Causes of irregular shape in zucchini

Unpretentious zucchini can be cultivated in all regions, if not in open ground, then in greenhouse conditions. But sometimes their fruits in the course of development take an irregular shape. Usually this does not affect the taste and quality, but it can be important for those who grow vegetables for sale.

Varieties of irregular shape

Irregularities in squash fruits can be of several types. Change occurs for a variety of reasons, and they determine the ways in which you can correct the situation.

The curves

Even with good growth and development of the bush, the fruits can get a curved shape, although they should be almost even, cylindrical and smooth. There may be several reasons, but they are all associated with errors in preparation for planting a crop.

The bending of zucchini occurs due to insufficient illumination of the beds, combined with a low content of mineral elements. Therefore, for planting choose a place accessible to the open sun, well fertilized.

The soil is carefully dug up 2-3 weeks before planting, while introducing a mineral-organic complex of dressings. The introduction of ash and cow dung under each bush will help.

pear-shaped

If the fruits of the zucchini take the form of a pear, the vegetable lacks potassium. Industrial fertilizers containing this substance will help balance nutrition. It can be Uniflor-buton, it should be applied according to the instructions.

A folk remedy that will enrich zucchini with potassium is wood ash. It can be used in two ways:

  • sprinkle the soil under the bushes with a thin layer after watering;
  • pour 0,5 l of the substance under each bush at a time.

Pear-shaped zucchini

Fine tip

The tip of the fruit becomes thinner relative to the rest of the volume and takes on a lighter shade – a symptom of a lack of nitrogen in the soil. You can fix the situation in several ways:

  • the introduction of any organic fertilizer;
  • watering with nettle infusion;
  • treatment with a solution of rotted weeds.

It is important to detect the problem in time and quickly begin to solve it. It will take time for the plant to assimilate microelements.

Fine tip

The main causes of the appearance of the wrong fruit

There are several reasons why zucchini can become deformed during growth. And they are able to overtake vegetables at the same time, and not one at a time, so itโ€™s better to take everything apart at once – in case several bushes produce fruits with different types of irregularities:

  • Lack of minerals of different groups. You can use elements and compositions of industrial production, or replace them with organic matter and various herbal infusions.
    For example, you can pour water over nettles or rotted leaves for several days and spill the soil around the bushes with the resulting infusion. This treatment will saturate the earth with nitrogen group minerals.
  • Bad seed. It is important to carefully check the seeds before sowing. Its shelf life (when using expired material there is a risk of not getting a crop at all), quality and processing can directly affect the growth of fruits and the correctness of their shape.
  • Wrong landing site. The place where zucchini grows also directly affects how they will develop when ripe. It should be well lit, not waterlogged, without close plantings of dense shrubs and trees. The plot for zucchini should be changed at least every 2 years.

Tips for feeding zucchini

To prevent the curvature of zucchini or correct the situation at the first symptoms, you need to provide them with food. Feeding works are carried out in several stages:

  • Zucchini is not recommended heavy soils with high acidity. To make the soil close to neutral, to deacidify, add a mixture of quicklime and sifted river sand (in a 1: 1 ratio) to it during preliminary digging.
  • When preparing a place for a garden bed, cover the soil with a nutrient solution. Composition per 1 mยฒ: 5 kg of compost or rotted manure, 300 g of wood ash, 200 g of superphosphate. Thanks to this top dressing, additional fertilizers will no longer be required before the harvest of the fruits of the first ovary.

    If the growth of the entire bush and fruits slows down, apply the same fertilizer composition that was used when planting.

  • Abundant watering of zucchini is not recommended. Especially if the weather is not dry and hot. It can lead to rotting of the tips of the fruits, damage to the stems by fungal diseases.
  • But due to lack of moisture, growth slows down and deformation occurs. Therefore, carry out regular loosening of the soil and mulching between rows – they will help retain moisture in the right quantities.
  • Do the second dressing immediately after the fruits of the first ovary have been harvested. Use potassium-phosphorus compounds for this, except in cases of thinning of the tip of the zucchini. This will require organic or nitrogen fertilizers.
  • If the zucchini takes on a spherical shape, feed them with potassium. To do this, use a solution of the “Uniform-bud” at the rate of 2 tsp. for 10 liters of water.

Some useful tips to help you harvest and know for the future what healthy zucchini should look like:

  • it is better not to collect small zucchini that have not yet entered the ripening stage – they contain a lot of nitrates and harmful substances that were obtained from the soil, but have not yet had time to decompose and come out of the pulp;
  • pay attention to the color of the fruit during ripening – dark zucchini contain more vitamins, yellowed – carotene (this depends on the variety, for example, zucchini);
  • harvest zucchini in the morning, preferably at dawn, so the vegetables will stay fresh longer.

Growing zucchini does not require much effort. But they also require certain conditions for proper growth, and especially the development of fruits. If you want the vegetable harvest to be not only plentiful, but also to have a marketable appearance and be stored longer, control the watering of the crop, the illumination of the site, the condition of the soil and the timeliness of fertilizing in the required quantities.

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Anna Evans

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