Courgettes soft near flower end, slightly yellow?

[chris]

Would this be down to erratic watering? They're in pots, but I've noticed that they're soft (inside, is pretty much hollow and brown) towards the flower end of the fruit. Can't see any signs of pests, but I've not been watering them as much as I should so thinking that's the only thing possible...

[muslimgrower]

its because they have been partially pollinated by the bees. that's why they are yellowing at the end and are soft..

i can show you have to manually pollinate the female flower if you want me to ?

[chris]

Strange, as there's loads of other cucurbits around it.. I've two pumpkin plants right next to it, each with over 10 male flowers (in bloom) on it, and two pots of other courgette varieties next to it, with males in bloom.... Odd, maybe my bees are spoilt for choice

I'm an expert in flower nookie now, thanks - had advice from here before and have managed to get a load of pumpkins that way My random prodding seems to have worked anyway

[muslimgrower]

aww cant i show you anyway

i taken pics and everyfink

[Somersetveggie]

aww cant i show you anyway

i taken pics and everyfink

Hi Muslimgrower

I'd be interested to know, as I'm desperate to get some butternut squash from my plants this year....

[falkon]

aww cant i show you anyway

i taken pics and everyfink

yes please go on...

[muslimgrower]

sometimes bees and insects partially pollinate the female flower and not fully, and the fruit will grow around 2 inches and mould and wither away simply because it has been partially pollinated, This happens in countries with cooler temperatures, but you can help out by hand pollinating the female flower.....


Watch your zucchini closely for the maturation of its male and female flowers Male flowers usually appear first and have a thin stem. Female flowers appear later and have a small, baby zucchini developing between the base of the flower and the vine. It is important that both male and female flowers are mature and opening on their own before you attempt to pollinate them.







male flower



male flower with the petals cut off



cut from the base of the stem

[muslimgrower]

inside of female flower






gently rub and dab onto female, spreading the pollen around





female flower ( stigma) covered with male pollen

[muslimgrower]

any questions ?

[Somersetveggie]

Thank you muslimgrower .

[pinns]

Great pics Muslimgrower, thanks

[Jeanied]

Now that is seriously clever!

[FionaH]

Looks like courgette porn to me! Thanks though, great pics

[lynda66]

i found when the flower starts to wilt, if you break it off, the end of the fruit doesn't rot anywhere near as often,

remove all that are already going brown, and you could still get a decent crop