Topic: Zucchinis..er...courgettes...

[bananagirl]

As I am pot-girl, can I grow 'em in pots?? I have loads of seeds, and absolutely no idea how many fruits you get on one plant, or how to grow them. I DO have 240 litres of new dirt, and tomato food, so it can't be all bad. As ever, I rely on the kindness of strangers. I'm going to put some in my teeny tiny propagator today and see what  happens.  ???

[budgiebreeder]

not ideal for pots ,no, they take up a lot of room and are usually grown on the ground .You might get away with a grow bag though. .But they do take up quite a lot of space so if you are talking balconies i would try something else.

[bananagirl]

Not a balcony. I live in a house with a backyard and landlords who won't let me put anything "not pretty" in the ground, which means anything they don't like, including my veg, so, I am a container gardener. I'll try the growbag thing though. Thanks.

[aquilegia]

Last year I grew three courgette plants - two in the ground, one in a grow bag. The ground ones turned into monster plants and produced loads of fruit (I really should weigh them and keep records, but I don't!) The grow bag one was miniscule in comparison and only produced about three four-inch courgettes.

[Andi]

Im in the same situation as you re:back yard planting...

I did grow courgettes in pots last year...and I got some whoppas!  The plants do get pretty big and trifid-like, and my space is limited so some were prone to dusty mildew 'stuff' on the leaves because of over crowding... :-\

I used those long window-box containers about 6 inches deep and they did ok...did dry out sometimes but I gave them a good soaking with tomato feed when that happened.

All in all I got about 5-7 courgettes per plant  ;D.

Im going to do the same this year but space them out a bit more!

I might try the grow bag option...

[Dunc_n_Tricia]

You could get a more compact variety like "Venus". I ordered some of these from Thompson & Morgan, not because I am particularly short of room, but because I wanted more plants in the same space.

Might be worth looking at if space is limited.

 :-* Tricia

[allotment_chick]

...or you could try the round ones (Nice de Rond?) from Fothergills, I think.  Or the ones you use a baby courgettes - Bambino - from Nicky's seeds.  Both would do well in a sunny spot pot!  
AC x

[Mrs Ava]

I agree about trying some of the more compact plants - the bush varieties.  These don't run for miles!  If you can provide them with plenty of water and regular feeding I think they would do okay.

[bananagirl]

Mine are regular sized I think. I'm going to put a plant apiece in big round pots and just make sure I give them a good feeding once a week, and cross my fingers. What's the mildew stuff? Sounds unpleasant.

[aquilegia]

I was browsing through one of my books last night - it said you need 30-40 litres per courgette plant.

mildew is white powdery stuff that develops on the leaves. doesn't seem to do my plants any harm, but you can, apparently, get rid of it by spraying with a mixture of 90% water and 10% milk.

[bananagirl]

 :D Thanks aquilegia, I shall get big pots, and try the water/milk thing if they go mildewy.

[Steve__C]

A couple of the previous notes were boasting about size... if size is important to you, then I suggest you grow marrows.
Remember with courgettes, the more you pick the more they produce.
Did you know it is recommended that you pick De Nice a Fruit Rond at golf ball size. That's only 2" in diameter. (That's probably the size of your seed potatoes.) At that size the flavour and texture is great.

[Debs]

Having just watched Gardeners World, Monty D says to grow them in the ground- they are a good plant to grow underneath sweetcorn...

Debs

[Mrs Ava]

Yup, I saw that Debs and others on the board have talked about it, and I am definately going to give it a go, especially as I am rubbish at growing corn, so rather than have a patch with rubbish corn wasting potential growing space, hopefully the squash will be growing well underneath.

[Doris_Pinks]

Stick a pumpkin under your sweetcorn EJ! Mine did wonders! Enough for us all to carve at Halloween! DP

[legless]

i grew butternut squash in growbags last year in my yard, worked well - but they did trail all over the yard! don't see why it wouldn't work with courgettes...

[The gardener]

I find they are best picked at this size or a little bigger.

The more you pick em the more that comes;

[Debs]

Looks a bit phallic to me.............. ( maybe should have gone into watershed to say that!!!)

Debs