Courgettes - help!

[aj12]

Hi,

Please can anyone tell me what has happened to my courgettes. They seemed to be doing so well, but over the last 2 days, the fruits seem to be shriveling up! Do they need more water/less water/feeding? It has been so hot, I have been watering every evening. Thanks

[deltz]

Im not sure but I think its because the female plants havent been pollinated.

[maypril]

Is it possible that they're not being fertilised. Do you have many male flowers?

[frogdoctor]

I`d say it is a pollination thing, time to get your ear buds out.. And be careful how you water them, water around the base with water that is not too cold..

[mrscorpio]

Hi
I had exactly the same problem 3 weeks ago. I lost the first 3 or 4 courgettes as they started to rot. ( I cut them off so as not to infect the plant ) Since then I have been getting a better balance of male and female flowers and just rubbed my finger in the male then the female to aid pollination. I also noticed more bees around in the last week doing this for me. I have now picked and eaten 9 courgettes and counting.
The female flowers are the ones with the courgette forming. I noticed on your piccy that you have a male flower forming near the center above the left hand female.

I was assured by the users on here that I may lose the first courgettes, but when they get going I will get loads. I now see what they were saying.

[aj12]

Thanks

Thanks everyone for your help.
I don't seem to have had many male flowers, but there looks to be a few growing now, so hopefully it'll get going. I have removed few courgettes there were and will be careful to water round the base.

Thanks again....fingers crossed!!