Courgettes- what am I doing wrong?

[notsogreenthumb]

So I've had a million problems with my courgettes.. first they kept getting eaten by slugs, then the cold spring almost killed them again, then finally they grew and are huge but every fruit that is growing is shrivelling up at around 2-3" long and not growing further. Not sure what I'm missing? It isn't blossom end rot. They just stop as soon as they're about to start growing and shrivel and turn slightly darker and harder. Feeling a little disheartened now. 4 plants and nothing from any of them. No crop this year other than some tomatoes. Everything has either died from aphid attacks or just hasn't worked out. Feeling rather glum tonight

I'm a novice and growing in pots. I had 7 yesterday and am having to give them away! MIL has the same variety in the ground and has also said hers have been attacked by slugs and snails. Did you add manure to the soil? A possible deficiency?

When my plants 1st started, the first few fruit did the same and shriveled up early on. How long have you had flowers? Are these the 1st fruit? Hopefully someone with more experience can help.

Sounds like a lack of bees, you might have to pollinate the female flowers with pollen from the male flowers with a soft paintbrush.

Thanks for the replies. These are the first fruit yes, and I don't have many male flowers on the plant right now. Just the fruit.

You might be doing this, but they need a lot of water. I wonder if the fruits are shrivelling as an attempt to conserve water?

You need to hand-pollinate Courgettes (& Pumpkins/Squash) as the window for bees/pollinating insects is so so short. If you don't, they shrivel up! The flowers only open up for a few hours ONCE! Usually in the early hours of that day.
The female is the flower with the Courgette under it. The male is the flower without. When the female opens, you need an open male (or almost open) at the same time. Rip petals off the male and snap the hole head off the stalk so it looks like you're holding a lollipop. Place the pollen stick into the centre of the female and completely coat it with all of the pollen on the male.
You can leave it like this, but it's always best to then gently fold the leaves of the female closed and loosely tie some string to hold it closed. The reason for this, is to prevent bees arriving and cross pollinating or removing the pollen you've just placed.
Sometimes you'll lose some as there isn't a male & female open/opening at the same time. Very common.
Also, some will just die even after being hand pollinated, for no clear reason. Always worth having several vines.
Last year I had 4 pumpkin vines and only ended up with 2 actual pumpkins, despite having pollinated at least 10.

Edit - When I say early hours, I mean like 6/7am until around 9ish

Funny thing, our plants are somewhat neglected and have been going mad, producing huge courgettes in days. I posted yesterday about how to use them up!

@LoveFall

Funny thing, our plants are somewhat neglected and have been going mad, producing huge courgettes in days. I posted yesterday about how to use them up!

You must have a lot of Bees/Pollinating insects nearby 🐝 Perhaps a neighbour or someone near you has a hive

We live in an area with forest surrounding, and a farm looked after by a university (UBC farm). I'm betting they have hives. I must say every time we go to our very small allotment,there are lots of bees around.

Mine have much better this year (without any help with pollination). On reflection, I think it might be because I planted a very small patch (1m sq.) of wildflower meadow next to them in a space by the compost bins. This has attracted lots of insects, particularly bees. The other thing I've done differently is to remove any leaves that are laying directly on the soil and starting to yellow. This has ensured there is air around the plants and hopefully will help avoid mildew and rot.

Thank you all! @PerciphonePuma I did exactly what you said and just stuck some male flowers into the female ones. Once the flowers closed the male one stayed attached ensuring 100% pollination. Happy to say I have a courgette finally and seems like 2 more on the way. I'm trying the hand pollination on my green ones too now but no luck as of yet. Thank you

I have lots of bees but the excess foliage is hiding the flowers so I think they just buzz past them. I have to do a mini assault course to try and get under everything to the the flowers (note for next year: space the plants further apart)

I recommend growing a parthenogenetic variety - no pollination needed. Expensive, but you only need 2-3 plants, so one seed packet will do you 2 or 3 years.

Thats a great update OP. Wonderful!

Thank you @Eleoura. Will give that look @MereDintofPandiculation. The pollinating is a real nuisance to do every morning.

Agree with everything PerciphonePuma says except: 1) if you leave the petals on the male flower, but bend them back, that's an effective blockage for any late bees 2) you can push the boundaries with the male flowers a bit - the petals close up a few hours before the pollen goes off. So if you have no fresh males, it's worth trying with yesterday's provided it's still early in the day.

If you have too many males, they're really nice to eat, with an absolutely delicious sweet base where the nectar glands are. I put them in salads.

Thanks @mere. At the moment I just have enough males but if I do get excess I know what to do. Might try the males from my pumpkins as I have lots on those. Yes I just left the petals on and bent them back. They sat like little tents on the female flowers.

I have been growing courgettes for the past 10 years, every year in the same spot, from seeds, very low maintenance, always hugely productive. This year...nothing, nada, niet. I had one single courgette out of 5 plants. They are doing ok, but they are very small. Normally they are big and trailing this time of the year. I have seen a couple of flowers, let's hope with some sunshine they will fruit!