Q. My cucumber and squash are not setting fruit even though the plants appear healthy. I’m not seeing many bees. Can this be part of my problem? A. More than likely this is the result of incomplete ...

Q. I was walking in my vegetable garden the other day and noticed that some of my squash blossoms are falling off. What is going on? Is this an insect problem? What should I do? A. I have gotten ...

When the tiny squash fruits at the base of squash blossoms don't get pollinated, the young squash will stop developing, shrivel and eventually dry or drop from the plant. Squash fruits begin as ...

Sometimes squash blossoms need to be hand-pollinated to produce viable fruit. Cut a male flower (in right hand) and daub its pollen onto the female flower’s pollen (in left hand). A female squash ...

I haven't had very good production in the last couple of years from my squash plants... even zucchini, which I used to get by the bucket load. Do you have any idea what's going on or what I can do to ...

Becca Lewis is home maintenance writer who aims to foster confidence in and inspire DIY enthusiasts at all skill levels. Becca attended Southern Connecticut State University, where she studied ...

I have read at least two articles in The Seattle Times about the lack of bees; each one seemed to focus on how to attract other insects to do the pollinating. Neither one mentioned hand-pollinating.

ALL SQUASH PLANTS are monoecious, meaning that they bear male and female flowers on the same plant. Normally bees carry the pollen from the male flowers to the females, but with declining populations ...

It's a good bet that these pretty squash, which captured first place in a vegetable show, were not virus-infected. Tiny piercing and sucking insects transmit viruses into plants that affect the ...

Q: I have been searching for sources of potatoes and garlic for fall planting. All the seed companies say they are sold out. Can you help? A: Seed potatoes are normally not available for fall planting ...