Courgettes are doing my head in!!!

[Duronal]

if you're so worried about pollination why not DIY it with a cotton bud? You could also put some cheesy saxaphone music on and a big moustache and then poke the flowers....but i'm pretty sure this isn't necessary....However it would be highly amusing if not inapproriate!

If not just use your cotton bud and dab the pollen from the stamen of the male flower onto the stigma of the female flower....courgettes all round.

[veggiewomble]

If I am unsure whether a courgette has been pollenated or not... and the flower at the end has wilted and dropped off, should I leave the courgette on the plant, or pluck it and eat it? These courgettes are about 2" long and about the width of a finger. Do they continue growing after the flower has dropped off?

veg

[Winky]

Pick 'em and eat 'em, Veggiewomble - if you don't the slugs will! It's too early for the courgettes to have gotten into their stride yet, I've had a few from my plants, that the slugs haven't got to yet, that are finger width and 2-3" long - picked them, washed them, and ate them - mmmmm yummy .

[veggiewomble]

Actually I am growing my courgettes in large containers on my 4th floor balcony, so slugs are NOT a problem.... Do the courgettes get larger even when the flowers have dropped off and I don't know if they have been properly pollenated?

My plants are breaking out in flowers, but so far they don't seem to bloom at the same time, and the rain isn't helping much!!!!

veg

[di]

[QUOTE=veggiewomble;236173]Actually I am growing my courgettes in large containers on my 4th floor balcony, so slugs are NOT a problem....

we used to live in 3rd floor flat & would still occassionally get slugs,if theres undetected slugs eggs in your compost\soil you could very well get slugs~hungry baby slugs!just to warn you to keep your eyes peeled!

[FoxHillGardener]

Do the courgettes get larger even when the flowers have dropped off and I don't know if they have been properly pollenated?

My plants are breaking out in flowers, but so far they don't seem to bloom at the same time, and the rain isn't helping much!!!!

veg

They will keep getting bigger with or without their flower if they've been pollinated. If not pollinated, flower drops off, tiny fruits go manky and drop off. But, if you catch them in time, you can eat the tiny ones

[veggiewomble]

I'll keep my eyes peeled. I've not had slug problems before on my balcony though, and have added no new compost this year, so fingers crossed....

Just curious. If you have a bunch of small finger-sized courgettes, how can you tell if they have been pollenated or not? I *think* they haven't but I don't know for sure. I don't want to wait until they start rotting though...!

veg

[markwcel]

we got a 3" courgette growing with the flower just opening now...as this is the first flower opening i guess it wont get pollenated. do i just wait for the flower to drop off and eat it...or do i cut both off and eat the flower and baby courgette...can u eat bothr male & female flowers deep fried in tempura batter...sorry for the ramble...first year with courgettes

[wyrdsister]

Hi there everyone - I hope I'm not repeating previous questions but I have an ever growing courgette plant with about 8 finger sized fruits that appear to be getting a little bigger every few days. I have had several flowers come and drop off but I have not seen a SINGLE MALE FLOWER - does this mean I have some kind of weird asexual plant that won't provide decent sized fruits??

[mcsee]

Here's a photo of a fruit with the (female) flower still attached. It's not unusual for the flower to stay attached until the plant is a mature size.

markwcel - The baby courgette will probably wither and die if it didn't get pollinated.

It is really best to let them do their own thing, especially in the early stages of fruiting as some flowers may not fruit.