Courgette flowers

[foxyfeet]

I am growing courgettes in the greenhouse. They were doing well, but suddenly the flowers have started falling off. They are watered regularly. What am I doing wrong?

[YvonneM]

Your courgette should be having two different types of flowers on it - male and female.

The male ones are just yellow flowers on the end of a stalk, but the female ones have a baby courgette just behind the yellow flower.

You must dip a child's paint brush into the male flower and then dip it into the female one in order to fertilise the blooms and make a courgette develop.

If you have only male flowers present this is often the case early in the season, female blooms will follow.

[JamesQ]

rather than bother with a paintbrush, I usually just pull off a male flower, strip the petals, and dab it into the female flowers.