How to care for zucchini in the summer: watering, fertilizing and pinching

Zucchini is a fairly unpretentious vegetable, but mistakes in care can lead to a poor harvest. Although the root system of zucchini is located on the surface, it is able to extract moisture from the lower soil layers. Therefore, a zucchini bed can be watered 1-2 times a week, using a bucket of water per square meter, even in a drought.

Experts emphasize that water should be applied not at the root but in special furrows around the middle stem. OBOZ.UA tells you how to properly care for zucchini in the summer and whether they need fertilizers and pinching.

Is pinching necessary

Pumpkin varieties are often pinched, but you shouldn't do this with zucchini. After the first flowers bloom, you can cut leaves from the middle of the bush varieties, but no more than 3-4 pieces. This is necessary to improve the light transmission of plantings, open access for insects, and accelerate the process of fruit filling.

What fertilizers are needed

In the fall, fresh or composted organic matter (manure, bird droppings, humus, peat, peat-manure or garden compost) should be added to the beds. Potassium fertilizers - potassium monophosphate, superphosphate, and potassium chloride - will also be useful.

In spring, experienced gardeners use only rotted organic matter: garden compost or rotted mullein. Or you can apply nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium mineral fertilizers: nitroammophoska, a mix of urea, double superphosphate and potassium sulfate.

Organic fertilizers are applied in the amount of 1-4 buckets per square meter.

How to feed zucchini at different stages

Before the budding process begins, zucchini may be deficient in nitrogen, so the beds can be watered with a manure solution (one liter per bucket of water) with the addition of nitrophosphate (30 g per bucket of water).

During the flowering period, experts advise dissolving 25 grams of nitroammophoska in a standard bucket of water and adding 2 cups of wood or grass ash to the liquid. Watering should be done at the rate of 1 liter per bush.

The third feeding can prolong fruiting and improve the process of fruit formation. Phosphorus and potassium will come in handy. You can also sprinkle plant ash around each bush and in the aisles and water the garden abundantly. Ash contains a whole range of trace elements useful for fruit ripening.

Zucchini do not tolerate waterlogging: this can lead to fungal diseases, rotting of pedicels, buds, ovaries and fruits. In the case of rainy summers, gardeners often make special sheds over zucchini beds to protect the future harvest.

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