courgettes in black builders buckets?

[samseed]

Hi all,
Well this is my first thread and my second year of growing food-last year was a disaster with too many schoolboy errors.Im wondering if it is possible to grow courgettes in a builders bucket(the 99p ones in most diy stores) and any tips as in do`s and dont`s.
Also i am doing cucumbers in the same buckets so any tips on them would be appreciated too,sorry for the basic info but i am really keen and tried really hard last year and got realy disheartened when my food died or poorly produced

I dont have flower beds yet as i have only just managed to afford me a greenhouse this year.

Thanks for any help-Sam

[Nicos]

Hi there-and welcome to the Vine!
I've moved your post to where more peeps will see it.

[TonyF]

Welcome Sam

I grow anything - almost anything - in large and normal buckets, anything cylindrical that I can use as a pot and I build boxes, lined with polythene, to grow courgettes and melons etc in.

Doesn't harm them at all and I can grow them easily and, up to a point, they're transportable. But courgettes are a vine and will/should want to spread and they do have large rooting systems so that could be your only restriction, the root restriction may restrict your plant and they WILL want a deal of watering/feeding. I think, on balance, that I wouldn't grow courgettes in them unless they're a particularly small type because of their habit unless you have space for them to grow upwards.

And don't worry about what appear to be easy or newbie questions, we all had to start somewhere.

[Two_Sheds]

I don't think a bush courgette would do well in a bucket. The plants are really top heavy on a smallish stalk - even in the ground they can suffer from wind rock and the stem gets snapped

[HeyWayne]

There are black builders!? Has anyone told the guys at Midsomer?

Sorry - couldn't help myself.

Don't get too disheartened, an error is a lesson for free. We all make them - even the really knowledgable gardeners (though they don't always let on ;-)).

Courgette plants can be quite delicate (though they get bladdy scratchy to make up for it), and has been said they tend to spread a bit - dependant on type. I don't think I'd ever attempt them in buckets myself.

[Chard]

Hey Sam,

Courgettes can be grown in pots and mine were very successful last year. You'll need a pot at least 35cm in diameter though, and container varieties of courgettes like Black Beauty and Midnight f1. Use potting compost in your pot and when putting in your plant (prob easiest to start it inside on a windowsill) pop a small plant pot in beside to water your plant with- this helps the water gets down to he roots better.

[blito]

I think I would sooner have my courgettes in the ground and use the buckets for peas or beans.

[Potstubsdustbins]

If you don't have ground to put your courgettes in then they will be OK in the buckets. I grow 2 plants in buckets every year and am still eating last years harvest. You will just have to be more careful how you look after them never let the compost dry out and keep them well fed courgettes are very hungry plants.

Like wise your cumbers, they will be perfectly OK in buckets, I have grown them in buckets for the last 20 years and now most of my friends are doing the same.

In fact there is not much you can't grow in containers one way or another just don't forget the drainage hole in the bottom.

Colin

[Florence Fennel]

I was disappointed with my courgette harvest from builders buckets last year. It was an experiment because they take up so much room in the ground. I'm going back to planting in the ground this year. Hope you have more luck than I did in the buckets!