WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — An important step to growing plants in a garden is knowing the right time to harvest them without picking the vegetables too early or too late.
Rosie Lerner, a Purdue Extension consumer horticulture specialist, said one popular question she gets from individuals new to gardening deals with curcubit plants such as cucumbers and summer squash.
Lerner said she often gets questions from individuals concerned that their plants will not produce fruit because the flowers have fallen off.
“The male flower provides the pollen and bees transfer it to the female flower,” Lerner said.
Lerner said it is perfectly normal for the male flower to fall off without producing fruit because the female flower cannot grow fruit without being successfully pollinated.
Lerner said another popular topic is knowing the perfect time to harvest vegetables such as cucumbers and summer squash.
“The longer fruit stays on plant, the more seedy it will be,” Lerner said, adding that the right time to harvest cucumbers is when the produce is still young and immature and hasn’t had time to develop seeds yet.
Lerner said the longer gardeners wait to harvest produce such as cucumbers, the stronger the flavors get, especially as the seeds in the fruit get older.
The horticulture specialist said individuals sometimes can try to salvage vegetables that are past maturity by taking the skin off and chopping it up for a salad.
Lerner said curcubit plants will continue to grow until they have produced a fruit that is mature and had time to develop seed.
When an individual harvests a vegetable immaturely, it will keep growing to achieve its goal of producing fruit with mature seed.
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August 09, 2020 at 01:43AM
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Crazy for cucurbits: Expert shares tips to harvesting tasty vegetables - Agri News
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