Is there a gardening book like this? And a zucchini question.

[Biscuits & Gravy]

I'm looking for a book that is good for beginning gardeners. I'd love something that helps me problem solve. Like "If your zucchini plant is doing x, the problem could be y, and the solution might be z."

My zucchini plant keeps producing blossoms, but there is no sign of an actual zucchini coming in anywhere. Is this typical? If not, what can I do? The leaves on the bottom were yellow so based on advice from a friend I got some blood meal and treated the plant with it. I'm not sure how often I should do that though.

I just took 2 tomatoes off my plants because they were not growing and my plants are still really small. I didn't realize I needed to do that so they've been sitting there for a while now. Hopefully I didn't ruin the plants by not doing it sooner.

See why I need a book?

[SagMom]

Originally Posted by Biscuits & Gravy

My zucchini plant keeps producing blossoms, but there is no sign of an actual zucchini coming in anywhere. Is this typical? If not, what can I do?

How long has this been going on? My first thought is that the flowers you're seeing are male and the plant hasn't produced any females yet. (Only the females will produce zucchini.) If there are not enough insects around to pollinate once you have both types, then you can hand-pollinate. Just pick the male flowers and sort of brush or tap the pollen into the females. (The female flowers are larger and have a thicker stem, which is what develops into the zucchini.)

[Biscuits & Gravy]

It has been going on for a few weeks. I'll check them out and see what I can do. So artificial insemination for zucchinis, huh?

[Owen'nZoe]

I like Tanya Denckla's book "The Gardener's A to Z Guide to Growing Organic Food" for what you describe. It is filled with a ton of useful information that is accessible to beginners, and it is arranged well so finding information is easy.