Help my courgettes have gone funky too!
Hi finbow, my courgettes have a problem which sounds similar to the previous question, but I am almost certain its not frost damage. I grew them indoors from seed, and planted them out late.
I have attached a couple of images to show you the problem, and wonder if its the same one as Andy here too!? However mine are still fruiting, and it hasn't affected them all - YET. On one plant you will see it seems to have taken hold of one of the fruits too.
Fig 1. Underleaf
Hi Marc, The top photo looks fine to me, probably gastropod damage - they really like the rotting flower bases. Once the courgette is off and growing the flower can be picked off (battered and deepfried) so as to avoid this problem (they are often already too far gone for this). The lower photo looks like greenfly. Are the green specules alive or are they knobbly lumps? If it is the former, spray with warm soapy water and destroy ant nests. The leaf veins look perfectly heathy. Does it affect the top surface as well? They might be minute galls (treat as above) or a genetic aberration, not uncommon, but if all your plants are effected, this is unlikely to be the case. To produce good courgettes, the best method is to dig a hole as deep and as regular as you can (30-40 cm depth), line with shredded paper, especially the base and fill with a horse manure and compost mix and pile the excavated soil on top. Dig a pot-sized hole an you're off.
