Courgette problem

[Phyllis Smith]

Hi fellow gardeners,

I'm growing courgettes, don't remember which variety, in grow bags on my patio, next to a brick wall. They get a lot of afternoon sunshine, and it's been pretty hot & dry here in the North West. I've tried to keep them watered well, having put 1 litre milk jugs, with the bottoms removed, upside down, to get water down to the roots better--I've been giving them 1 to 2 litres of water per plant each day, except for a couple of days that my husband just gave the garden a quick once-over with the hose. Here's my problem: My courgette's leaves are yellowing and dying, and I've had to throw away about 10 little courgettes today because they were growing normally at the stem end, but at the blossom end, they were much narrower, and had yellowed, and some had started to rot. I hope I didn't mess up by chopping them up and putting them into the compost bin! Can anyone tell me why my courgettes are growing in this deformed fashion, turning yellow at the blossom end, and dying/rotting? I'm not sure if I'm over-watering, under-watering, it's too hot, or what. Oh, I did give them a small feeding--less than 1/2 a litre--of compost tea this weekend. We took a knee-high stocking and filled it 1/2 full with compost from the bin, and dropped it into a bucket of tap water. I fed this to my okra & cucumbers with no apparent ill effects.

Thanks,
Phyllis

[Phyllis Smith]

Hi fellow gardeners,

I'm growing courgettes, don't remember which variety, in grow bags on my patio, next to a brick wall. They get a lot of afternoon sunshine, and it's been pretty hot & dry here in the North West. I've tried to keep them watered well, having put 1 litre milk jugs, with the bottoms removed, upside down, to get water down to the roots better--I've been giving them 1 to 2 litres of water per plant each day, except for a couple of days that my husband just gave the garden a quick once-over with the hose. Here's my problem: My courgette's leaves are yellowing and dying, and I've had to throw away about 10 little courgettes today because they were growing normally at the stem end, but at the blossom end, they were much narrower, and had yellowed, and some had started to rot. I hope I didn't mess up by chopping them up and putting them into the compost bin! Can anyone tell me why my courgettes are growing in this deformed fashion, turning yellow at the blossom end, and dying/rotting? I'm not sure if I'm over-watering, under-watering, it's too hot, or what. Oh, I did give them a small feeding--less than 1/2 a litre--of compost tea this weekend. We took a knee-high stocking and filled it 1/2 full with compost from the bin, and dropped it into a bucket of tap water. I fed this to my okra & cucumbers with no apparent ill effects.

Thanks,
Phyllis

P.S. I've harvested about 15 or so lovely, healthy courgettes as well, and there are lots of new leaves forming, and lots of healthy-looking young courgettes still growing normally. Some of the mature fruits that I harvested had narrowed at the blossom end, but didn't yellow or rot.

[cupcake]

I've never had much luck with courgettes! My OH jokes that I'm the only grower in England that has never had a glut! But from what I've heard , at the start of the season, quite often there,are only female flowers, and this results in the embryo courgettes aborting. You need flowers of both sexes to be there at the same time for the courgettes to be produced. This corrects itself as the season goes on. So I would just continue with your regime and give them a feed of tomato fertilizer every so often.

[rustylady]

I think the ones you had to cut off simply hadn't been pollinated. I do wonder whether you're giving them enough water though in this weather. When I grew stuff in growbags I used to cut small slits in the sides, about an inch from the bottom. I then used to water steadily, a litre or so at a time, till the water started seeping from the slits.

[Phyllis Smith]

Thanks, ladies! Much appreciated! I had a look at my SECOND lot of courgettes last evening, and it does look very one-sided...lots of male blossoms, not to many female. Hope that corrects itself!! They're lovely plants, and situated in a completely different location.