Find out how to grow courgette here with all The Yorkshire Gardeners tips.

About Courgette

Courgettes are part of the gourd family. They tend not to keep as long as squash as the skins are a lot softer than squash. Courgettes come in lots of different colours – not just the green ones you see in shops. They also come in different shapes as well. They all tend to taste the same though. Courgettes tend to be picked when they are small this encourages growth of more on the plant. Courgette plants tend to be a bushy plant and can take up quite a bit of space with the size of their leaves.

Recommended varieties of Courgette

There are many varieties of courgettes to try and grow. These are some of our favorite varieties of courgette:-

• Gold Rush F1
• Zucchini F1
• Ambassador F1

Where to grow Courgette

Courgette like hot sunshine to thrive when growing so if it is cooler try growing them in pots or in the ground in a polytunnel or find somewhere in the garden that is warm and sunny. Add plenty of manure and compost to where you are growing to improve the ground you are growing in. This will help keep the moisture in the ground when growing courgettes.

How to sow Courgette

When sowing courgette you need to think about how many plants you exactly need as two plants can produce enough to keep you going and the size of the area they take up is a lot. It is always good to start a couple of extra plants as they can get eaten when they are small. You can sow seeds in separate plant pots in the greenhouse in warm conditions to help them germinate. Most often than not all the seeds will germinate and grow quite easily. The plants do not transplant easy so it’s always good to start the seeds off in separate pots so you don’t have to transplant them again before planting out.

Watch our video tutorial on how to sow courgette seeds.

How to Grow Courgette

When the plants are big enough to transplant outdoors and the frost has past make a nice hole to put them in, if the soil is not very good add some compost or well rotted manure to help improve it. Another way is to lay black membrane and make a hole to plant them through this will keep the ground moist – but this brings issues by harboring slugs. Make sure their is plenty of space between plants as they do bush out quite a bit.

How to care for Courgette plants

Courgettes require quite a bit of attention to get the best crop out of them. Plus your friends and family will love you as you will definitely be giving some away with how many will get produced.

When the courgettes start to produce you can feed them every week with some liquid fertilizer or even sprinkle in some nitrogen fertilizer to help them. Make sure the plants are kept watered especially in warm and dry conditions as this will help the courgette grow and swell.

Harvesting Courgette

When it comes to harvesting courgette you can grow them to the size you want, the more you pick them the more will grow so you might want to keep picking them when they are small. Do not try to harvest them by twisting them off. Use a sharp knife to cut them off as twisting them will damage the plants.

Common problems with Courgettes

A few problems can occur when growing courgettes.

Slugs:- This is one of the main problems especially when they are small, they can devour the plant. Look at ways to deter slugs from attacking the plants.

Powdery Mildew:- This can be from over watering the plants too much. Try to water the plants every 7-10 days and water at the base of the plants