I'm growing courgettes for the first time. All seemed to be going well,
they're in a rich soil which I've been feeding weekly, and they've been
growing at a tremendous rate. Started flowering a week and a bit ago,
but
the flowers seem awfully fleeting (flower for a day or so, then they
close
up) and thus far the first two little baby courgettes have become soft
and
atrophied.

What's up with them?


There are two types of flower. Female with the mini courgette just behind,
male without. you need both types in flower at the same time plus insects
to
pollinate to get as crop.

It often happens at the start of flowering that the female flowers come
first (cue risqué comments) - maybe that is natures way of ensuring at
least
some cross pollination? - but don't worry it will sort it self out in due
course.

pk


A tip I picked up on this group last year about courgettes is worth noting:
When watering them (which they need frequently) avoid getting water into the
female flowers, as this has a tendency to make the baby courgettes go rotten
at the flower end, progressing into the whole courgette. It had baffled me
for ages why that happened sometimes to seemingly healthy courgettes.

--
Drakanthus.


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