Marrows - Female Flowers?

[Sue S]

Hi

I have several marrow plants which have lots of male flowers, but no females (with fruits) - have I done something wrong or am I just be impatient?

Many thanks

Sue

[Cereus-validus]

You are being impatient. Many Cucurbitaceae will produce male flowers before the female flowers.

In the wild, such a strategy encourages out-breeding with other plants (and genetic diversity) but frustrates the impatient gardener expecting fruit.

[Mark Anderson]

How exactly can you tell the difference between the males and females? The Marrows in my boxes are starting to flower at only three feet high. last year they grew 6 feet before they started flowering which was in September. I can't figure out what I did differently other than using a wildflower seed mix from a different vendor. I was hoping they'd grow to

6 feet this year too.

[Steve Hayes]

I have a related question that came up on another newsgroup -- how do you distinguish between marrows and zucchini/courgettes?

[Django Cat]

Size matters. DC