Sometimes it happens that courgettes hardly develop any fruit. Various reasons play a role here. If no care mistakes have crept in, the lack of fruit production may be due to insufficient pollination. You can easily help here.
Female flowers are best pollinated directly with a male flower
Generative Traits
Zucchini plants develop male and female flowers that open every two to three days during the flowering period, and the number of flowers varies depending on the weather. Flower pollination is carried out by flying insects, which cavort between the petals, collect nectar and transfer the pollen.
When fertilization fails
When the weather is unfavorable, the number of insects is very low. In addition, the pollination problem is exacerbated if you only cultivate one plant in the garden or on the balcony. In particularly rainy summer months, the plants develop more male flowers, which is often a problem with heat-loving varieties. In these cases, fertilization by hand makes sense.
Manual pollination
The ideal time for hand pollination is in the morning, as courgettes flower for a few hours at the beginning of the day. The structure of the flowers gives you clues about the sex. While the female part has a thickened ovary below the petals, the male specimens sit on long, thin stalks without any thickening.
How to proceed:
- pinch off the male flower
- remove yellow petals
- Insert stamens into the female funnel (€4.85).
- Repeat the process for all fertile flowers with a style
brush method
A small cosmetic brush serves as an alternative to collecting flowers. Stroke the soft bristles over the stamens so the pollen sticks. Then wipe them off using the styluses. The more often you repeat the process, the greater the pollination success.
when pollination was successful
After successful fertilization you can watch the flower close, the ovary swell and the petals wither. Remove the petals to prevent rot formation. After five to seven days, a clearly visible fruit has developed, which can be up to 20 centimeters long.
tips
To encourage fruit ripening, remove any swelling flower buds and crowns from mid-August. These are tossed in butter or a delicacy on buttered bread.