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Why are my zuchini female flowers staying closed all day and night?

closed female zucchini flowers

Stephie
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Youssef
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  • Anecdotally, my female zucchini flowers have stayed closed for several days when they looked like they were nearly ready to open. Might just take more time. – Kyle McVay May 28 '20 at 17:12

1 Answers1

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Because they have served their purpose.

As you can see, the fruit is already half-grown, which means that the flower end is no longer needed for the fertilization of the seeds. It will fall off soon, just like the petals on other fruit, like apple or cherry blossoms.

When a fresh zucchini flower isn’t yet pollinated, it will close up at night and open up during the day, protecting the pistil inside at night and offering it to pollinators during the day. That phase is over (successfully, as can be seen by the forming zucchini in the photo), so the plant has no need for the flower any longer and will discard it.

Stephie
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  • How can you tell that the flower is successfully pollinated? My unpollinated zucchini flowers have immature fruits behind them of similar size to the one in the picture. – Kyle McVay May 28 '20 at 17:03
  • @KyleMcVay To me, the fruit in the photo seems way bigger than on immature female flowers? Just compared to the leaf and main stems. But without a scale for reference, it’s a bit of a guess. – Stephie May 28 '20 at 17:05
  • Could be, I was just curious if there was something I'm missing. I'm a rookie gardener and am growing zucchini for the first time this year. – Kyle McVay May 28 '20 at 17:08