The straightneck early yellow squash in my garden would start to form and then mysteriously die on the plant.

I’ve always had plenty of bees and other pollinators in my garden, so it didn’t occur to me my summer squash was dying on the plant because of a pollination problem.

When I was at CSU last week for the short course program, I had the chance to ask Carol O’Meara what the problem could be. She asked questions to determine the cause: Blossom end rot? Inconsistent watering? Watering from above? Pollination problems?

I had to answer, no, no, no–wait. Pollination problems? Maybe. Even though I’ve seen bees in the garden, they don’t  seem to be finding my squash blossoms.  Carol suggested hand pollination. I tried it and it seems to have worked.

If you’re having trouble with squash dying before maturity, you may be having pollination problems, too.

Here’s how to take over the pollinator’s task to pollinate by hand: