Why aren't my zucchinis growing??

[the lemon tree]

I have two zucchini plants in an Earthbox-one 'Black Beauty' and one 'Eight Ball'. The plants themselves have gotten HUGE since I planted them, yet the squash don't seem to get very big. The Black Beauty will maybe get to the size of a small cornichon pickle, then get soft and mushy, rendering it inedible. The Eight Ball, too-I have 3 or 4 round squashes the size of a big gum ball yet they haven't shown any growth beyond that. I should add that at this size, the flowers on them are brown and shriveled. It's heartbreaking since I see TONS of small blossoms on the plants, but none of them are growing!! Is this normal in the early stages? I grew a zuccini a few years back in a 7 gallon container and it thrived. I'm not sure what's wrong with these....

 

[hoodat]

I have two zucchini plants in an Earthbox-one 'Black Beauty' and one 'Eight Ball'. The plants themselves have gotten HUGE since I planted them, yet the squash don't seem to get very big. The Black Beauty will maybe get to the size of a small cornichon pickle, then get soft and mushy, rendering it inedible. The Eight Ball, too-I have 3 or 4 round squashes the size of a big gum ball yet they haven't shown any growth beyond that. I should add that at this size, the flowers on them are brown and shriveled. It's heartbreaking since I see TONS of small blossoms on the plants, but none of them are growing!! Is this normal in the early stages? I grew a zuccini a few years back in a 7 gallon container and it thrived. I'm not sure what's wrong with these....

It sounds as though the female flowers are not getting pollinated. Remember that from the standpoint of the plant the fruit is there to produce seeds. If the flower is not pollinated it will not develop seeds so the plant will not waste energy on it. It will shrivel as you described. Learn to hand pollinate. On squash it's very easy to do.

 

[the lemon tree]

Ahh, I never thought of that. I'll be out there tomorrow morning doing just that.

 

[herbsherbsflowers]

That's one of the problems with the reduced number of bees.