Home Garden Joy

Growing Great Zucchini

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Z is for…ZUCCHINI.
Could it be for any other vegetable? I think not! Zucchini….love it, hate it, regret growing it?
In New York where I grew up, zucchini was easy to grow. One plant was enough. You’d end up with so much zucchini so fast you’d try to sneak it onto the neighbors’ porches at night when no one was looking.
In Virginia, most of my zucchini gets eaten by the nymphs of the voracious cucumber beetles. I’ve given up dealing with them, so I try to time my plantings around their life cycle. They lay clusters of bronze-colored eggs on the leaves, and when the eggs hatch, the hungry nymphs kill the plants overnight. If I time it right, I can get a harvest in of cucumbers or zucchini before the eggs hatch. Once I see the eggs, I’ve lost the battle. Floating row covers, which prevent the beetles from laying their eggs, are probably the best organic solution to the problem, but I haven’t tried them yet.
You want to grow zucchini? Fill a one-gallon container with potting soil. Stick two zucchini seeds in. Water daily and set it in full sunshine. In two months or so you’ll have so much zucchini you too will be sneaking it onto the neighbors’ porches.
And that, my friends, concludes the April blogging A to Z Challenge. I’m grateful for the new visitors and followers on this blog, but I’m looking forward to getting back to my usual blogging schedule in May!
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  1. Jo

    When I lived in the Carolinas one was advised never to leave car windows open otherwise you would return to find the car full of zucchini. A friend used to grow me extra large zucchini so I could stuff and roast it. Glad you made it to the end, enjoyed your posts.

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