Courgette Flowers.

[Bigmallly]

Are the male & female flowers supposed to open at the same time. I have some lovely looking courgettes but have never seen the flowers open at the same time. It's either one or the other.

[Jeanied]

I find the male flowers all show up first, smoking fags and drinking from a can, kicking stones - until the females show up later. Then they wait patiently for a male flower to notice they are there. Or the pollinators to pay them a visit.

ETA - you can keep the male flowers in a glass of water in the fridge I understand - they are saved to use in Bengali cooking this way.

[Bigmallly]

Cheers Jeanied, I have also heard that the flowers are edible but will leave that alone I think.......BTW Congrats on your Mombership.

[RobintheBobin]

Courgette flowers stuffed with mozzarella and an ickle bit of chilli then deep fried in tempura style batter mmmmmmmmmmmmm...

[flubba-jubba]

ETA - you can keep the male flowers in a glass of water in the fridge I understand - they are saved to use in Bengali cooking this way.

so it wont effect the plant much if i go outside now and start cutting off the male flowers then??

im having the same problem, the male and females flowers are not opening at the same time, hence my courgettes not being pollonated properly and going all funny on the ends

[glaw5]

I've always wondered about this too. When is the best time to harvest the male flowers? And if you do is it beneficial or not to the number of courgettes you'll get?
Thanks a lot for any help.

[OllieMartin]

Cheers Jeanied, I have also heard that the flowers are edible but will leave that alone I think.......BTW Congrats on your Mombership.

Courgette flowers stuffed with mozzarella and an ickle bit of chilli then deep fried in tempura style batter mmmmmmmmmmmmm...

I just chop the bottom off the flower to easily remove the stamen and then slice the petals up and put raw on salads. They have a very pleasant floral taste to them and add an interesting orange. I think you'll enjoy.