When growing zucchini, gardeners may notice that they rot on the vine. This may be due to errors in the preparation of the soil, as well as improper care of the landing. All possible causes of rotting zucchini and ways to eliminate such a problem will be discussed further.
Unsuitable site
When cultivating vegetable crops, it is imperative to take into account the correct agricultural technology, otherwise it will not be possible to get healthy roots without signs of rotting. In the case of zucchini, you will need to proceed from the following rules:
1. Cultivate in the same place with an interval of 4 years. The plant takes from the soil a certain set of microelements that it needs most, so in the following years the depleted land will not be able to fully saturate it. In addition, it retains pests and harmful substances secreted by the root system of seedlings during growth.
For the next generation of zucchini, these wastes are dangerous, but for other crops they are harmless, since they show resistance to similar products of zucchini vital activity.
To quickly return zucchini to a favorite area, you should periodically grow siderates (oats, wheat) in the garden. They cleanse the earth of harmful products left by plants, while enriching the soil.
2. Do not plant on an area where previously related crops grew. These include:
- cucumbers;
- melon;
- watermelon;
- pumpkin.
3. Plant after good predecessors, which include:
- Tomatoes
- potatoes;
- beet;
- cabbage;
- carrot;
- onion;
- greens (salad, parsley, dill, spinach).
To get a good harvest of zucchini and prevent rotting, it is worth planting them on the east or north side of the potato garden.
Bad weather conditions
Zucchini belongs to the southern heat-loving crops, therefore it does not tolerate cold snap, frequent rains, excessive humidity and lack of sunlight. A weakening plant is not able to saturate all the fruits with the necessary trace elements, therefore it gets rid of part of the ovaries.
Sharp differences in daily temperatures also lead to a decrease in plant immunity, when during the day the air temperature exceeds + 30 ° C, and at night it drops to + 10 ... + 15 ° C. For bushes, these are stressful conditions in which they become vulnerable to decay.
Of course, the gardener cannot fight the weather, but he should take a number of measures to protect the planting from adverse climatic conditions:
- Cover the plantings with agrofibre at night, and in rainy and cold weather, build a visor from a film or simply use an old umbrella, setting it over the center of the bush. The main thing is to cover the flowers and the formed ovaries, since the raindrops pose a great threat to them. Under the fruits, it is also worth putting straw or planks.
To facilitate planting care, it is worth growing zucchini under arcs, and changing the covering material depending on specific weather conditions.
- To increase the temperature of the soil at night, use ordinary plastic water bottles or bricks. They just need to be placed around the bushes. During the day, they heat up in the sun, and at night they give off heat to the plant and the earth.
- Cold and damp soil should be mulched. Thanks to this manipulation, the zucchini will lie on a dry bed, so the risk of rotting is significantly reduced. In addition, mulch prevents strong incandescence of the soil during the day and rapid cooling at night, which avoids sudden daily temperature drops.
Lack of trace elements
One of the most common causes of zucchini ovary decay is a lack of trace elements. Pumpkin plants are especially sensitive to the lack of such substances:
- Yoda. Its deficiency is often triggered by watering plants with water with a high iron content. To compensate for it, you need to spray plants once a season with a solution of 2 g of potassium iodide per 10 l of water.
- Bora. It may initially be missed in the soil. To compensate for this deficiency, you need to spray the plant with a solution of boric acid at the rate of 2 g per 10 liters of water. Alternatively, you can use complex fertilizers with boron content.
In order to prevent a lack of trace elements, zucchini should be fertilized in advance with a mixture of 5 g of superphosphate and 2 g of urea per 1 liter of water. The first top dressing should be done 10 days after emergence, and the second - a week later.
Thickened landings
If the weather conditions are favorable and the plants look good and the squash is fed regularly, but the ovaries still rot, the squash is most likely planted too close to each other. In such conditions, the grown leaves do not allow the ovaries to receive the required amount of sunlight and fresh oxygen, which leads to the development of rot.
To solve this problem, you just need to remove the part of the leaf plate that covers the center of the bush. For preventive purposes, it is also worth regularly thinning leaves and removing weeds to help warm and air the ovaries.
Old leaves and faded inflorescences
As the bushes develop, the lower leaves begin to turn yellow and die off. They gradually decay, and the fungi freely move to the still delicate skin of the ovaries and also provoke their decay. To prevent this, you need to remove the lower leaves lying on the ground once a week. You can use a sharp knife or pruner to do this.
Faded buds remaining on the spouts of young zucchini pose no less threat. During periods of rains or during watering, they, like a sponge, absorb moisture, begin to rot and infect root crops. It is worth regularly identifying and removing them, and sprinkle the place of the cut with ash. It will contribute to the formation of a protective film that will prevent excess moisture from entering the fetus itself.
When removing flowers, you need to act selectively so as not to accidentally remove live, elastic and brightly colored inflorescences. If the ovary has not yet been pollinated, removing the plant's reproductive organs will leave the gardener without a zucchini crop.
Irrigation
If watering the zucchini is excessive and plentiful, they provoke increased soil moisture near the stem. All this inevitably leads to decay of the ovaries themselves. If you follow the rules for watering the crop, you can prevent such consequences and get a rich harvest of root crops:
- When watering the beds, pour water directly under the root so that drops do not fall on the leaves and stems. To do this, you must not allow strong pressure, as well as irrigate the bushes from the watering can. It is best to resort to a drip irrigation system, which promotes an even distribution of moisture between the plant roots and does not allow droplets to fall on the green mass.
- Heat-loving zucchini do not react well to cold, therefore, when watering, you need to use warm (+ 15 ... + 20˚C) water. It is advisable that she insist and warm up in the sun.
- When growing zucchini outdoors, it is recommended to moisten the soil as a crust forms on its surface. On average, the rate of water consumption is 10 liters per 1 sq. m. It can be slightly increased during the period of tying roots and lowered when they ripen.
- In the greenhouse, watering zucchini is rare, otherwise you can provoke increased air humidity, which will lead to rotting of the culture. In cold weather, it is recommended to additionally heat the greenhouse and plants.
- Alternate wet and dry watering to solve the problem of waterlogging. After irrigation, a dry crust always forms on the soil surface. If it is carefully loosened to a depth of 3-4 cm, you can slow down the process of moisture evaporation by 2 times. It should be borne in mind that the roots of the plant are widely distributed from the stem (from 1 to 1.5 m), so loosen the soil at different distances from it, but not deep, so as not to damage the delicate petioles located in the upper soil layer (from 0 up to 35 cm).
Insufficient pollination
Root crops appear on bushes as a result of pollination. Female flowers are already forming with the rudiments of small zucchini. If the flower is not pollinated, the ovary stops developing and undergoes decay. Typically, this occurs in hot or cloudy weather due to a shortage of pollinating insects.
If there are suspicions that the plant is not pollinated, this procedure must be carried out manually. To do this, just pick a male flower, and then use a brush or a cotton swab to transfer pollen from its stamens to the stigma of a female flower.
Fungal diseases
The cause of rotting of the ovaries can be hidden in the defeat of the plant by fungal diseases, which most often occurs in conditions of high humidity at low air temperature. When infected, a white or gray bloom appears on stems, leaves and ovaries, which gradually turns into depressed spots.
Among fungal diseases, zucchini rot is often caused by:
- Powdery mildew. It appears as a whitish coating in the form of flour. It can be found on leaves and stems, and then on inflorescences and small ovaries. The fungus spreads quickly, and the white spots turn red and blacken, provoking rotting of various parts of the plant.
Sick specimens must be removed from the site and burned, and the rest of the planting must be treated with preparations containing copper, for example, copper sulfate or Bordeaux liquid. This should be done a week before the planned harvest. - White rot. The disease first affects the tops, and then spreads to young ovaries and causes their mass rot. All diseased parts are first deformed and wrinkled, and then rot and fall off. White rot can be the result of a lack of potassium in the soil, therefore, to eliminate the problem, the bush must be fertilized with potassium nitrate or another preparation that contains this trace element.
If there is any suspicion of any fungal disease, the affected tops and root crops need to be cut and burned, and the cut site treated with wood ash. For severe lesions, you will need to use fungicides. The following drugs are effective:
- Topaz;
- Ridomil;
- Konfidop;
- Spark;
- FitoVerm;
- Tiovit Jet.
Chemicals are recommended to be used 30 days before the expected harvest.
In order not to have to resort to the use of fungicides, zucchini diseases should be prevented by observing the correct watering regime for this and removing old leaves in a timely manner. In addition, for preventive purposes, it is worth adding a weakly concentrated iodine solution to the soil (3 drops of iodine per 10 liters of water). With such a tool, you need to water the bushes under the root or spray the aerial part in order to increase the plant's resistance to viral infections and eliminate the risk of rotting.
If you follow the simple rules for sowing zucchini, as well as organize competent planting care, you will not have to deal with the problem of ovary rotting. If the plant is already affected, all measures should be taken to improve the planting and save the root crop.