Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: lazza on June 27, 2011, 12:18
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Hi all... I'm a bit new round here, and didn't see anything on this... so apologies if it's been asked before...
My courgettes this year seem to be producing only male flowers. I have 6 plants in my greenhouse, and all are growing well, but not a single female flower has grown yet. Each has had 8-10 male flowers open and then drop off, but the female flowers are just tiny green buds.
Have not had this happen before, so wondering if there are any tips. It's a new variety for me (Soleil) and the first time I;ve tried a yellow variety, so wondering if I'm just being too ambitious for such a northerly climate. Could it be that they aren't getting enough heat? My greenhouse is a lean-to on a west-facing wall, so only gets sun in the afternoon and evening... and also, the gales a couple of months ago blew out one side of it, so it was rather "open" for a few weeks until I had time to fix it! :blush:
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We have actually had quite a lot of similar queries on this :)
Male flowers first, then the plants 'warms up' and produces both.
No need to worry :D
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Thanks :)
I must have been particularly unobservant in the past! (Or do some varieties take longer to warm up?)
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Conditions vary year to year :)
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Woohoo! You were right... first courgette spotted this morning, and two more female flowers opening... :)
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Think it might be a variety thing too, I have three varities side by side same conditions etc, two varieties have loads of courgettes, and on one in fact the first three flowers were female though only one took, the other variety has loads of male flowers and is only now showing signs of courgettes.
P.s yep we like courgettes :lol:
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Well, after promising developments a month ago, I feel I'm back to square one!
So I got a couple of small courgettes off one plant, then the next two courgettes rotted after the flower fell of the end. I have one other courgette formed but not growing, and that's it!
I'm now back to growing lots of male flowers again, and nothing else. One or two small female buds have formed, but they just drop off. The plants themselves mostly seem quite healthy, with plenty of leaves and nice bright yellow male flowers, but no new courgettes have developed for a couple of weeks.
Could it be the weather? It has been particularly cold the last few weeks up here (only 14C yesterday)... But then, the plant that is producing the best results (the best of a bad bunch) is one of those planted outside, whereas those in the greenhouse are getting nowhere.
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I do think the weather this year has got a lot to answer for - very hot early on, then cold and wet , windy, hot and today it's rather cool again :(
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Courgettes often seem to get it wrong when it comes to producing the right flowers at the right time and I'm sure the inconsistent weather is not helping!
You do seem to have a pollination problem as well though; any female flower which appears to set but then rots off from the flower end has probably not been pollinated; hand pollination is the answer when the opportunity does present itself.
(Apologies to those who feel they are listening to a rather cracked record!) ;)
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the ones grown in the greenhouse or a polytunnel often need a hand with pollination, even when they get the flowers right ::) cos less insects go inside.
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lazza, ours are behaving in a very similar way. Its very disheartening.