105°F
weather icon Windy
Las Vegas, NV
Bob Morris

Summon bees to assist with summer squash

July 4, 2011 - 11:17 pm
 

Question: I have had great success growing yellow and green squash for the past five or six years. Last month, but in the past couple of weeks, they have been turning hard, and the yellow pieces have turned dark and almost orange.

You will get more blemish-free fruits with sprays of insecticidal soaps twice to three times a week, including spraying the undersides of the leaves. The lack of squash development is due to poor pollination, which is most likely because of cool weather and poor bee activity.

You can attract more bees with plants that bees love and ones that flower at the times your vegetable garden needs pollination. Bee-loving plants include many of the herbs, which are allowed to flower. These might include rosemary, basil, lavender, oregano and thyme.

Woody ornamental plants typically flower for short periods, but there are some such as Texas ranger and brooms such as Scotch, lantana and verbena. Go to your nursery and see what is in bloom -- particularly reds, purples and pinks.

Bob Morris is a horticulture expert living in Las Vegas. Visit his blog at xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com.

MOST READ
Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook.
THE LATEST
The cultivars of hibiscus range from cold-hardy to tropical varieties. (Getty Images)
The sun sets on my days as RJ’s gardening columnist
By Bob Morris Gardening

Thanks to everyone who has supported my journey into journalism by reading my gardening column over the years and contributing questions.

Pine trees typically develop taproots for stability and to secure enough water. (Getty Images)
What’s ailing my mature pine trees?
By Bob Morris Gardening

When native pine trees are grown on their own they will develop taproots or sinker roots for stability and to secure enough water.

Mallow is an annual weed that appears in the lower left of this picture. It is difficult to con ...
Gaining control over this annual weed is not easy to do
By Bob Morris Gardening

To make sure it doesn’t return you have to interrupt the seed-to-flowering-plant cycle at least for a couple of years and fill the voids with something competitive.

When they are young and newly planted, it’s normal if bird of paradise plants produce le ...
Why did my bird of paradise plants quit blooming?
By Bob Morris Gardening

They were in bloom when we planted them five or six years ago, and they bloomed the following year as well. But they have not bloomed again.

MORE STORIES