[FatMog]

I am growing patty pans this year for the first time.  My plant is large (1m sq) and healthy and is producing male flowers by the hundred.  But in all this time I have only seen ONE female flower.  It's not like they're there and not being pollinated, there are just no females with the little proto-patty pan behind the flower bud.  Is this normal?

It's neighbouring courgette, seed planted at the same time, treated the same has been producing for ages.

Fortunately I think the one and only has been pollinated so at least I'll get the one!

[Loubs]

May just unlucky, perhaps you'ev planted a particularly masculine plant  But still time yet for lots of females to appear.

I've got the same thing with a marrow I planted - only 1 marrow has appeared so far on a huge sprawling plant....

[Junie]

All the squash plants I have had ( with the exception of courgette) have always produced far more male flowers first, these then seem to be followed by the females with a few males.  This is only my second year, but the same has happened this year with different varienties.  Would presume it is something normal, although worrying as we wait for the first flower to appear before the plants take over the whole garden!!

[Springlands]

I have three courgette plants in a row - two are producing mainly female flowers and one is just producing male flowers - I am just leaving the male producing plant as it is so that the bees can pollinate the other plants. This is my first time growing courgettes to I do not know if this is normal. Someone on this forum (cannot remember who) said that eventually the plants settle down and product both male and female flowers but there is no sign on that happening yet.

Have already got plenty of courgettes from the two female plants so should not complain.
 

[paintedlady]

I noticed this with the patty pans I grew last year - they seem to be producing nothing but male flowers for ages but eventually I got some females/squash but generally are not as prolific as the courgettes.  This year for some reason they seem to be doing much much better - the only difference is that the soil in the beds were prepared with lots more compost/manure and weatherwise, slightly drier, warmer, more sunshine.

[diggerjoe]

I thought courgettes were prolific till I grew patty pans this year have yellow and light green ones yellow ones going mad cant use them quick enough, the pale green ones producing well and the yugoslavian finger fruit ones picked up and are fruiting well if looking very triffid like. They have been very very well fed and sit on an old manure heap the spare one dotted round the plot not doing as well as soil not so rich and in dryer spots.

[operabunny]

Starting with loads of male only flowers seems to be normal for squashes in my experience. They always seem to sort themselves out and then fruit madly.

[Junie]

Had loads of male flowers but they have now started fruiting, I have never had then before - hope we like them! Looks like we may have quite a few!

[Ice]

They always sort themselves out eventually.  But, in the first instance I will pick off an open male flower and use it to hand pollinate a female on another plant.