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Yellow Courgettes
Grateful Deadhead
Posts: 113
Dear Forum Members,
My friend is trying to grow courgettes but they are rotting!!! Can anyone advise? Basically its a yellow courgette variety plant and the courgettes start growing, maybe get to 7cm long and then the end starts turning black and they shrivel up. she then breaks them off but new courgettes are forming and she is worried that they'll go the same way and start rotting.
Is anyone familiar with this? Got any clues?
Many thanks,
The Grateful Deadhead
0
Posts
I'm growing yellow ones - Gold Rush - the first few of mine did this - I put it down to imperfect pollination - it seems to happen early in the season - now they're romping away and producing lots of lovely sweet yellow courgettes.
As soon as the flower has been pollinated and the flower 'collapses' and begins to rot I remove it from the end of the courgette so that the rotting flower doesn't spread to the fruit.
Hope that's helpful
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
that's very informative. I shall pass this on....
Thank you!
The Grateful Deadhead
It's probably that the female flower ( which produces the fruit/courgette ) has not being pollinated by the insects so it shrivels up and rots
You can help this along by self pollination.
The plants have. Two different flowers .male and female on then looking at them it is easy to tell which is the male ( obvious ) .then the females which were described to me as I button type entertains is where the sex comes in ,nip off the obvious male flower leaving about an inch stalk to hold .leave the female on the plant and carefully insert the male flower to the centre of the female..several can be used from the same male flower.though I use a one to one if I have enough males..even though it may look that they are pollinated by the insects it may not be so.the fruits/veg can still get to a couple of inches before they go brown and die off.
Sometes it helps by easing a handful of straw or thin board under the veg ,so they are not resting on the ground.
Sorry don't know where the word entertains cam e from - it's this kindle correcting me - drives me whacky at Times!