Prune Zucchini to Increase Production - Prevent Powdery Mildew & Prevent Blossom End Rot 

This is very helpful. Unfortunately I lost my one and only zucchini plant to a borer. I did get a couple weeks of fruit off it, but it died this week.

When pruning leaves off squash leaves you have to make sure to spray with peppermint spray to mask the scent of the sap that comes out of the stem where it was cut. You won’t have vine borers or so many of them trying to bore through the stem and possibly destroy the plant because the peppermint spray masks the scent they’re attracted to. Also, be sure to use rubbing alcohol on the garden tool you use when pruning leaves before you cut on another plant. It will help prevent any possible diseases from spreading from one plant to the next. I may try pruning back a couple of leaves pushing into my jalapeño pepper plants planted next to the squash. Thanks for the info.

Did not have a single fruit that did not rot until I pruned the plant. Now I have a huge frying pan of squash cooking away! Thank you for the great information.

Thank you! You really tell us what we need to know. I am 67 years old and I have grown a vegetable garden since I was five years old and my parents gave me seeds and let me grow a vegetable garden around our play house. One year the pumpkins grew all the way around the play house and we could not open the door. The only way we could get into the play house was to climb through the window. The pumpkins were wonderful, as well as the beets, etc.. As well as I can remember, I have grown a garden every year since then. When we were raising our six children, we had a huge garden and many nights our dinners were whatever vegetables were ripe in our garden. I like to have fun with the garden and instead of planting straight rows, I hoe winding paths through the gardens and plant marigolds, Dehlias and other flowers along the edges of each section. The vegetables grew in each section. I put peat moss on the paths so I could stroll and work without getting muddy. These days I don’t have much strength, so my husband bought a lot of large pots and put them on the deck. My neighbor gave me some more from some new trees that she bought. The last few years the garden has been smaller, but the two of us enjoy eating the many vegetables that grow on our good sized deck. It is nice to share too. And, I still love the feel when I put my hands in the soil. And, don’t forget to plant fruit trees. You will never taste better fruit. Grapes and berries are great too. Our children now grow some nice gardens too.

I've been gardening for 35 years and never heard of doing this! I only recently found your videos and subscribed, but I'm working my way through some older ones. Your information is excellent. I appreciate your enthusiastic presentation and the clear camera work for visual support. I am recommending your channel to a friend who is just starting to garden. Thank you.

I pruned in this manner last year, it did seem sketchy to take off so many leaves but the result was as Luke describes.

Increase production. Of zucchini??!? I never thought I’d see those words together as a goal!! 😆

...I'm a hands on type of learner so actually seeing you do it is waaaay more encouraging and gives me confidence to shaping it properly.

Don’t worry about all of the people whining about how long your videos are. These videos are incredibly informational. Keep it up!

(Watches video at 11:50 pm…. Runs out at midnight to start pruning squash plants…)

I like seeing the "what to do" explained then demonstrated.

Thank you for the info! I did this last summer and I got way more zucchini’s then ever before! This really does work well.

I'm sure gloves, some sharp shears and long sleeves would make this a much more enjoyable experience! Those plants get sharp!

I did not know that zucchini plants could be pruned! When I break a stalk I always worried about it, good to know they can be thinned to get better air flow

In all of my nearly 60 years now I've never thought to prune my squashes. Why, oh WHY? It is such a good idea, and I will be doing it from now on. Helpful for the plant and makes them beautiful, too. Thank you!

I know this is 2 years old but it’s right on time as we have monster. Zucchini and squash plants right now. They will be getting pruned tomorrow. Thanks!

Thank you!!!! My gut instinct was to do this, but I worried that opening up the stems might create access for mildew to get into the plant. So happy to have this confirmation it was the right choice. Time to go prune a bit more. Next year = more plants! :)

This video was right on time. I will be pruning my zucchini tomorrow! Thank you so much for very informative video

Thanks for sharing this! I actually enjoy pruning my plants, especially tomatoes. It's a relaxing experience for me where I can just zone out and work with my hands..as is most of gardening. :) I didn't know I could prune zucchini, good to know. It's my 1st year growing it and its super vigorous so far! Now I have more to prune lol

I had to cut my yellow squash back like that last year and I thought I killed it but nope. She kicked out quite a few more fruit before the cold weather shut it down. Thanks for the info! It helped us very much.

I was not able to garden until You tube! Appreciate the advise!

Hey Luke, I love your channel and find the information so useful. I have found pruning extremely helpful for zucchini plants, I'm just surprised that you are just breaking the bottom stems off instead of pruning them all the way back to the main stem because I've learned that if you leave the hollows of the broken off stems exposed it makes them susceptible to slugs and moisture which could potentially destroy the plant, so I always make sure that I prune all the way down as close as possible to the main stem to leave nothing exposed. Have you ever heard or tried this yourself?

My squash was having the rot and my plants leaves are overlapping...i can't wait to do this to my plants! Thank you

Thank you thank you thank you! I am growing in a high tunnel and it looks like a jungle in there. Glad to know that I can get rid of those leaves without killing my plants. My husband is calling it Jurassic Garden. Thanks again

I’d been pruning my zucchini but apparently not as much as I needed to...thanks for explaining the ‘why’. Hopefully mine will continue producing, I’ve had a bountiful harvest this far.

Headed to the garden now to prune my zucchini:). Thank you!!

Zucchini blossom time was always my favourite part of the summer. When I was a young boy my mother would harvest some of the blossoms without the centres, wash and dry them, then batter them with a thinned pancake style batter and fry them in oil like flapjacks. The blossoms are definitely edible and done that way they are so very yummy. Try it, you'll like it. It means a few less zucchini but, there's always a trade off for something good.

Your always there when I need information! Thank you for the details you include... I’m still on a learning curve. 2 Nd year major gardening... at 64 I do prune my Zucinni but now I know I can go father. Thank goodness!!! I planted mine pretty far apart. Because it is easier for me to pick. But still it’s going crazy! lol and we have been blessed with an incredibly rainy summer for Central Texas. A double edge blessing. I’m Going to go prune more!!! So relieved I can prune back more!!!! I have issues with my hands so I have to use clippers but that is fine.

I love the details and the actual visual on how to prune the zucchini plants.

I only click on videos that are at least 9 minutes, so I enjoy the long videos. Thanks for the information and putting all the effort into your videos!!

Will the same philosophy apply to cucumbers also, since they seem to grow similarly?

I just planted squash for the first time. I did not know that I need to defoliate my squash. I am so glad I cam across your vid. New subbie!!!

Maybe this year when I defoliate my Zucchini Plants, I’ll be able to catch those little buggers before they grow into giants!🤣🤣

This was so helpful as I am new to gardening. I am gonna head outside and remove some leaves as they are overlapping. Thank you for making it easy to understand and not so overwhelming. 🙂

Perfect timing...so glad I found your channel! This is exactly what my zucchini plant needs and I'll go tackle the pruning tonite. Thank you!!

I know this is an older video but I’m slowly going through your back log. Started gardening this year but noticing lots of areas I can improve in next year

I really enjoy you, your energy, smile, time,and your tips and tutorials! My garden is more productive, thank you!

Wonderful tip! I had never heard this before. Thanks so much!

Thank you so much for this info! I never realized I could do this to extend my zucchini season and plants....I thought powdery mildew was my Zukes death sentence! I really appreciate this video and keep up the good fight!

I noticed the rotting zucchini fruits a few days ago, and luckily I remembered you putting out a video on that subject - now I will probably have way too many zucchinis but that’s ok! Thanks, you’ve helped me out yet again!

Pruning lower leaves is also a great way to decrease hiding places for snakes. This is especially relevant in a lot of places in Australia, wherein snakes love to hang out around garden beds.

Thanks for your video! I've been struggling with my zucchini and I learned something new today 👍🏾😊🙌🏾

Thank you! I went out to prune in the mid-AM, and as I was finishing exposing the blossoms the bees started to come in!

Brother my heart rate literally jumped. Everything else I've read told me I had blossom end rot because of a calcium deficiency. Thank you! Heading out to prune my very bushy zucchinis right now.

Pruning demonstration starts at 5:35

I’ve done this twice this season and I feel like I could do it again. Does that make sense? The leaves just keep growing back 😳 isn’t that hindering zucchini production?

If you don't like zucchini, try making it into noodle form. It tastes so good.

Ah, I found this just in the nick of time because I was seeing this happening to my plants

Interesting video, plan on implementing this in my garden. Doesn’t ripping off those leaves enable squash borers to enter the plants? Keep up the great videos.

To save 11:12 of your life: To increase yields from zucchini and other squashes, trim the older, lower leaves and any branches that cross. This allows greater airflow, lessens the risk of powdery mildew, and improves pollination. Or you could listen to him say the same thing over and over 20 or 30 times at breakneck speed. I don't mind an 11-minute video if it contains 11 minutes of information.

It’s 2024 and this video was suggested to me. Great video that still holds true today. Last year I was trimming my squash for the first time, I’m living in Maryland, very different than growing in Arizona lol. Anyway, I was worried I would hurt the plant. I only did some of the zucchini plants, leaving the others (this was an experiment, I hadn’t watched videos on this yet) I ended up loosing the untrimmed ones to powdery mildew, the trimmed ones lasted into fall. This year after watching many videos on this I will definitely be trimming all of my plants! I will also be planting a second batch in fall, when the vine borers aren’t an issue. On one plant I might even try the method I saw someone do, it was placing a pole beside the squash plant and guiding the plant to grow up the pole. This kept the vine borers out of there, air circulation was at its max and the vine kept growing up! I’ve been growing forever but RU-vid has been awesome for helping me learn ways to have an even better harvest, and adapt to new growing environments. I love your channel, great info! Thank you!

I did this last summer and what a huge difference it made! I got many more zucchini's to grow! Thanks!

Loved this information! This will be useful in my own garden❤ I have been gardening since I was very young and I wasn't aware of this pruning technique. Always so glad to learn more! Thanks

exactly what I needed! Just ran out and gave my plants a haircut!. thanks!

I hadn't even finished wathcing the video that my courgettes were free of 30% of their leaves :')

Thank you! As a first time garden planter I over planted and this was so helpful because I didn't know you could prune zucchini plants.

Very informational, new knowledge for me- I immediately went to my garden and tried it, thank you.

I'm so glad I saw this before my zucchini took off! So I saw a squash with blossom end rot, and remembered you covered it. I'm pruning my squash today! Some of my plants have been turning on their sides. Is this normal? I'm thinking that pruning will help stop it.

This was great info!! Deffinately going to snip back those leaves.

Would you do the same for vertically grown? Another question: Does the tube of the broken leaves leave the plant vulnerable to bugs getting inside?

Thanks! Great info Hopefully zucchini and tomatoes will thrive in my garden next year. Wish I found this video wayyy earlier lol.

I needed a boost of confidence before heading out to prune my zucchini! I just got it- thank you!! :)

Yes. Yes. Totally believe your content in valuable!

This is Jimmy from Indiana. I know this is an older video. It's very helpful. I'm going to try pruning this year. My question is. Do I wait till the blooms start before pruning? Thanks

This worked fairly well for me, especially since my squash was planted fairly late in the season. Managed to get plenty of squash from August through October. One tip though, and that is this - be sure to wear some gloves when picking or pruning, as the leaves and stems do have spines that, while not painful, can be irritating, and that was with yellow squash - I'm not sure if others have more wicked spines or not.

I don't know how you grab those bare-handed like that!! That would irritate my skin like crazy! Good video and good tips. Now I feel like I should go out and defoliate a bit... I think I'll use some gloves, though lol

Good tips about treaming zucchini plants.I started from the seeds maybe too early(using growing lights and blankets).They made it(used only fish emoltion).Now i have 5 beautifull plants,one already in the garden the others i still keep in large pots to move them around.What i noticed today,that one pot started making mail flowers while the other only feemail once.The same seeds and different responds.With your advise i am going to plant them together(beside each other) so they will do it!!.What do you think?and thank you.

are you not worried the vine borer will get in the fresh cut stems? I thought that would draw the borer !

With this information, the zucchini plants might do well this year.

Very helpful! Thanks for this! I was cutting off leaves and thought maybe I was doing harm but seeing your plants look like mine do right now after being cut is super encouraging!

Did you do a video about Squash bugs? I have a problem with them.

Every time you say Kriss Kross for some strange reason my trousers keeps turning back to front and i keep sayig Jump....Jump....i guess my children grew up in that Kriss Kross era...... Good Video all the way from london UK...... Jump Jump...

Thank you so much for this video. I had zucchini and summer squash plants with blossom end rot and did not know what was going on as there were tons of female and male flowers on them. I pruned them out really well and cannot believe how much better they are doing. Getting full grown fruit now and the new growth is incredible, so I have to keep pruning.

Thank you! I always struggle with powdery mildew and have never heard of pruning my zucchini plants! I look forward to results!

Thanks for this - I'm growing squashes for the first time and had no idea what I was doing. My plants thank you.

Thank you... I was thinking my plants was healthy with all those leave but the vegetables was not groing... good to know... thaks... 🥰

I thought I had powdery mildew. Last years plant was a solid green leaf, this years has the same pattern as yours. Is it a different variety of zucchini? Thank you. the 😸

Could you do a video about dealing with squash bore worms? That is what kills our zucchini and squash in Mississippi. Thanks

Luke, I was forced to prune our green and golden zucchini due to space constraints in our raised bed. After I did, the plants had an explosion in zucchini production.

Thanks Luke! Perfect timing for me. I learned a lot. I planted too close, and need to prune some leaves. I was getting the blossom end rot. Now I know why and can fix it!😁

I solved powdery mildew issue by just buying seeds that are powdery mildew resistant 👋😃

Thank you for the valuable information! We will try this on our zucchini and summer squash!

Thanks! I’ve “farmed” my whole life and never knew to do this.

Your videos are great, I've learned so much in the past few month by watching and you can see the result in the garden! Thank you for explaining the how and the why behind gardening. I've been sharing your videos with my Dad this Summer and he really like them too. Thanks again!

Thanks bunches! I need to do this and was a bit sheepish about how much I need to thin! Very valuable information!!

Don’t worry about length- we like to learn!

I just pruned my zucchini a few days ago. I didn't however do the crossover leaves in the middle. Back to the garden I go!! Perfect video at the PERFECT time!! Thanks a bunch

This was very useful as my courgettes were rotting at the ends and there is loads of foliage so now I know what to do

Ok!! Hadn’t thought of pruning it!! Thanks!!

I am a first time grower, your video was helpfull

Thanks enjoyed your info and that will help...cheers! 💚🍃💚

Wow,,, you just addressed so many of my issues!

I never realized removing lower leaves could increase production and eliminate end rot.

I never pruned zucchini before today. We will see how they produce. I was taught to always plant 3 in a hill, and space out the hills. I worked for a produce farmer as a teen. We would plant 5 seeds to a hill and thin to 3 plant. Yes we would mount the dirt, with about a 6" mound. I see some people plant single plants in a row. This year I planted 4 plants, (thinned to 4 plants), evenly space, in a 4X8 raised bed. I also planted 2 hills, like I traditionally do. We will see what works.

Awesome video, Luke. Got my Trifecta in the mail yesterday and just used on my plants. Thank you very much for all the knowledge you are passing on to your viewers. You are revolutionizing-modernizing gardening for several generations past, present, and future. We all benefit from your vision, respectfully Julia from Florida 🌴

Wow, I'm so glad I watched this

Thanks, I'm headed out to the garden to prune! Last year I had hundreds of squash beetles. Got Neem oil this year and it's working beautifully to spray the ground under the zucchini early morning. I've seen two or three and moved them out and sprayed.

Who needs to increase zucchini production? My only problem with zucchini production has been what on earth to do with all the zucchini I end up with!

I definitely did not know about pulling leaves. So that's the trick!

I see a lambs quarter seedling. Those are great spinach substitutes. . . Or noxious weeds.