Courgettes still coming, but tiny

 Apart from the ones which rotted or were eaten I have four cougettes on one
plant.
They are dark green and look as though they are possibly fully grown - at
least they don't seem to be growing any larger.
However they are tiny.
No lack of water.

Is it a time of year thing?
Were they perhaps not fertilised?

As they look like the last gasp of the season, I suppose I should pick them
soon.
Unless of course they are going to grow larger.

Is it normal for the last few courgettes to be small?
When does the courgette season (outdoor plants) usually end?

Cheers

Dave R

--
No plan survives contact with the enemy.
[Not even bunny]

Helmuth von Moltke the Elder

(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")

 
If they weren't fertilised, they wouldn't, afaik, get to anything resembling
a courgette.  


I'd suggest if you can use them, pick them.  They keep for quite a while, in
general, and it saves them getting nibbled.  Everything seems to be getting
seriously slugged on my plot atm (including some very adventurous slugs at
eye-height on the bean flowers this afternoon!!)


I'm not sure - I tend to give up and stop picking near the end, so the last
ones end up accidentally huge, or the very last ones rot before they make it
to pickable.


The cold night last week has stunned a few of my plants - the yellows seem
to have survived better htan the greens.  But they're still alive and still
fruiting, but no flowers for new ones, right now.

I guess the outdoor season officially ends at the first frost, which will
turn your plants into a soggy mess.  But the later it gets, the fewer
polinating insects about (she says, pausing for a mental check that they're
not wind pollinated!) - maybe if you get any female flowers you should dash
about with a paint brush, just to make sure ...

I think I've managed to keep my courgettes going till October before now,
and tried protecting with fleece, but it didn't help.  The plants may keep
going for a while longer, but they won't (IME) fruit any more.

 wrote:


For the first time, this year I fed mine with a fertilizer every two weeks.

I must say it myself - the plants were fantastic compared to previous years -
and there was a corresponding increase in quantity and quality of fruit.

I have about 5 fruits on a couple of plants still growing, and I suspect that
will be the end of them.


As an aside : some of the leaves looked terrible - white powdery mildew. People
here said it would do no harm - and it didn't seem to.

 

How did you expect them to do without fertilizer?

Every veg. in the garden needs it.

You have seen the fat brigade in the library or elsewhere eating pork pies
or saussage rolls... .Food..... Too much of it. Veg. are the same.

Veg. grows quickly, and to swell the things food such as blood fish and
bone or growmore gives them the food they need. There are other ferts. but
they are the ones I use. I get decent results though not 'show' veg.

Baz