Playing matchmaker for your zucchini, and other tips for a summer garden favorite

Some of the most common questions I’m asked by backyard vegetable growers concern zucchini. The plants either produce like crazy, inspiring memes about gardeners anonymously leaving overflow harvests on their neighbors’ doorsteps, or they don’t produce any zucchini at all. The best way to remove powdery mildew is to wash it away with water, but don’t allow water to sit on leaves overnight, as this would encourage more mildew growth. Mildew diseases can be prevented by spacing plants sufficiently apart so that moisture doesn’t become trapped between crowded leaves; by opting for drip irrigation instead of overhead watering; and by watering early in the morning to allow a full day’s worth of sunshine to dry leaves before dark. Squash bugs are larger pests that can be lethal to zucchini, as the damage they cause interferes with the plant’s water uptake ability.