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Courgette flower buds?
Charlie 224
Posts: 129
in Fruit & veg
Do these look like courgette flower buds?
0
Charlie 224
Posts: 129
Posts
Well they are getting as much light as possible from inside, too cold outside at the moment. Why are there flower buds when I only just potted them out of 9cm pots and they are only just under 2 months old?
Oh so they are probably male flowers? Should I just leave them? I would probably pinch of the flowers because I see no reason not to at this stage?
Yeah I did sow them a bit early, we'lol find out what happens, I sowed some more recently too.
Any more advice from people who have grown courgettes from seed?
If they are not able to be put out until June due to your weather Charlie, then I wouldn't sow until end of April - so about now. Here they take approx 4 - 6 weeks to mature from seed until ready to be moved outside. Personally I would remove the flower heads - the plant will be wasting growing energy if you allow the flowers to mature into tiny fruits - you won't get a fully grown fruit until the plants are outside and able to spread their roots. Courgettes like to be fed at least once a week when in their final growing position, and if the weather is dry water them as often as they need moisture. We plant ours in a rich compost with added farmyard manure.
Last edited: 28 April 2017 23:07:27
Ok great thanks.
I'm interested to find out what will happen then if I keep them inside until late may or June as is widely suggested but keep pinching off all flowers until then? For many plants I experience that pinching off flowers causes many more flowers?
yes, keep pinching off the flowers until you can plant them out. The male flowers always come first - in a bad year you only get male flowers so I'm not sure if they are a sign the plant is a bit stressed. For your own interest, you could keep them going and then plant them out alongside ones new sown now, just to see what difference you get. I would expect the new sown ones to do better but I've not tried it and 'received wisdom' isn't always right. We all live and learn
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
Great thanks everyone.
Thanks raisingirl, I'm going to try just that.