Difference between lack of calcium or pollination?

Our zukes and squash were looking really beautiful and healthy.
BIg strong fruit on each. Then the squash started shriveling up and had fuzzy white moldy stuff on the blossom. Some blossoms had it (guess the males) and fell off. Then the little fruits continued to shrivel like a prune and would fall off it touched. Now the zukes are doing the same things.
THere is no black spots or rot on any of them.

It seems like there would have to be pollinators as the tomatoes are doing great. What should I do?? help!
oh, and one more thing........ anyone have any luck with DE on the vines to prevent squash vine borers???
THank you!!!!!

DE is a very irritating grit to almost everything that's above ground. Not sure how you'd apply it to the roots.

Why do you think it is related to calcium? Lime & Dolmite (calciums) are used to add alkalinity. pH isn't something most SFGers are concerned about. Are you using soil or MM?

sistabelle wrote:
Our zukes and squash were looking really beautiful and healthy.
BIg strong fruit on each. Then the squash started shriveling up and had fuzzy white moldy stuff on the blossom. Some blossoms had it (guess the males) and fell off. Then the little fruits continued to shrivel like a prune and would fall off it touched. Now the zukes are doing the same things.
THere is no black spots or rot on any of them.

It seems like there would have to be pollinators as the tomatoes are doing great. What should I do?? help!
oh, and one more thing........ anyone have any luck with DE on the vines to prevent squash vine borers???
THank you!!!!!

Hello Sistabelle just a couple of things It may still be a lack of pollinators if they are not setting fruit, tomatoes don't need'm as wind is enough. It sounds like you have a disease problem like soft fruit rot mold is a tell tale indicater. Mold is in fact a type of rot. Squash vine borers are just plain evil. Lost my pattypans to them last year. I know you can use super light insect row cover but then you must be the pollinator:D

Sistabelle,

I don't think it's a pollination issue for the zukes or the squash. Pollination must have occurred if fruits have formed.

I think the problem is Blossom End Rot which is common in Tomatoes and Squash and sometime Cucumbers.

Here is an article of the problem and solutions:
http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/problems/squash-blossom-end-rot-causes-and-treatment.htm

From the article:
The causes for squash end rot are simple. Squash blossom end rot happens due to a calcium deficiency.
Calcium helps a plant create a stable structure. If a plant gets too
little calcium while the fruit is developing, there is not enough to
sufficiently build the cells on the fruit. In particular the bottom of
the fruit, which grows the fastest, does not get enough calcium.

[The article continues with some "preventive" treatments. But indicates that once the fruit is affected, it cannot be corrected.]

The fix for the problem:
Remove the fruit and fix the problem – If squash
blossom end rot appears, remove the affected fruit and use a calcium
rich foliar spray on the plant. This will ensure that the next round of
squash that the plant grows will have sufficient calcium to grow
correctly.

I would suggest that the calcium foliar spray is the short term immediate fix and that also doing some of the "preventive" treatments will be beneficial as well.

Hope that helps.

---Dave

I just saw this youtube video, and thought of you. It's about why zuchinni fruits die and what to do.

be the bee

Sounds like a pollination issue to me. Tomatoes are wind pollinated, but zukes and cukes need bees. When I let the puppy out in the morning I go around with a child's paintbrush, being a bee. The last few days I've seen bees out there (hooray!) but I don't trust them...it seems I never get one to grow that I haven't pollinated by hand.