Topic: Bush Courgettes

[banksy]

This may be a silly question....  :-[

I have two bush type courgette plants that are flowering well, but that's all they do.  The flowers come and then they fall off and thats it.  Shouldn't I start to see some kind of growth/courgette from where the flower was?

They are planted near lots of other flowering plants that attract a large number of pollinators so I dont understand why nothing is happening.



Iain

[Digeroo]

Are the flowers males or females?  The females are the ones with the tiny fruits behind them.

[shirlton]

Be patient. The ladies always arrive a little late ;D

[banksy]

Are the flowers males or females?  The females are the ones with the tiny fruits behind them.

Oh, I have no idea... i'll take a look later on and see.


Iain

[tim]

Yes - & outdoors? Water?

[banksy]

Thanks everyone for responding.

Tim - yes outdoors and watered twice daily(early am, late pm) - the plants are very healthy looking apart from the obvious lack of courgettes  ;)

Digeroo - I cannot see anything significant behind the flowers apart from the stalk.


I am on holiday in a weeks time and I bet they go berzerk when I am away  :(

[antipodes]

You could try a bit of handpollination, using a soft brush, brush gently over all teh flowers if you are unsure which is which (male to female usually), that will distribute the pollen about. But generally you can tell if there are female flowers.
Can I just add that this seems to be a lot of water! If it's not rained, mine get a good soaking only about once a week!

[Alex133]

I've grown one called All Green Bush this year - free seeds from some magazine or other - absolute rubbish compared to other varieties I'm growing. It's a huge plant with loads of male flowers but hardly any fruit. Had to be some reason they were giving them away! Perhaps that's the one you've got, Banksy.

[banksy]

I've grown one called All Green Bush this year - free seeds from some magazine or other - absolute rubbish compared to other varieties I'm growing. It's a huge plant with loads of male flowers but hardly any fruit. Had to be some reason they were giving them away! Perhaps that's the one you've got, Banksy.

You know you could be right - the pack was definitely free with a magazine and that name sounds familiar(lost the packet now though - oops!)

Can I just add that this seems to be a lot of water! If it's not rained, mine get a good soaking only about once a week!

Ah, maybe I might cut it down a bit then.... although its not as much water as it sounds, just the frequency.


So if these are just crap courgettes i'll put it down to experience and look for something better next year.

Thanks!

[Mrs Ava]

I have 6 plants and am picking a dozen every 5th day.  The neighbours all avoid me.  Fortunately the tortoises love them.  I am growing a yellow variety called Soleil and it is fab.  Incredibly productive, firm fruits which have been coming since the plant was in its infancy.  The Green Bush courgettes I am growing are much slower and have produced only half those of the yellow.  Soleil is on my list for next year.

[Alex133]

You'll probably get loads of advice on different types now. Personally Cavili is my absolute favourite, lovely creamy taste, very quick to fruit and nice pale colour you never see in shops. Only drawback is that Thompson & Morgan are the only seed suppliers I've found that sell it, you need to grab them when they have free delivery offer.

[Fork]

Got a glut of courgettes......google the recipe for courgette relish.....made some the other day and its really really good...making some more this weekend  ;D

[banksy]

Crikey!  T & M Courgette Soleil £1.99 for 12 seeds versus Prince Charlie's Organic brand £3.49 for 5 seeds - whats that all about????  ???  ???  ???

[Digeroo]

Sounds as if they are all males.  This can be due to the fact that the plant is stressed.  So I would suggest feeding.  I personally would remove the male flowers to give the plant a bit more energy to produce the femiales.

The bad news is the some plants do only produce males.  Though having two would be very bad luck.

I do not think it is much use hand pollinating if you cannot find any females. 

[lottie lou]

At least you might get some courgettes.  Only managed to get two seeds to germinate and grow out of my first lot of plantings.  Just found the marauding fox/badger has dug one up and the other is giving a great impression of a pumpkin and has started trailing.  Was given a tray of courgette plants and found the nine I planted turned into cucumbers.  Funny old year this.

[Mrs Ava]

You could always eat the flowers, stuffed, battered and deep fried.  :-\

[lottie lou]

You could always eat the flowers, stuffed, battered and deep fried.  :-\

Wow, never thought of that - what would I stuff them with?

[elsie]

Peas, cream cheese and parsley, well seasoned. Yum  ;D

[plainleaf]

1 i find ricatta cheese works better for stuffing zucchini flowers.
2. the varieties Black Beauty , Burpee Hybrid Zucchini,, Fordhook Zucchini good choices for next season.
If want try courgette for next season