Life and Death of Zucchini

[RedClayGardener]

At what point do you pull zucchini plants? Mine have recently survived a bout of squash bug and powdery mildew. There is one small zucchini growing but that is it. There are a couple of male blooms but I have not harvested a zucchini in a couple week. I have fall vegetables waiting in the wings to be put out, but I hate to pull the zucchini if it will come back. This is my first year with a garden so I am not quite sure.

Thanks for any help/gardening philosophy you can give!

 

[nccountrygirl]

I think it's time to pull them. I pulled mine a few weeks ago, they were starting to look rough. Maybe you could plant a fall veggie in it's place.

 

[OaklandCityFarmer]

I agree, it is time to pull it.

They grow best in the summer heat and now that the summer is coming to a close in a lot of parts they should be replaced with something else.

Good luck!

 

[RedClayGardener]

Thanks everyone! I will pull them tonight. One more quick question. They have some powdery mildew on them now. Can I still compost them? Will that come back to haunt me later?

 

[curly_kate]

Em, from what I know, you should never compost any diseased plants because a lot of stuff will persist. But I'm pretty new at it, so someone else probably has better insight.

 

[bills]

If you hot compost them you shouldn't have a problem with simple mildew. If it was a wilt problem like tomato wilt, or potato wilt, I would burn, or garbage them, and never ever compost them.

 

[LindaN]

I compost stuff with powdery mildew all the time.

Powdery mildew is one of those things that you just can't seem to avoid with many plants. I have an old-fashioned lilac shrub, for example, that gets powdery mildew every year. It's unattractive, but won't kill the plant.

Now if you had a much more deadly fungus or disease, I'd say not to compost. But powdery mildew is really not that bad.

Never compost bindweed either!!! Ask me how I know...

 

[RedClayGardener]

Thanks, I'll throw them on the pile!

 

[silkiechicken]

No fair! My zucchinis have just started to get flower buds... MALE ones!