Courgette Flower Buds?

[vikkib]

I started noticing a few flower buds on my courgette plants about a week ago but the latest one (top left on the first picture) looks different to the rest.

Is it a flower bud or a side shoot or something else?!



Should I be doing anything with the flower buds or just letting them develop naturally?

[zazen999]

Yes it is, [that's the courgette behind the flower bud], but these usually rot before they are ready to be harvested at normal size. So, what I do, is to nip off the first courgettes at about 3 inches if they make it. Then they keep producing and you get quicker bigger ones.

The reason they don't make it is because the males aren't really ready [story of my life]....and the females get bored waiting. So, until the males get big enough to make a difference and some decent pollen, the females don't get fertilised and rot away. That's my theory anyway.

[taff]

Last year mine grew anyway [ I thought], without male flowers, which I thought was a bit strange at the time, the male flowers didn't appear until there were 2 or 3 courgettes growing, none of them disappeared, but maybe I just didn't notice the earliest ones dropping off or there were some growing nearby.
I'm going to keep an eye out this year....

[vikkib]

Yes it is, [that's the courgette behind the flower bud], but these usually rot before they are ready to be harvested at normal size. So, what I do, is to nip off the first courgettes at about 3 inches if they make it. Then they keep producing and you get quicker bigger ones.

The reason they don't make it is because the males aren't really ready [story of my life]....and the females get bored waiting. So, until the males get big enough to make a difference and some decent pollen, the females don't get fertilised and rot away. That's my theory anyway.

Thanks for the info Zazen!

I'm so excited! The first signs of a crop!!! Albeit one that may need to be harvested at the 3" stage!

I will keep an eye on them. (That kind of goes without saying atm though - I am quite literally watching things growing in front of my eyes! )

[zazen999]

Last year mine grew anyway [ I thought], without male flowers, which I thought was a bit strange at the time, the male flowers didn't appear until there were 2 or 3 courgettes growing, none of them disappeared, but maybe I just didn't notice the earliest ones dropping off or there were some growing nearby.
I'm going to keep an eye out this year....

They will often get to an inch or two and then the end will just go brown. Sometimes they don't. Sometimes they just sit there the same size, so I lop them off and make the plant get the next ones growing.

The big ones come soon enough.

[Bramble_killer]

I went out to look at my courgettes and have just the first signs of flower buds on 4 of the 5 plants Thanks zazen

[vikkib]

I went out to look at my courgettes and have just the first signs of flower buds on 4 of the 5 plants Thanks zazen

It's so exciting isn't it?!


Another question!

I've just thought about feeding my courgette plants and have read in several posts that they need feeding with tomato food when they start 'setting fruit'...

... what does setting fruit mean?!

Does it mean when the little baby courgettes start to show behind the flower buds like on the pic in my first post?!

[jemma_charlie]

Whilst on the subject of courgettes, when we do get fruit do we cut it off or remove with a twist/pull action?

Vikkib- as I understand it, setting fruit is when the plant starts to produce fruit, however as a newbie I could be wrong and if that is the case I'm sure someone will be along shortly to correct me. :-)

[taff]

vikkib, yes, that's setting fruit.
jemma, I cut mine off, twist and pull, if you get it wrong,can end up taking bits of the main stem away with it. Best to keep that one for rhubarb.

[zazen999]

Whilst on the subject of courgettes, when we do get fruit do we cut it off or remove with a twist/pull action?

Vikkib- as I understand it, setting fruit is when the plant starts to produce fruit, however as a newbie I could be wrong and if that is the case I'm sure someone will be along shortly to correct me. :-)

I have various tools in my garden that are old kitchen stuff that I use for weeding and things - one of these is an old kitchen knife [short and broken] that I use purely to harvest courgettes, cukes and beans. i keep it stuck into the soil usually near the last place I used it.