stage, they are soaked in a saline solution with a substance concentration of 5%. Those that float to the surface are removed: this is low-quality seed with low or negative germination rates. The seeds that have sunk to the bottom are suitable for planting. They are washed under running water and dried under natural conditions;
disinfection. To reduce the risk of future seedlings becoming infected with fungal, bacterial and viral infections, the seeds are disinfected. This is done using potassium permanganate (1% solution), into which the seed is immersed for 20 minutes;
stimulation. Stimulation allows you to speed up germination and increase the germination rate. For these purposes, the seeds are soaked in ash water for 24 hours (20 g of wood ash per 1 liter of water). Stimulating treatment can be carried out using drugs specially designed for this purpose, for example “Epin”;
hardening. With its help, you can increase the resistance of future seedlings to the effects of the external environment. The seeds are kept at normal room temperature during the day and placed in the refrigerator at night. Such procedures with temperature changes are carried out over 5-7 days.

To get an earlier harvest, you need to grow seeds using the seedling method. At the same time, it is necessary to plant them and germinate them 25-30 days before the planned time of transplanting the seedlings to an open bed or to a greenhouse.

beds

A place for growing squash at the dacha is selected that is well illuminated by the sun's rays and has sufficiently aerated (loose, oxygenated) soil. To prepare the soil for planting, you will need sawdust and fertilizers.

Sawdust

Adding sawdust while digging up soil:

improves the looseness of soil layers, creating the most favorable conditions for the growth of zucchini;
reduces the risk of plant roots getting burns due to an overdose of fertilizer complexes.

Before adding to the garden bed (before planting seeds in the spring), sawdust is treated with urea - for 5 buckets of sawdust, take 10 liters of water and 5 tbsp. l. urea. They can be applied after 5 days after treatment. If sawdust is added to the soil in the fall during the digging process, this procedure is not required.

Fertilizers

You need to plant in fertilized soil

Before sowing zucchini, the composition of the soil is analyzed. Make the soil suitable for growing vegetables by applying fertilizers per 1 m²:

fertile chernozem must be diluted with superphosphate (1 tbsp), wood ash (2 tbsp) and sawdust (2 kg);
sandy soil requires the addition of humus (3-4 kg), wood ash (2 tbsp), turf or peat (10 l) and superphosphate (1 tbsp);
to increase the fertility of clay and loamy soils, add humus or peat (3 kg), superphosphate (1 tbsp) and wood ash (2 tbsp);
The quality characteristics of peatlands are improved with humus or compost (2 kg), wood ash (2 tbsp), superphosphate (1 tsp) and potassium (1 tsp).

The components are applied throughout the ridge, after which they are dug up, simultaneously removing weeds and pest larvae remaining in the soil, and leveling with a rake.

Dimensions

Optimal parameters for zucchini beds:

width – 0.7 m;
length can be selected as desired;
the distance between the ridges is 1-1.5 m.

Harvesting is the trick

The first 2-3 young zucchini fruits must be cut off after they reach 12-15 cm in length, this stimulates continued fruiting in the plants.

Do not leave the squash on the bush until the ripening stage (when it reaches its maximum size and begins to turn yellow). The bush will devote all its energy to producing seeds and this will lead to a sharp decrease in further yield.

The plant, as it were, receives a signal that the reproduction mission is completed, and you will receive 1-2 zucchini from it per week, instead of two daily. At the same time, the fruiting period will also be reduced from 4–5 months to one and a half months.

That is, zucchini should be picked young (with a length of no more than 20 cm), which not only increases the yield, but also allows you to have more tasty fruits.

The fruits must be cut with a sharp knife and not broken out, so as not to damage the plant.

Growing rules

Zucchini is a non-capricious crop, capable of adapting even to less than favorable conditions.

Agricultural technology for growing zucchini involves basic care: regular watering, fertilizing, getting rid of weeds, diseases and pests.

It is not necessary to form a culture; if the green mass is too abundant, it is better to remove the weakest or damaged leaves.

Irrigate once a week, and more often if necessary. To moisten the soil, warm water is used, which is added to the root zone of the plant.

It should be borne in mind that an excess amount of moisture can lead to rotting of the plant’s rhizomes, the appearance of putrefactive diseases and, as a result, to a significant reduction in yield.

Fertilizing zucchini yields good results, although it is not necessary to do so if the soil is fertile and properly prepared.

It is important to harvest the crop on time - this will allow new ovaries to form, and the plant will not be burdened with large fruits.

If you have problems

Here are some of the most common problems that arise when growing zucchini, their causes and solutions.

The plant loses its fruits even before they begin to grow.

Zucchini is a true summer vegetable. If it is quite cold and rainy, the plant begins to lose small fruits more often.

In addition, the reason may be that the female flowers are not fertilized. Such fertilization is usually done by bees and bumblebees, but, unfortunately, there are fewer and fewer of them.

You can help your zucchini by hand pollinating. Pick the male flower and pass it along the pistil of the female flower, thereby transferring the pollen.

There are a lot of barren flowers, the fruits do not set well, or the ovary rots

The reason is a lack of microelements. If your zucchini is growing on a compost heap, it is low on nitrogen and low on micronutrients. The boron fertilization described above quickly solves this problem.

On the balcony

Some amateur gardeners try to grow vegetables on the balcony in a pot or bucket. With minimal time and effort at home, there is a chance to get a good harvest of zucchini if you take into account the following recommendations:

It is worth transferring the seedlings to a cool loggia after they have grown stronger in the apartment on the windowsill;
for balcony growing, it is better to choose compactly growing bush varieties;
home plantings require regular watering when cared for;
Mulching allows you to maintain the level of humidity in a closed space;
cucumber plantings growing on the south side need to provide diffused light and protect the leaves from direct sunlight;
homemade zucchini requires thinning of leaves;
Balcony plants require artificial pollination to form fruits.