Blossom End Zucchini Rot

Zucchini tends to be an easy vegetable to grow, however, there are some problems that can arise that cause zucchini end rot. Zucchini end rot on the plant is a sign of a couple of problems.

What Causes Zucchini End Rot?

• Calcium levels being too low in the soil. This causes a calcium deficiency in the plant. You could add calcium through liquid fertilizer at the base of the plant. It’s often caused by lack of calcium uptake. Lime the soil before the season starts, but if your zucchini already have blossom end rot try liquid fertilizer or compost tea.
• Irregular watering is a big cause of blossom end rot. The calcium might be present in the soil but the plant can’t uptake it because of lack of water. Make sure your watering is getting at the base of the roots. Hand water deeply at the base of your plants to restore the zucchini plant. I’ve had some that show blossom end rot but do better later in the growing season after consistent watering.
• No pollination. If you don’t have bees in your garden you’ll need to hand pollinate them.

Make sure your zucchini and summer squash are watered regularly, especially at the deep soil level, not just the surface.

Blossom End Rot Zucchini Treatment

Another cause of zucchini rotting is your squash blossoms need to be pollinated to produce fruit. I often find the first 1 or 2 zucchini plants don’t get pollinated properly. This causes them to rot on the plant. Later, once more flowers are present, pollination rates increase.

Plant more flowers to attract bees and then the bees will help pollinate the zucchini which treats blossom end rot.

You can also hand pollinate your zucchini to treat blossom end rot. Your zucchini and summer plants will create both female and male flowers.

Simply take the male flowers (which don’t have fruit) to an open female flower (which will have a tiny squash or zucchini growing). You can also use a Q-tip to grab the pollen to the female flower.

I love growing cosmos, borage, and bachelor buttons around the zucchini.

Zucchini end rot can be avoided if you start growing other flowers around it that bees actually like.

There are plenty of great summer-blooming flowers that help to fix blossom end rot on zucchini.

Observe your zucchini plant and see if the rotting stops. If it doesn’t have a few weeks, pull up the plant and sow something new to prevent your garden from dying.