On Sat, 04 Jul 2020 18:21:48 +0100, David Hill wrote:
On 04/07/2020 16:43, David wrote:
On Fri, 03 Jul 2020 18:34:38 +0000, Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
David wrote:
The courgettes (three different varieties) are fruiting, but the
fruits are not swelling fully.
The yellow one, for example, grows fruit to about 5" long but only
very slim.
They don't swell (an early one did part way along near the base) and
after a while go a deeper yellow which suggests that they are ripe.
Regrettably not. It indicates that they have died (fruits are living
things, even off the plant), and you may as well cut them off and
compost them. They often do that at the start of the season, and when
the plants get virus (but you should see that on the leaves,
if so). I can't explain further than that.
Respectfully disagree that these ones are dead.
Early failures shrivel up from the flower end and lose their bright
green or yellow colour and as you say need chucking.
These are firm and show no signs of shrivelling or losing colour. Just
no signs of further swelling to indicate that there are fertilised
seeds within.
I tentatively put this down to a lack of male flowers to fertilise
them.
Anyway, we are about to eat them.
Will report back if they are inedible. :-)
In my youth when courgettes were a new thing to the UK they were either
picked with the flower still on or finger size when the flower had just
come off.
Over the years they have grown in size to mini marrows.
Last week in Lidl they had a box of courgettes and they were finger size,
a step back in time?
They were OK to eat, but there were very few seeds inside, and those only
at one end.
You would also need quite a few plants to feed a family of 4 on these, as
opposed to the usual problem of trying to find recipients of the surplus.
I keep checking for male flowers, but none so far.
However I have a late courgette just coming up so perhaps that will be the
Daddy when it flowers. :-)
Cheers
Dave R
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