corgette problem needing your experienced advice please

[biancatagine's-veg]

Hi ,I am new here and also new to gardening.I am primary teacher from Birmingham looking to make the best out of my back garden .I am here to ask for advice ,as I don't quite know what to do with my courgette plants that have started to produce tiny little courgettes ,but sadly those are turning yellow and dying.They are still in the house in a sunny spot by the kitchen window, in 10 '' pots ,individually potted.I have 6 plants and all have the same problem.I grew them from seeds that I bought at the local garden centre.They have plenty male flowers at the moment,look nice and happy, with fantastic foliage...no visible signs of any pest or disease .
I was thinking that there is no risk of frost anymore ,so should I just plant them out in the soil ? any idea what is happening?
Last year I had the same problem with the squashes ,but those were in the garden ,not indoors ...
many thanks for your time,God bless
Bianca

[Capsid]

The courgettes will come and you won't know what to do with them! The plants are still quite small and the early courgettes do tend to drop off. I haven't even sown mine yet and won't plant them out until June. You can plant yours out now but you will need to protect them by covering them with newspaper overnight if a frost is forecast.

[SarrissUK]

Hi Bianca and welcome!
I have no idea why the courgettes are turning yellow and dying - maybe a lack of food?
I wouldn't dare think about putting courgettes, squashes or pumpkins outside - I killed quite a few almost exactly this time last year due to a near-frost snap. I'd wait another two or three weeks, and pot them up in bigger pots in the meantime in case they're getting cramped.
Or.. someone that knows better will come along and tell you lol

[veggiechicken]

Is it the little courgettes that are turning yellow and dropping off, or the plants?

[vegnut]

Welcome to the vine.
The female flowers need to be pollinated by the male flowers, and if they are indoors this is probably not happening.
As was said earlier, the first courgettes do tend to turn yellow and fall off. Maybe also to do with pollination and not too many pollinating insects around in this rotten weather !!! Just a thought.

[zazen999]

Maybe also to do with pollination and not too many pollinating insects around in this rotten weather !!! Just a thought.

Especially not as it is still in the kitchen!

Bianca - you need to start hardening your courgette off, which means getting them used to the weather and conditions outdoors a little at a time; then when they are fully hardened off they need to go outside. However in this weather, it might sulk a little as it is still quite cool and breezy outside.

[Two_Sheds]

Bianca, you've had sound advice already. Your main problem is you sowed them too early, that's all. Next year you'll start them 2 weeks before your last frost date, and it'll all go much more smoothly

[tamsin]

You could pollinate them manually with a paintbrush but it's probably best not to let them develop until they are in the ground anyway as they may struggle a bit in the pots to support the growth.

[jacob]

Can I suggest a more robust approach to helping out pollination? I'd rip off the male flower, remove its petals and the poke the whole thing into the female flower and leave it there...

First female flower on my early greenhouse courgettes -- sadly no boys yet, so I'll have to wait for the first proper courgette!

[biancatagine's-veg]

thanks to all of you for the advice,yes it seems like lack of insects( in the kitchen ...) and me being to enthusiastic to say the least and sowing early ...small pots too...
I decided to put them out today ,still in their pots , in the garden ...but after reading your replays will go and bring them back in for the night...to be safe.
however I planted out 3 tomatoes and 12 gherkin plants ,but they are all covered ...so hope for the best.The tomatoes had trusses of flowers and are quite tall but leggy and flimsy stems so tied them well on a cage and the cues had female flowers about to bloom ,so not much choice, but to put them out ..fingers crossed now...will let you know ,how it goes.

[biancatagine's-veg]

hi ,yes the tiny ones ,that have tiny blossom ,but not flowers yet.If the flowers were blooming would just polinate them by hand, as I have plenty male flowers but none of the litlle courgettes are growing past the thickness of a a BBQ skewer...they just turn yellow and dye off...well maybe should just buy new seeds and try again...

[Sarico]

they are thivk as bbq skewer? maybe they are just all male? when i grow last year i remember then before they open the female flower were tick as a little cocktail sausage... but i remember that i had a lot of male flower in the beggining and i was worry too. but after awhile all the female open with the male... sow more seed just in case but don't give up on them... i already have 3 male flower but no female...

edit: sorry but how big is the pot? i have my in 5 inch pot and soon i have to plant them because the plant my get stressed and let flower out....

[sweetcorn]

I have always found that the first month or so my courgettes have little baby fruits that shrivel and fall off, then later on as the weather improves and the insects are around they thrive and we become submerged in millions of the things so much that we find every meal consists of a courgette in some form or another! Certainly it's been so cold that planting outside would not be a good idea. In fact I've sown seeds inside that haven't germinated this year, and I can only think it's because the light levels and temperatures have been so low.

[biancatagine's-veg]

they grow in 10 or 12 inch pots ,not quite sure which .They look rather well and they have many male flowers ,that are blooming but the tiny courgettes are turning yellow and falling off.Anyway will not worry as much ,as it seems to be common to other growers.I bring them out in the day and harden them ,so can plant out in the garden soon.