Potting on Courgettes...

[Mchanen]

Hi All,

My courgette seeds are getting quite tall now (at least 6-7 inchs) so i am going to put them into bigger pots tonight.

My question is-
because of how tall they already are should i pot them so only about 3 inchs of the stem is above the soil or should i just pot it on and stake it so it's kept upright? Or leave it to it's own devices?

It's the "All green bush" variety so i'm guessing it should grow up right rather then trail?

[Jillyreeves]

Dont bury the stem - it could rot and die.

What size pots are they in now?

[Mchanen]

Not sure of the exact size but they are small pots that i use to germinate seeds. Maybe it's best to just pot them as they are now- just not sure if i should stake them to give them support or not?

[JimmerG]

Mchanen - I'm about to do the same, mine were in 3inch pots and have just grown too high and flopped over. I'll stick them in bigger pots otherwise they'll get root bound and run out of nutrients, but I wouldn't bother trying to stake them, courgettes just tend to sprawl wherever they like, they never really grow upright and stay upright.

Jimmer

[Mchanen]

AH cool- that's great thanks very much for the advice

I feel more confident about potting them on and not killing them off now lol

[Raindancer411]

Opps, I have potted mine in deeper, just checked the stem and it still looks ok. Do I need to go and repot it?

[TonyF]

You pot the plants up to the same level at they were in the old pot, it isn't the job of the bigger pot to stop them flopping over, it's the job of the pot to allow the plant to get bigger by expanding its root system. It's the same as planting shrubs, roses and trees, use the mark on the stem already and that's your level.

[Alice]

McHanen, don't plant your courgettes deeper then they were, the stems will just rot. And you don't need to stake, courgettes are sprawly plants, you just let them hang over the side of the pot. Hope you get lots.

[Mchanen]

Thanks everyone for the advice- very much appreciated

I got some nice big pots for my courgettes last night- following the advice i recieved here i re-potted then at the same level they were in the old pots and left them to flop- as that's that they seem to want to do.

I took some piccies so will be updating my album to show my progress so far.

Got to say i'm pretty pleased with how things are going so far- thanks again all