Many of our clients chose to plant a variety of cucurbits in their gardens for the summer. The cucurbit family includes squash, zucchini, cucumbers, and melons. After sprouting up their initial oval seed leaves, the plants grow heart-shaped leaves that are often covered in a gentle layer of fuzz. When cucumbers and melons start to take off, the plants look like massive bushes of stems displaying their green hearts to the world and holding their yellow flowers close to the center.
Cucurbits are monoecious, meaning that each plant has both male and female flowers. The plant first produces male flowers, the ones that make the pollen, and then grows the female flowers. Honeybees carry the pollen from the male flowers to the female flowers, where little cucumbers and melons begin to form. A few days ago, Allison and I were looking at some cucurbits in a client’s garden and were surprised to see what looked like little baby cucumbers at the base of some of the flowers while the flowers were still in full bloom. It turns out that the flowers that are swollen at the base are the female flowers, and the ones that have thin stalks are male flowers. Once the female flower is pollinated, the base of the flower will continue to grow into a cucumber or squash, but if the flower isn’t pollinated for some reason, the flower will eventually drop off the plant.
Recently we have been spraying our cucurbits with a solution of kaolin clay. This turns the leaves a speckled white, but is very helpful in the quest to keep away destructive critters. Kaolin clay reduces the risk of squash vine borers and squash bugs from finding the leaves and vines tasty and killing the whole or part of the plant. Squash vine borer larvae tunnel into the vines, damaging the tissue and killing everything beyond where they have entered the plant. Squash bugs drink the sap out of the leaves and inject a harmful toxin that severely damages the plant.
Make sure your cucurbits are getting enough sun, water, and fertilizer this summer! We mound the dirt up around the base of the plants to make sure they are getting as much warmth from the sun as possible.
