Patty pan squash

Abutilon fan

I am growing patty pan squash - one in the centre of each large tub.  They have large healthy leaves and a succession of flowers which keep falling off before they set.  I am watering profusely in this weather and feeding with tomato food.  They have a good amount of sun and no pests or disease.   Any ideas please?

neilbradburn

Hi Abutilon,
I'm also growing patty pan this year. Mine has been in the ground about a month now and is starting to crop in earnest. It takes a bit of time for them to start producing the female flowers. Are you seeing bees around to perform pollination duties? Also, it wants to be a big plant (mine is currently about 1.5m across, and it will get to double that) so I raise a slight question mark around its growth in a 'tub' - but don't take that as a no, but more of a slim possible explanation for lack of cropping.
kind regards.

Joy*

If you get Male and female flowers, you could try removing a male flower and shove it carefully into a female flower to enable fertilisation. Make sure that pollen is deposited on the stigma and see if that helps.

Dovefromabove

We grew pattipans a few years ago ... they cropped magnificently ... but three plants swamped an area 10’ x 10’of the veg plot and then rambled and sprawled across the lawn in a passable imitation of the neighbours’ Russian  Vine ... they also needed the garden sprinkler on them for half an hour every other day ... if I ever decide to grow just one type of veg in my garden it may well be Patty Pans ❤️... but that’s the only way I’ll have room for them. 
I don’t hold out much hope for one in a tub 😢 

Womble54

I’ve grown two patty pan plants for the first time too. One plant with white squash has produced a few squash, but nowhere near as productive as the courgettes. The other, golden scalloped, didn’t produce any, then was badly affected by mildew so I’ve pulled it up.

They’re really nice to cook with. Hopefully yours will start to produce soon, give hand pollinating a try and plenty of watering and feeding as they’re in tubs.

Abutilon fan

Thanks everyone for advice and information. I didnt realise they grew to such a big plant but this one looks so healthy and is flowering so I will give it a chance!  I haven't any empty spaces to grew veg in the soil - it's a flower garden and where there are no flowers there are huge trees with roots like tangled wire that regrow as fast as I clear a space. Is it obvious which are male and female flowers?  I'll give the hand polinating a go and let you know the result.  I usually only grow runner beans but they are fine in half barrel size tubs and are full of flowers.

Dovefromabove

The male flowers just have thin stalks ... the females have a bulge behind the flower where it joins the stalk. 

Good luck 😉  

barry island

I grew patty pans the first year that I had my allotment plot, the plants do grow big and crop profusely but compared to a courgette they don't really taste good, we even tried slicing them and frying them to make crisps which did taste nice but was a bit too much of a faff, I haven't bothered to grow them since the same as Mooli, and Asparagus peas.

Abutilon fan

We just fry them whole when they are about 2-3 inches delicious!