Courgettes - lots of male flowers, hardly any female

Orange_King

Lotus-eater wrote: »

Or on a slightly more romantic note, you could gently caress and stroke the female parts with the male centre of the flower.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Is there a particular time of the month when it is best to do this?

pennyshahin_2

Great thread -I have a trailing variety probably 3-4ft long now -is it best to stop it growing so it uses energy on the rest of the plant or should I just leave it

bethesda

freakyogre wrote: »

I appear to have a baby courgette growing from one of my plants, but I am a tad confused (as it seems is the courgette )

Going by the picture above i'm thinking it's a female plant as has what i'm guessing is the courgette, then the flower. However, it also seems to have the long looking middle bit of the flower as the male. Nothing else on the plant seems to look male though.

So...what do I rub/insert against what?!

Also, when you say 'take the male flower off' do I literally just remove the whole flower section? (although as I say, it looks like the female plant, so I don't want to pull the wrong bits off!)

Sorry, I am very new to this and am actually amazed that they're still growing as I haven't been able to do anything with them for a couple of weeks!

if you're getting baby courgettes on the plant you don't need to take the male flower off or insert anything anywhere.......it's a self pollinating variety

lotus eater, orange king and co =:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

irishwexford

I have lots of courgettes full stop. My friends and family and now trying to hide when they see me coming. Using them in salads, stir frys and pasta but still the darn things keep growing. Well I did a silly thing and planted four.:eek:

macma

irishwexford wrote: »

I have lots of courgettes full stop. My friends and family and now trying to hide when they see me coming. Using them in salads, stir frys and pasta but still the darn things keep growing. Well I did a silly thing and planted four.:eek:

try this recipe for courgette surprise
pick as many as will fit in a carrier bag,visit a neighbour ,deposit said bag,ring doorbell and run!
result courgette surprise :T

alfie_1

DavidAC wrote: »

How do you know when they have been pollinated? I have only had female flowers until today, but they are growing courgettes. I had one yesterday that was 20cm long! I have now cut it off and had some yesterday, very nice.

I have some leaves that died some time ago. Should I cut just the leaves off or the branches at the stem or leave them? There are plenty more healthy leaves and more growing.

What happens to all the stubs that are left after cutting off the courgettes? Do they grow again?

When the flowers die quickly this is normal. as all the goodness goes to producing the "fruit" so to speak. if you can see predominantly male flowers cut them off when they appear to be dying,[if any females,polination will have happened]about 1 inch from stem , this will allow the plant to produce more flowers ,potential females and not waste nutrients producing males that do nothing.[sound familiar ladies!! carefull with the secatuers!] If growing in the soil, place upside down flower pots under the stems so it is suspended off the ground by the fruits, this stops slugs and wet rot ruining them. straw harbours earwigs and other creepy crawlies. you can cut off dying leaves but ALWAYS AT LEAST AN INCH AWAY FROM STEM TO AVOID DIE BACK.
hope this helps...

alfie_1

tagz wrote: »

Would soft music and some fine wine help?:rotfl:

Actually mine are producing all male flowers at the mo. Just noticed they have also got blackfly. As I'm a newbie gardener I don't know how do to get rid of them without using nasty chemicals? Any advice?

try a mild solution of washing up liquid/water in a spray . good for greenfly and blackfly.or rather NOT good for em!

Lotus-eater

irishwexford wrote: »

I have lots of courgettes full stop. My friends and family and now trying to hide when they see me coming. Using them in salads, stir frys and pasta but still the darn things keep growing. Well I did a silly thing and planted four.:eek:

We've got 7 plants and must be up to 90 or 100 courgettes so far, we've managed to eat them quite easily.
Pick them small and firm.

irishwexford

ha ha ha Macma. Sounds like a good idea:p

irishwexford

Wow Lotus-Eater. Seven plants. We are trying to eat as many as possible but am getting fed up with them now