[manna]

while I'm at it with questions, more than usual this year some of my baby courgettes are going soft at one end. is this because they were very early plants, or is it something I'm doing wrong? I've had a fair few healthy ones and am watering every 2 days.

[doubledug]

perhaps they have not been fertilised?

[JayG]

If they start to swell and then rot off from the flower end they have almost certainly not been pollinated (weather's a bit dry for them to be suffering from any other kind of rot!)

I'm from the belt-and-braces brigade and go up the garden each morning with my trusty little paintbrush to hand-pollinate to make sure (in wet weather I also knock off the shrivelling flower when it is ready to do so easily to prevent rot starting from that source.)

(Others don't bother with any of the above, but I love my courgettes, and so do my friends and neighbours!)

[otis pony]

i have the same problem and was confused as we haven't had any rain to speak of to cause rot. where are all the bees?

[manna]

I think non pollination makes sense - they're not rotting, just shrivelled! I think it may be early courgettes only, as they seem to be correcting themselves. I've been nipping them off as soon as I notice, and the new ones seem fine. I never knew about getting rid of withering flowers, though, so thanks for that.