I have a courgette flower.... now what?

[OverWyreGrower]

Hurray! I have my first courgette flower, but now what do I do?

I don't want to eat the flower (although I know that I can), so do I just leave it and wait for my courgette?

On a similar front, I've got 2 or 3 baby cucumbers. Do I need to do anything, or just let them grow!

Thanks

OWG

[Flummery]

Just leave it, talk to it, encourage it, admire it! Don't be surprised if it just drops off - don't take it personally! Often the male flowers come first - they have a thin stalk behind them. When both male and female (chunkier stalk - the start of a baby courgette) are present you will get, through the wonders of nature, fertilisation.
So let them grow and enjoy the wonderful flowers. They remind me of lilies and people pay the earth for bunches of them.

[Cutecumber]

You shouldn't need to do anything at all - let the plants get on with it!

Is the courgette flower male or female? The male ones have just a slender stalk which attaches them onto the plant, the female ones have a small courgette (looks like a fat stem).

Often, to our frustration, male flowers appear first when there are no female ones to fertilise! It usually all works out in the end, though, as the female flowers will appear eventually.

On occasion, perhaps if it is cool and there are not many pollinating insects, the female flowers may not be fertilised - in this case, the baby courgette does not grow and rots off. If you find this to be a problem, you can manually fertilise your female flowers by cutting off a male flower, stripping the petals and gently pushing it into the female flowers. It all feels a bit rude, to be honest!! Generally, it is not necessary to do this, but it's an option.

Your baby cucumbers should just grow without a problem.

Remember to give both plenty of water - the fruits are mostly water.

[OverWyreGrower]

Thanks for your replies... I investigated the flower this morning, and found about 5 others!

A mix of male and female, so I've finally got courgettes! YAY!

If I wasn't in work, I'd do a little happy dance... well, I'll go and shut my door and do one anyway

[SunnyD]

If I wasn't in work, I'd do a little happy dance... well, I'll go and shut my door and do one anyway

Glad it's not just me

Oh - and when the flowers wilt, don't worry, they're supposed to do that

[Flummery]

In fact they'll drop off!

[Sugarplum Fairy]

Hello there,
Just read your very interesting messages!
Can someone tell me what to do if there are ONLY FEMALE flowers on my courgettes. By what I've read so far this is rather unusual, but I have already lost the first set of females to rot - I presume due to non-fertilisation.
I would appreciate your input.
Thanks very much

[Dolly13]

Hi Sugarplum Fairy
I too only had female flowers on both my courgette plants. I had 10 female flowers on each plant and no males. The courgettes on each grew to about 2" but not much more. The male flowers are all finally coming through but now there aren't enough females - argh!!

I too would appreciate any feedback about the female:male flower ratio and getting larger courgettes. (I've got yellow courgettes).

Thank you.

[indigox]

It just takes a while for them to get in synch, it's still early in the season for courgettes, so don't worry. In the next few weeks your plants should start producing courgettes more regularly. Mine are just starting to get to that stage, it takes a while for them to get into their stride, but once they do they produce loads.

[HerrHolz Paul]

Courgette

It`s about 10 years later... but Hey! It`s courgette time! If I pick the new flowers will the courgette still form? I am guessing that once it is fertilised then yes. Is that correct? Also do female and male flowers come from the one plant? Thanks.

[MarkPelican]

Personally, I wouldn't pick the flowers off until they die (they might not be fertilised).

The plants grow both male & female flowers but you don't need male flowers on the same plant to fertilise the females (in fact courgettes are very promiscuous). Unless you want to keep seed for next year when you need to be very careful at making sure what fertilises the female.

[Greenleaves]

Why would you want to take the flowers off?