[chrisnchris]

Hi all, my courgettes have once again been a complete failure. I have had literally dozens of mini courgettes, all bar 3 have rotted.
I think that this is a question of pollenation. I was going to "make like the bees" but never seem to be around when male & female flowers are open.
My question is, has anyone tried cutting off male flowers & keeping them for their pollen to be used on the female flowers as and when you can.
Also I have noticed that the flowers are full of tiny (3mm ish) black beetles, possibly flea beetle ? I left them in the hope they might help with pollenation, although that doesn't seem to have worked. Will they do more harm than good ?
Thanks

Chris

[mumofstig]

I don't know if you can store pollen, but the black bettles are pollen beetles and seem to do no harm 

[RJR_38]

I wondered what they were and now I know

[JayG]

No prizes for guessing what pollen beetles eat, so a large number of them can't be helpful for pollination, and it doesn't appear that they actually assist with pollination by their presence in the flowers.

It is possible to hand pollinate even if the flowers have closed, although you do need 3 hands!

Don't waste your time trying to use male flowers which are either not mature enough to have produced pollen, or have already lost their pollen thanks to the pollen beetles or because they are just "past it."

Similarly, female flowers where the stigma in the middle has already started to darken and shrivel will not be receptive to the pollen, although if you're lucky such flowers may have already been pollinated.

I vaguely remember reading something about storing cucurbit pollen in the fridge, but I don't think the process was at all straightforward.

[chrisnchris]

Interesting, thanks. Can you recommend a control for the beetle, I assume I cut off the rotting growths & how soon after the flower head forms will pollen be produced. Should I wait till the flower has opened for the first time before I try & pollenate.
Just as an asside, this year I have been "tickling" my chilli flowers, just going from flower to flower on each plant & the number of "set" flowers is up by about 500% from last year!!..........I have about 20 chillies.....not plants....chillies. They are supposed to be jalapeno so slightly hot, I picked one last night it tasted like a green pepper, no heat at all..........am I ever going to have any gardening success ? 

[JayG]

The male flowers will be at their most pollen-rich shortly after they have opened for the first time.

Don't know the answer to your question about jalapenos - might be better to start a new thread about it or this one could get rather confused! 

[chrisnchris]

Don't know the answer to your question about jalapenos - might be better to start a new thread about it or this one could get rather confused! 

Thanks Jay, it wasn't really a question, just following on from the "helping plants to pollenate" theme & to show that I have had some success there. I suspect that the plants I bought (from an orange DIY shed) weren't as described on the lable.........right, I'm going to find another pair of hands & a paint brush 

[goodtogrow]

But you've had 'literally dozens of mini courgettes, cnc, so it isn't a pollination problem, is it?

My guess is that there's a lack of vigour in the plant.  You could ration the vigour by reducing the number of those formed, and promoting more vigour by feeding not watering, as it appears there's more water around than the mini courgettes know what to do with...

Tom

[mumofstig]

You get mini courgettes behind the female flower before the flower even opens!
You need pollination for the fruits to get any bigger 

[goodtogrow]

Ahh... that's what is meant by mini courgettes, mum, not just small ones but unfertilised ones!  Thanks mum!

[Steveharford]

Chrisnchris. Try eating the whole chilli including right to the very top where the seeds are. The seeds are where most of the heat comes from especially with a jalapeņo. You might be pleasantly surprised.

[chrisnchris]

Chrisnchris. Try eating the whole chilli including right to the very top where the seeds are. The seeds are where most of the heat comes from especially with a jalapeņo. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Just tried another one...ate the whole thing...no heat...I'll try one from a different plant tomorrow 

[Steveharford]

Maybe need to let them grow on a bit till seeds form then.

[kermit]

Being in dreich Scotland, and a courgette lover, I switched to parthenon courgettes last year and this. They don't need pollination. I am now a convert. Sure they ain't yellow or fancy ball shaped but still tasty, still plentiful, guaranteed to produce, and give loads of flowers that you can eat to you hearts content without worrying about losing pollen!