Grow Your Own: Courgettes

Lesson 2: 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.