courgettes

lily-ella

I have some lovely courgettes growing on my plant now but the flowers are either being eaten or falling off.. will the fruit still grow or should i cut them off now? some are still tiny with no flower now

Thanks!

MrsTinks

Are they the male flowers or the female flowers? If the female don't get polenated the courgettes will drop off whilst very tiny (the plant doesn't want to use energy growing a fruit that can't seed...)
As for things eating it... is it slugs? can you set slug traps?
Male flowers btw do drop off, and female ones will too eventually when the fruit is growing

lily-ella

its the females that are falling off! they look all slimey and gross!!

jennifernil

It's all the heavy rain. If they have been pollinated the fruit will grow, if not they will go yellow and drop off.

If you have fruit growing and the flowers droop/go slimey, remove them quickly as the rot will go back into the fruit.

In wet weather it is best to remove the flowers ASAP.

lily-ella

jennifernil wrote: »

It's all the heavy rain. If they have been pollinated the fruit will grow, if not they will go yellow and drop off.

If you have fruit growing and the flowers droop/go slimey, remove them quickly as the rot will go back into the fruit.

In wet weather it is best to remove the flowers ASAP.

thanks, sould i remove the flower or the fruit? will the fruit continue to grow if i remove the flower attached to it?

jennifernil

If the female flowers have been pollinated the little fruits will soon start to grow. If they stay firm and green they should be ok, ones that are not pollinated tend to go yellowish and shrivel and drop off.
Once the flower goes droopy or slimey it will not get pollinated (if it isn't already) so you might as well remove it and see if the fruit developes. Don't remove the little fruits unless they shrivel and look bad.
Also remove the faded male flowers as if they fall off onto a courgette they can rot, and rot the fruit.
When the flowers are "ready" to be removed you will find they come away quite easily. It is important to remove the female ones carefully as it is easy to damage the end of the fruit and allow rot to set in.
Remember that slugs are very fond of courgettes!

jak

I've got some courgette seeds which are just coming up in my greenhouse. Last year I put them in grow bags in the greenhouse but they got so huge it was a nightmare. This year I want to plant them outside (still in grow bags). When should I plant them outside? I live in the south of England. Also i've got loads of bugs in my garden, and snails and slugs! What can I do to protect the plants? I'd rather an organic type spray if there is such a thing?
Thanks.
J
x

jennybridger

as for planting out - wait til it warms up, when you say just coming up do you mean litterally just germinating? mine have their first true leaf and are still in the original small pot. i will repot them again before they go in the ground, but i think that will be at least the end of april.

as for the bugs, it depends on what they are - there are plenty of good bugs. but for slugs and snails i use a slug trap which i make my putting a jar of very very cheap (basic/value) beer in the ground near the plant - they go for the beer, take a swim but can't get out. i tried a line of corse sand around some plants last year. not sure on effectiveness tho. i spotted a website somewhere where someone had used a line of pennies instead of buying the copper tape from the shops.

hope some of that gives you some ideas.

jenny

MoJo

jennybridger wrote: »

i spotted a website somewhere where someone had used a line of pennies instead of buying the copper tape from the shops.

hope some of that gives you some ideas.

jenny

I like that idea! Thanks

jennybridger

i haven't got a clue if it will work......in fact my nan gave be a huge bag of pennies (to take to one of those machines at the supermarket) so i might give it a go myself.

the theory is right tho i guess......only one way to find out!

nodwah

They will grow great outdoors, no need for greenhouse, but don't plant out til the end of May or so when there will be no more frosty nights.

I did the pennies idea last year and they worked tremendously well. You can also try crushed eggshells, oatmeal and beer traps, these all work well for me.