Please some one, any one, out there please please help .......MAJOR SOS ......
My fruits are failing on my beloved courgette plants, had the exact same problem last year, I was devastated I lost all my plants, so yielding next to none at all ......I dearly love my freshly harvested courgette fruits and having had to wait a long year to grow again I'm desperate not to loose them all for a second year running ...hoping to get on to the case toot sweet, dealing with the situation immediately I'm hoping to by pass the calamity...
HISTORY OF GROWTH: Plants grow healthy, strong and normal, pollinating, flowering and fruiting correctly up to a point....! Fruit grows with flower attached, all's well, then when fruit reaches approximately 2" in length the flowers start to shrivel and rot before eventually falling off. This in turn causes the end of the courgette to yellow. The fruit tapers at end, won't grow any more, makes it inedible, has to cut off and discarded....
Please please diagnose and help me remedy the situation urgently before I loose all my fruit, how upset I'll be if that happens......
Thank you all for taking the time to read through this, and more thanks if anyone can give any advice, any advise what so ever will be such a tremendous help....
Happy gardening...enjoy the weather....
ps.....please see attached photos..... I've also included photos of the condition of some of the leaves just encase this may be a cause of the issue, to me they've taken on the usual effects of courgette plants..
I don't know what to say or think....I'm in a confused quandary...thought the plants were being pollinated thus the flowers+ fruit....I thought it was more to do with a disease....???????? OMG what to do, don't know.....
It's early in the season and temperatures may have a lot to do with it, not many insects about etc. Sometimes the baby courgette appears to grow a bit but hasn't really been pollinated so then rots away. I'd have a go at the manual pollination if I were you.
Also, as they're in pots they're susceptible to drought and the compost does look a little dry in your photos. They don't need to be soggy, but they do need keeping an eye on the moisture level.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I often get them like that right at the beginning of the season, but they seem to outgrow it. I also thought it was due to poor pollination. If it is in a pot , it may be inadequate watering/too much variation. I don't have experience of pots, I always grow them in the ground. They form big plants so I would expect to need a big pot.
Are you using soil based compost in your pots or multipurpose?
I concur with Dove. The fruit haven't been pollinated so they fall off. This usually happens early in the season. By the end of the season you will be getting more courgettes than you can deal with.
I had this problem when I did them in grow bags last year, I just couldn't get the compost wet enough and when the soil is dry they can't take up calcium and get blossom end rot. Also early male flowers start to form fruit then they die and drop off because male and female flowers need to cross pollinate. This year I have two plants in the veg bed and a special pot variety in pots in the greenhouse.
Black widow, thank goodness it's not just me. I started the poorly courgettes thread before I saw this and think now I have it sorted. I didn't panic as much as you though because I knew someone would have the answer for me......they always do Good luck with them.
Posts
Please some one, any one, out there please please help
.......MAJOR SOS ......
My fruits are failing on my beloved courgette plants, had the exact same problem last year, I was devastated I lost all my plants, so yielding next to none at all
......I dearly love my freshly harvested courgette fruits and having had to wait a long year to grow again I'm desperate not to loose them all for a second year running
...hoping to get on to the case toot sweet, dealing with the situation immediately I'm hoping to by pass the calamity
...
HISTORY OF GROWTH: Plants grow healthy, strong and normal, pollinating, flowering and fruiting correctly up to a point....! Fruit grows with flower attached, all's well, then when fruit reaches approximately 2" in length the flowers start to shrivel and rot before eventually falling off. This in turn causes the end of the courgette to yellow. The fruit tapers at end, won't grow any more, makes it inedible, has to cut off and discarded....
Please please diagnose and help me remedy the situation urgently before I loose all my fruit, how upset I'll be if that happens


......
Thank you all for taking the time to read through this,
and more thanks if anyone can give any advice, any advise what so ever will be such a tremendous help
....
Happy gardening...enjoy the weather....
ps.....please see attached photos..... I've also included photos of the condition of some of the leaves just encase this may be a cause of the issue, to me they've taken on the usual effects of courgette plants..
THANKS

Ju
BWS, don't panic
Have a read at another thread lower down the page called Poorly Courgettes and see if that helps. If not someone will come to your rescue.
Thank you for your fast response,...wow... just wanted to let you know I'm on the case and going to have a study...thank you..ju
I think they're not being properly pollinated - some info which should be helpful here http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=676
Good luck
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I don't know what to say or think....I'm in a confused quandary...thought the plants were being pollinated thus the flowers+ fruit....I thought it was more to do with a disease....???????? OMG what to do, don't know.....
I sure will be needing all the luck I can savy...
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!
Not a disease - really it's not
It's early in the season and temperatures may have a lot to do with it, not many insects about etc. Sometimes the baby courgette appears to grow a bit but hasn't really been pollinated so then rots away. I'd have a go at the manual pollination if I were you.
Also, as they're in pots they're susceptible to drought and the compost does look a little dry in your photos. They don't need to be soggy, but they do need keeping an eye on the moisture level.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I often get them like that right at the beginning of the season, but they seem to outgrow it. I also thought it was due to poor pollination. If it is in a pot , it may be inadequate watering/too much variation. I don't have experience of pots, I always grow them in the ground. They form big plants so I would expect to need a big pot.
Are you using soil based compost in your pots or multipurpose?
I concur with Dove. The fruit haven't been pollinated so they fall off. This usually happens early in the season. By the end of the season you will be getting more courgettes than you can deal with.
I had this problem when I did them in grow bags last year, I just couldn't get the compost wet enough and when the soil is dry they can't take up calcium and get blossom end rot. Also early male flowers start to form fruit then they die and drop off because male and female flowers need to cross pollinate. This year I have two plants in the veg bed and a special pot variety in pots in the greenhouse.