Stupid courgette question!

Hi all,

this is my 1st year growing veg, so I am being a bit clueless still. So, now that my courgette plant has finally decided to honour me with a little courgette , should I remove the flower that's at the end of it (and looking all wilted) whilst it's still on the plant or do I wait for it to fall off naturally? Or does it not matter either way? Also, the courgette is now about 3-4 inches long. Is that the right time to pick it our should I leave it to get a bit bigger?

 

Hi Rosie.
The courgettes I've grown can get up to 12" or more, like a marrow, if left to do their thing in the right conditions. But they seem to be tastier when smaller, say, up to 7" long max.
Also, the longer they are on the plant, the more chance there is for slugs and things to get at them........
As far as I know, removing or keeping the flower makes no difference once the flower is all wilted and the courgette is a decent size

cheers,
Dave.

 

Cheers, Synthhead. I hadn't thought about the fact that slugs might get to my perfect little courgette. So I'll pick it sooner rather than later, methinks. Thanks for the prompt reply!

 

I have found that in very wet conditions it is worth picking off the dead flower as otherwise it forms a damp pad and can encourage the courgette to rot at the tip. Although you can eat big courgettes, IMHO they taste better if picked before they get to 6 inches.

 

Hi this is my second year of courgette growing and this year decided to grow the yellow courgette. I leave the flowers to drop off on their own . If you leave them too long they will grow to be marrows.

 

The ones with the yellow leaves are the yellow courgettes.

 

My courgettes I fear are past their best now - I was getting lots of lovely big even fruit - now I am getting much smaller fruit and uneven - ie one fat hard end with the other end skinny and soft - they have a really bad case of mildew so they are no doubt under a lot of stress - I am still getting fruit however just picking it when it's much smaller. This rain seems to be helping them a bit and I have some nice ones forming - is this usual do they tend to tail off like this?

 

Ellie your courgettes should be passed their best yet, if they are getting mildew they may be laying in moisture, clay soils tend not to drain very well. you could try something I did when I had a similar problem, get a large pot, about a foot high and around 9 inches diameter at the thin end. fill it with a good compost based soil and then play sandcastles, turn it over press it in to the ground then cut the top off. put your pot grown baby plant in there. That will lift it off the ground.
As to the earlier comments about flowers, in Europe they pick them young with the flower still in good condition then they cook the whole thing flower and all. Otherwise, if you keep cutting them they will keep growing so don't leave for too long, 6 inches is enough, and on green courgetts if you see the young fruit is yellow cut it off straight away, send the goodness to a well fruit.

 

sorry that should be "not" passed their best, it's my age

 

Ive always taken the flowers off, you tend to get end rot leaving them on.

If left even if you dont get end rot they are one more thing to rot on the floor and aract slugs. i wait till they will come off with gentle pressure.

 

Prastio - nice tip about the flower tip! - I'll do that in future. They're still edible enough when large (a particularly big 2006 specimen was given to the neighbours, and got curried and eaten at the local Sikh temple ) but are indeed *so* much tastier when small. Just a bit of black pepper and butter to taste ......

cheers,
Dave
(just picked the first one this season! )