Zucchini...great flowers...no fruit

[gardenerjag]

This is my first year growing fruits and veggies. I have a zucchini plant. It has had weeks of beautiful yellow flowers that open, close and fall off. No fruit follows it. Am I doing something wrong? Please help...

[rootsy]

If the flowers you speak of are on a long slender stem then you are seeing the male (pollinator) flowers. The female flowers will come in time and will have a small zucchini with a flower out the end... Once pollinated they grow FAST... and abundantly. Cut them when they are about 7 inches long otherwise they'll get away from you in a day or two and be too large as the seeds within will mature.

[Nogol]

you can also speed up the pollination process by pollinating it yourself. Just take a Q-tip and swab the inside of the male flower which will have just one almond shaped bulb in the center of it where there is a bunch of yellow pollen . Then rub the pollen onto the female plant which will have a few tentacle-like extensions in the centre of the plant. I tried this and I had zucchini within two days....Hope it works. Oh and make sure you do this early in the morning when the flowers are open....You don't want to force them open. Hope this helps! And remember, the more pollen the better!

[gardenerjag]

This might sound weird, but I only have male flowers. I keep checking in the morning when the flowers are open. Only the male ones are there. Is there something wrong with my plant??

[JennyC]

Probably nothing wrong at all. The male flowers start forming earlier than the female ones. Give it a little more time.