No courgettes forming

[Marb67]

I have very healthy, big courgette plants with flowers in various spots in the garden. Bees and hoverflies are pollinating as well as myself with a fine paint brush just in case. They have been doing this a few weeks but still no courgettes forming.

What could be the cause of this ?

[chris]

They tend to throw out male flowers before females so pollinating insects know where to come. They'll also only throw out males if they are stressed from lack of water / erratic watering.

Are you feeding them?

[Bigmallly]

As Chris says, are they all the same sex flowers Marb?

[PyreneesPlot]

Mine still only have males flowers - all a bit (very) late this year.
Don't worry, the glut will probably be along soon!

[lottie dolly]

when peeps ask these kind of questions,it helps you to see,you are not alone,mine are the same,i have only had 2 so far,butternuts ext are not very busy on the males either,plants growing health,just needs time

[Marb67]

I do feed them comrey and they are watered ok. It's been raining heavy for the last few days anyway.

[Marb67]

Still nothing forming. I have no idea what sex the flowers are male or female. No way of telling.

[rustylady]

Of course there's a way of telling Marb. Look at Mally's photo in post #3. Females have a baby courgette behind the flower and males just a thin stem.

[Marb67]

I do see tiny weeny pale yellow sickly looking courgette beginnings but they never get beyond that size. Everytime I have grown courgettes in the past I have had at least some fruit. Is it because the season has been slow to get going ?

[leonmc0708]

Isounds like they are not being fertilised

[Marb67]

They def are being fertilized as we have plenty of bees and hover flies and I have also done it myself with a small soft paint brush so It isn't that.

[rustylady]

Got any pictures of your plants Marb?

[MrsCordial]

Marb if I've followed this properly, you're not sure how to distinguish between male and female flowers, but you've been pollinating? I'm aware that might sound snarky but it's not my intention at all. Could you have been unintentionally attempting to pollinate male flowers? Female flowers have a noticeable, if dinky, fruit behind them, so make sure they get the pollen from the male flowers, which grow on thin stems.

My courgettes have been slow this year too. I've harvested precisely three so far, from three plants. Whoop de doo.

[Marb67]

If there are only male flowers and female it's impossible for me to pollinate them.

[PyreneesPlot]

Does this help?

Two flowers on the plant just now -



The male flowere on it's thin stem in the foreground and a female with the embryo fruit behind the flower at the back of shot.

I only picked our first courgette yesterday.