Courgette flowers

Discussion in 'Edible Gardening' started by Victoria Plum, Jun 29, 2011.

  1. Victoria Plum

    Victoria Plum Gardener

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    Can anyone advise me on what is correct?

    My Dad came over on Saturday and after he left I noticed that my flowers on my courgette plants had been removed.

    I asked hubby and he said my Dad had removed them as 'you don't need the male ones'

    Well forgive me if this sounds ignorant, but isn't it a simple case of the birds and the bees? Don't we need the male flower to pollinate the female flower?!

    I'm really cross, but I'm more than prepared to be wrong!
     
    Victoria Plum, Jun 29, 2011
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  2. Spruce

    Spruce Glad to be back .....

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    Hi same as you I thought you needed to polinate at one point it reminded me when I was little, Italian lady lived next door used to pick the flowers to make omlettes


    Intresting .... lets see what others have to say

    Spruce
     
    Spruce, Jun 29, 2011
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  3. Phil A

    Phil A Guest

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    Hi victoria,

    You do need the male ones with corgettes, he might be thinking of cucumbers, which I had to ask about the other day, having not grown them before.

    Next time you visit him, show him the front door & take his key of him, saying we don't need the male one:heehee:
     
    Phil A, Jun 29, 2011
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  4. JWK

    JWK Gardener Staff Member

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    I'm growing 'Parthenon' courgette variety again this year, it doesn't need pollinating but thats the only variety to my knowledge that doesn't need male flowers (but there is no need to actually remove them though). I think your Dad is getting mixed up with cucumbers (some varieties of cucumber it is recommened to remove the males), with courgettes he has done the wrong thing. I wouldn't worry I'm sure it will recover from it's emasculation very quickly!
     
    JWK, Jun 30, 2011
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  5. Victoria Plum

    Victoria Plum Gardener

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    Thank you everyone.

    He is still adamant that he's right. He says everyone he knows does it and he gets courgettes no trouble. Most odd.

    So glad I'm right :WINK1:

    I am sure there was a thread on here last year or maybe year before, about polinating the flowers yourself with the male flower. And I'm sure we joked about it being garden porn!!
     
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      Victoria Plum, Jun 30, 2011
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    • shiney

      shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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      Yes, you do need the male flowers BUT early in the season you sometimes only get male flowers on the courgettes as the females sometimes come out a week or two later (probably getting dressed :heehee: - whoops, I'd better duck :loll:). In the cases where ther were a lot of male flowers and no female flowers some of the old timers used to remove some of the earliest male flowers to try and encourage it to produce more.
       
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        shiney, Jul 1, 2011
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      • Spruce

        Spruce Glad to be back .....

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        mine must be triple xxx :heehee::heehee::heehee:


        Spruce
         
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          Spruce, Jul 1, 2011
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        • JWK

          JWK Gardener Staff Member

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          • Like Like x 3
            JWK, Jul 1, 2011
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          • Victoria Plum

            Victoria Plum Gardener

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            That's brilliant John. Great thread!!!
             
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              Victoria Plum, Jul 1, 2011
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            • shiney

              shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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              Be careful, courgette porn can keep you awake at night! :rolleyespink: :yawn: :yawn:
               
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                shiney, Jul 2, 2011
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