Black Beauty Zucchini Squash

Black Beauty produces dark-green zucchini with creamy-white flesh.

Harvest young for tender flesh

Black Beauty produces dark-green zucchini with creamy-white flesh. Harvest fruit at 6 to 8 inches, while it is still tender. Check plants soon after blossoms fall; fruit is ready when a thumbnail can dent the skin. Pick early and often. Small zucchini are easier to slice and cook evenly, and regular picking keeps large fruits from taking over the plant. A 63-day harvest estimate gives a rough planning date after sowing.

Sow after frost

Wait until frost danger has passed, then sow in a sunny place. Plant seed 1 to 1¼ inches deep. Sow five seeds per hill, with hills 3 feet apart and rows 48 to 50 inches apart. When seedlings reach 3 inches tall, keep the three strongest in each hill and cut the rest at soil level. Summer squash needs room to spread, so avoid crowding it against a walkway or another plant.

Keep up with the picking

Zucchini can grow quickly once the plant begins setting fruit. Look under leaves and along the base every day or two. Cut the stem with a clean knife or pruners instead of twisting the fruit. If one gets too large, remove it anyway so the plant can continue developing younger fruit. Broad leaves shade the soil, but they also hide squash; checking from more than one side prevents missed harvests.

Know which blossoms set fruit

The first flowers may drop without producing squash. Male flowers open before female flowers; a female blossom has a small swelling at its base that becomes the fruit after pollination. Bees carry pollen between the flowers, and cold, rainy or cloudy stretches can reduce visits. If a young squash stops growing or shrivels soon after flowering, poor pollination may be the cause. Leave flowers accessible to bees during their short morning opening. The earliest blossoms are usually male, so their drop is normal. Give the female flowers time to open and develop fruit.