courgette question

[madbrad]

Not a 100% sure so thought I better ask my courgette plant is romping away & a flowers are starting to appear is it right that I have to take the male flower off when big enough to pollinate the female fruit? & is it easy enough to notice the difference?

Thanks for looking in Mad Brad

[Lord_Azrael]

..and you'll be harvesting them nearly every day and wondering what the hell to do with them all!!

[Paulottie]

Welcome to the vine your Lordship

[Wendy]

I was wondering about the same thing, my courgettes are lovely and healthy looking and are flowering, however the flowers seem to just fall off after a few days with no fruit growing. Are these the males falling off? and is this normal?
im paranoid now because my broad beans have many many flowers and just keep dying with no pods forming.

[andrewo]

I've not even planted mine yet, they'll go into the ground in the next few weeks and will be covered with a cloche, just shows how the weather crumbles around here!

[Flummery]

Yes the first flowers are usually male and they fall off with nothing to show for it. The female flowers follow shortly and both male and female ensure a continuation of fruit.

[madbrad]

thanks for the replys & welcomes Guys & Gals much appreciated looking forward to hopefully getting a successful crop

Madbrad

[veggieginger]

My courgettes are also starting to show signs of flowers so thanks for the advice. I hope they survive though as it is extremely windy here at the moment. We put some stuff outside in the glorious April we had as we were running out of romm inside!! Regretting it abit now.

May I ask does the same flower theory apply to squashes such as butternut/spaghetti which I am also growing?

[Alice]

Veggieginger, if it's windy you can put a bit of fleece over your courgettes and squash. And yes, the flowers on the squash work just the same way as the courgettes.
Here's my very first baby courgette for this year and some squash, courgette and cucumber outside. I put some fleece over them if it's cold or windy.

[veggieginger]

Need to get some fleece!! Thanks for the tip Alice. So far only lost a courgette leaf and a whole bean plant to wind so we are quite pleased.

My courgettes look like the other pics (even though wind battered) so quite pleased. Will post some pics too later.

Thanks all, this is a very helpful site for ignorant newbies like me and Mr VG

[Getoffmylande]

Mine are still in the greenhouse yet as the first attempt didn't work.They got too wet as the bottom of the tray where i put the plant pots wasn't holed. Last year i went a bit mad as i got my plot late and ended up putting 24 Plants in. They went like billyo and i had people running and hiding everytime i appeared with a carrier bag. My son was taking 10lb or so every week for the teachers at school. Apart from watering which i did with the soaker hose at the base of the plant and a good dose of muck when they go in they dont need much looking after.

[moggssue]

I'm a late starter with my courgettes (well, with everything I guess!) - only planted the seeds last weekend, outside as well,I hope they'll be okay and the soil is warm enough for them. Good luck to all for a bumper crop!