courgettes again

[STHLMgreen]

With my courgette plants, which are residing inside still, should I let them flower?

Or should I pick off the flowers till they get planted in their finasl position?

[STHLMgreen]

[valmarg]

Depends which variety you are growing.

Parthenon is a parthenocarpic variety ???, which basically means it is self fertile, and can be grown indoors in pots, and does not need bees to pollenate it.  It's not the cheapest seed on the market, but is well worth the effort for an early crop.

Any other varieties will need to be kept indoors until all risk of frost is past.

Whether to take off the flowers?  I would find this extremely difficult.

valmarg

[thifasmom]

mine haven't started to flower as yet but i generally remove all male flowers whether they are inside or outside in their final planting postions till the female flowers start to appear or get close to opening.

[Digeroo]

The Italians eat the flowers. 

Last year I ate courgettes growing on the window sill.  You have to do the job of the bees, though I find the main polllinators for courgettes are small black beetles.  Bees here do not seem to go near the courgettes.

It is possible to pull them through a very frosty night but it is a bit of an effort.  I was caught out some years ago with severals plants over half a metre each across. 

I covered them with several layers of plastic, and then a pile of old clothes, and gave each plant a couple of milk bottles filled with warm water.

I lost several plants that night but not my courgettes.