Have we got the corguette lurgy?

[sheena]

Been having a bit of a mare with my courgettes lately, they were growing fine and I had to keep cutting it back as they were starting to attack anyone coming through our gate.

Anyway, I have 3 in a pot (pic to the left) at the bottom of the garden that seemed to have started going pale, then the leaves start to turn black and get dry and brittle. They disintegrate on touch.

However the courgette in my planter which was drowned by my potatoes at one point and is now fighting a losing battle with the tomatoes and cucumbers is thriving!?

So here are some pics to help you tell me what I should be doing.

[BarleySugar]

The lurgy looks like powdery mildew, which all cucurbits, like courgettes, cucumbers, squash etc that I've grown succumb to eventually this time of year. There are supposed to be varieties that are resistant to it, and some do last out longer than others. Sometimes cutting off the infected leaves helps, but I do think you are fighting a losing battle, and it looks as if yours are probably too far gone, I'm sorry to say.
Are all your courgettes the same variety? The one in with the other plants does look healthier. I have 2 different varieties at my allotment garden. Cavili has succumbed completely, whereas the other, which is either Black Beauty or Parthenon (labels got mixed), is still looking fine, and they are growing side by side.

[Florence Fennel]

If it's any consolation, mine have been done for with powdery mildew, although I had quite a good harvest off them up till they succumbed. I was far more successful last year when I grew them in the open ground, this year I needed the space so grew them in builders buckets. Let's hope your survivor fruits well.

[sheena]

Just trying to think back, and I think they are the same variety Black Beauty's... although the one in the planter was planted before I got the courgette kit from Wilko's.
I'm not too bothered if they do die, just wanted to know whether it was worth trying to save them.

Maybe i'll just bin em and wait til next year.
Thanks for your help

[ann-the-nan]

Have we got the corguette lurgy?

Mine have the dreaded white mould. Always have. I just chop off the affected leaves and bin them. I am still harvesting, so presume I am doing the right thing.

[taff]

courgettes need a lot of room, at least a meter square each. I don't think your pots were big enough. Plus they'll keep producing as they grow, so if you have one main stalk-type courgette, they will grow along the stalk as they grow, so errr...how were you cutting them back?
powdery mildew in the first pic, but not a problem unless the leaves get really bad, they will keep producing.

[butter fingers]

you could try spraying the courgette leaves with a mixture of milk and water, heard this on the radio so its supposed to work.

[bluemoon]

I only grew 2 courgette plants this year, one has succumbed to powdery mildew (a bog-standard green courgette), but the other (yellow) is still going strong. They are in the same bed as the pumpkins and squash and all these are still mildew free. I don't know why that one plant was so susceptible, it started failing in July.

[sheena]

Well, I pulled up the manky one's now... but when cutting back, I just cut off the badly infected leaves and those that were starting to go. It was still producing courgettes, but they would grow ok until you got the end where the flower was and would be kinda squashy and now fill out as much as it did nearer the plant itself.

Having trimmed back the normal one in my planter that has just been demolished by my hopeless dog. I am now left with the stalk, thankfully the root is still in the ground (wish the same can be said for the rest of it). Is it worth keeping the stalk? Or shall I just pull it up too and start again in the spring?