This season I limited myself to a few varieties of zucchini: Aeronaut, Gribovskie, Kavili and Iskander. I grew Iskander from seedlings, and planted the rest directly from seeds into the ground. My husband insists that the Gribovskie variety is best for making squash caviar, so we always add it without fail.
When planting zucchini, I prepared the bed by adding hummus and a tablespoon of fish meal, which gradually nourishes the seedlings; however, this nutrition is not enough for the full growth of zucchini, so they need 3-4 times more additional feeding.
The first feeding of zucchini is always nitrogen fertilizers. I water the zucchini with an ammonia solution (2 tablespoons per 10 liters of water). Then the weather in Mari El worsened and there was a strong cold snap, so I sprayed the plants with HB-101 to preserve them.
Now that the zucchini are actively developing their foliage (especially the Iskander variety) and have 4-5 leaves, I fed them with wood ash, which is an important fertilizer for zucchini. I prefer to use wood ash, which I get by burning the tops of potatoes, cucumbers, tomatoes and pruning fruit trees.
You can find many potassium and phosphorus fertilizers on the market and many gardeners feed pumpkins with potassium sulfate and monopotassium phosphate. I also use these fertilizers in my garden, but the main fertilizer for my zucchini is still wood ash.
When the zucchini begin to bear fruit, I continue to feed them with liquid ash. To prepare a liquid ash solution, I need ash (a glass) and a bucket into which I pour 10 liters of water. I water the zucchini with this solution after the ash and water have stood for a day or two.
When the zucchini blooms, I fertilize it with mullein (you can also use green manure). Alternatively, you can use mineral fertilizers such as nitroammofoska to feed the zucchini during the flowering period.
Alternating fertilization with wood ash and mullein (you can also use green manure) helps to significantly increase the zucchini harvest. To increase fruit set, I also spray the zucchini with a succinic acid solution during the flowering period.
