Courgette Gone To Sleep !

[Ace]

I have 3 identical courgette plants (F1 One Balls). 2 are in a large wooden planter and the other in a large round pot. All 3 have grown really well, plenty of lush green stems and leaves and all 3 have gone on to start producing courgettes. The 2 in the planters seem to grow about 2-3 courgettes at a time with one of the 3 growing much larger until it is harvested after which the others catch up.

The plant in the pot however seems to have completely stalled and gon eto sleep. It has had a courgette growing on it now for at least 2-3 weeks which is the size of a large gobstopper (jawbreaker for Americans). It just won't grow any bigger. The entitre plant just seems to have "switched off" yet it remains visually in perfect health, no leaf markings, no drooping and so on.

I read elsewhere that this could be lack of pollination. But if there's an actual courgette growing doesn't that mean it has already pollinated?

If it does need pollinating I'm not sure how to proceed because the male stems are still small and closed and the female flower is also closed.

Any ideas please?

[Lesley Jay]

Hi Ace, I don't think it's lack of pollination because the courgette would have started rotting by now. The plant is producing flowers - which is good. I would cut the tiny courgette off the plant as courgette plants can grind to a halt if the fruit is left on and hopefully this should bring the plant back to life.

[Ace]

Thanks Lesley

We came to exactly the same conclusion so we lopped off the little courgette yesterday. It had a slight bit of discolouration inside it but nothing major. We'll see if the plant now devotes it's energy into growing new fruits.

[clodhopper]

HELP!

I need some advice please to sort out my courgette problems. I have around ten plants all greening, and flowering for the second time this season, and yet absolutely no fruit to show for my labours.
I confess to being rather new at growing vegetables, but I have followed my veg growing books to the letter, and all my other attempts, (tomatoes, aubergines, peppers, etc), are in fine fettle.
The only thing I can find wrong is the ant/?aphid activity that seems to be increasing with every new flower. Does this mean I have an insect-based problem, or am I missing something totally obvious?
(Please bear in mind that I managed to kill mint last year.).


Thanks.

[Lesley Jay]

Hi CH, the first thing is, with any aphids you find on your veggie plants, squash them between thumb and finger and you must look underneath the leaves because this is their favourite place! Aphids will suck the life out of your plants, so it's important to remove them. They suck the juices from the plant but they are greedy and suck out too much which they then excrete as a sticky honeydew liquid. It is this honeydew liquid that the ants love. So the ants "farm" the aphids and protect them for the honeydew. Squash all the aphids and keep spraying the plants with very diluted washing up liquid in water, about a teaspoon in a few litres of water, but not the anti bacterial stuff. The washing up liquid suffocates the aphids. The aphids are damaging your plants and the ants should pack their bags once the aphids are gone.

[clodhopper]

Originally Posted by Lesley Jay

Hi CH, the first thing is, with any aphids you find on your veggie plants, squash them between thumb and finger and you must look underneath the leaves because this is their favourite place! Aphids will suck the life out of your plants, so it's important to remove them. They suck the juices from the plant but they are greedy and suck out too much which they then excrete as a sticky honeydew liquid. It is this honeydew liquid that the ants love. So the ants "farm" the aphids and protect them for the honeydew. Squash all the aphids and keep spraying the plants with very diluted washing up liquid in water about a teaspoon in a few litres of water, but not the anti bacterial stuff. The washing up liquid suffocates the aphids. The aphids are damaging your plants and the ants should pack their bags once the aphids are gone.

Thank you Lesley Jay.
Operation Aphid Rout has begun. I noticed two years ago on my failed allotment attempt that they were all over my French and Runner Beans, I tried the washing up solution on them and it definitely worked, but I did not think to use them on my courgette flowers as I wanted so much to eat them, until I saw the invaders at work!
Many thanks.