How to grow courgettes
Home-grown courgettes taste fab but there are a couple more reasons why novice gardeners should get involved with these beauties. One: they're easy to grow and that's got to be good news. Two: they reward your efforts with bumper harvests. And we all love a bumper harvest!
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Preparing to plant courgettes
Fruity customers
Strictly speaking, courgettes aren't vegetables at all. They're actually part of the plant's female fruit. But that doesn't stop them taking pride of place in your vegetable patch. Choose a spot that gets plenty of sunshine and is sheltered from the wind. Well-drained soil is also a must for courgettes.
Fertile hole
Like all members of the squash family, courgettes relish a rich diet. Dig a 45cm-square hole to around a spade's depth. Fill the hole with well-rotted manure or garden compost and top with the soil you removed from the hole, to form a mound. Space your mounds 1 metre apart.
Warm start
Cold weather is a real enemy of young courgette plants, so you need to make sure that there's no danger of frost when you plant them. One way of keeping Jack Frost at bay is to start your courgettes indoors. Five to six weeks before the intended planting date, sow courgette seeds in 8cm pots, 1cm deep in potting compost. Plant the seeds on edge to reduce the chance of rot. Place them in good light and keep the temperature between 15 and 18 degrees Centigrade.
Try these
Bush varieties are the easiest courgette plants to manage but trailing varieties are also available. "Defender" and "All Green Bush" are two reliable varieties that produce plenty of green fruit. Try "Burpees Golden" or "Gold Bush" if you're looking for a more exotic, yellow-skinned fruit. -
Planting courgettes
Hard life
Around a fortnight before you intend to transplant your young courgette plants, start bringing them out into the garden during the day to harden off. Gradually increase the amount of time you leave them outdoors in the run-up to planting. Plant courgettes when the seedlings have three or four true leaves. Place them in the tops of the mounds, at the same depth as they were in their pots.
Outdoor start
If you wish, or if you haven't had the time earlier in spring, you can sow courgette seeds directly in the ground, as long as there is absolutely no danger of frost. This normally means late spring to early summer. Prepare mounds in the usual way and sow two seeds on their edges, 1cm deep. Once the seedlings are large enough to handle, remove the weaker of the pair.
Mulch early
Courgettes need plenty of water to develop properly, so mulching the soil around the plant to improve water retention is a good idea. Don't wait too long to do this, however. Once the bush begins to grow in earnest, you won't be able to get at the ground underneath, so apply a mulch of compost or bark while the plant is still young. -
Caring for courgettes
Thirsty fruit
Courgettes are easy to grow as long as you follow a few simple rules. Above all, don't skimp on your watering routine. This becomes even more important once the flowers appear and the fruits begin to swell. By this time, warmer, drier weather has arrived and the plants will need watering more often. Most gardeners also give their courgette plants regular liquid feeds to encourage the formation of fruit. Some varieties may need staking, so be ready to prop them up if necessary.
Training day
Trailing courgette plants need some training to maximise the harvest. Pinch out the growing tips of the plant's lateral branches once they've grown to around 60cm. This ensures that the plant puts all its subsequent effort into producing fruit.
Helping hand
Fruit are formed once the female flowers have been pollinated. Insects should accomplish this task by themselves when the weather starts to warm up. Early in the season, or in cooler summers, you may have to pollinate the female flowers yourself. Take a male flower (the smaller flower without a swelling behind the petals) that has begun to produce pollen and push it into a newly opened female flower. -
Courgette problems
Slugs
Your number one enemy in the battle to produce top-class courgettes is likely to be the dreaded slug. If you don't want to use chemicals to discourage these pests (and surely the whole point of growing your own is to enjoy chemical-free veggies), then there are some organic methods you can use. Cloches made from cut-down plastic drinks bottles are a good way of protecting young plants. Slug don't like copper, so copper rings are a good deterrent. You can also buy adhesive copper tape to stick around containers and raised beds. Try spreading soot, sand or ash around your plants. Gritty materials impede the slugs' production of the slime they need to get around.
Biological warfare
Increasing numbers of gardeners are reporting success against slugs after introducing nematodes into the soil. These microscopic organisms are supplied in powder form. Mix with water and add the liquid to your vegetable patch. A normal application should keep the area free of slugs for around six weeks.
Aphids
Cucumber Mosaic Virus, spread by aphids, is another danger. Remove any aphids from your courgette plants immediately, rubbing them off by hand or blasting them away with a stream of water. Grow marigolds near courgettes. Marigolds attract hoverflies and hoverflies love to eat aphids. Some courgette varieties have been developed with a resistance to Cucumber Mosaic Virus. The F1 Hybrid "Defender" is just such a variety. It's a good cropper, too, so it's an ideal courgette for beginners. -
Harvesting courgettes
Frequent inspections
Begin harvesting courgettes as soon as they reach a usable size – normally between 10cm and 15cm. Some varieties are ready to crop after eight weeks. Cut the stems attaching the fruit to the plant rather than breaking them off. Regular harvesting encourages more fruit to grow, so inspect the plants frequently.
Sun-blessed blossoms
Don't forget that you can use courgette flowers in the kitchen. Harvest the blossoms on a sunny day to pick them at their best. Aficionados whip up a very thin, Roman-style pizza and top it with courgette flowers. Or you can deep-fry them in a light batter. They also make a classy, colourful addition to an earthy mushroom risotto.
Thinking big
Many gardeners find that they end up with accidental marrows after neglecting to harvest a few hidden courgettes during gluts. Cooked correctly, these ad hoc creations are perfectly good for culinary use. But, if you really want to grow marrows, plant a variety specifically developed for the purpose. Try "Long Green Trailing" or "Green Bush". Grow them as described for courgettes. Shield maturing fruit from direct contact with the soil by placing them on a sheet of wood or similar barrier. This prevents rotting and discourages pests.
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