Courgettes - Grow Your Own Wants Your Advice!

[Flummery]

Best tip is not to go on holiday in the summer! Or get a good recipe for cooking marrows. (I have one and love it so if any escape I can give a little cheer!) I only put one seed (unless it's old stock) into a 4" pot towards the end of April so I don't have to repot. By the time I put them in the garden - beginning of June up here, I can put them in any gaps in my sowing plan. this means I don't have the plants all together and I feel I get less mildew like this. Slug watch in the beginning and water provision and retention in growth are the main things. Oh yes, and as others have said - don't grow too many.

[Mrs Dobby]

Have never grown them before, as this is our first year growing, so cant add anything to the list of tips, but just wanted to say thanks to all those who have posted tips, I have a feeling they are going to be very useful this coming growing season!

[Nicos]

Find a good recipe using marrows!

[Mrs Dobby]

Got one! Stuffed with a bolognese and cheese sauce to top, delish! We were given a few marrows by other plot holders when we took on our plot in September, along with loads of toms, I'm just hoping to be able to repay their generosity this year!

[madderbat]

CJJ Berry has a recipe for marrow wine which (if we are lucky with courgettes) I will try this year. Report later.

Thought about growing some on the manure heap, since I tried a grow bag last year and only got male flowers.

We love courgettes and can add them to anything. Have a nice recipe for fritters from our sister in Crete - will post it later in the season.

[Waffler]

Mid-April plant a seed (2 if you want to take out insurance) ON IT'S SIDE, so as to avoid rotting off when the moisture collects, in a 3" or 4" pot. Water well and keep moist. Keep in the greenhouse until you've got a small, but healthy plant.
Once you have plants with 4 or more leaves, harden off by leaving in a sunny spot outside for a few hours a day, then plant out after all risk of frost has passed. I dig a big hole, then add loads of home-made compost, before adding the young plant and backfilling the hole. Water in REALLY well. Space plants at 3' intervals.

Biggest tips:
Water really well throughout the plants life;
Water with tomato/potash feed once a week once plants are flowering;
Pick fruit regularly - even if you don't need them - you can always give them away (my neighbours were glad of my excess last year!);
Don't plant near to hedges; my veg patch is split from the main garden by a hedge and I planted courgette plants across the width of the plot, so hedges at each end of the run. The biggest plant was in the middle and they got progressively smaller, the closer to the hedge they got. The hedges are a mix of beech, hazel and box;
Plant a yellow variety just for the different colour: good for the healthy eating recommendation to 'eat a rainbow every day'!

[Flummery]

Good marrow recipe - Peel, slice, de-seed, steam. Layer up with grated cheese, top with grated cheese & breadcrumb mix. Put in oven to brown & melt cheese. Good veggie main course and the carnivores can have it as a side dish.

[SueA]

I grew yellow 'Orelia' courgettes & green 'Defender' last year in large 'self-watering' tubs (they have a rservoir in the bottom & a floating measure on the side so you can see when they need more) & had no problems. The only problem is if one is hiding in the foliage & you turn your back & next minute it's a marrow. They do tend to get a bit of powdery mildew on the leaves but I've never found that to be much of a problem.

[Norm]

Every year I have 2 tons of muck delivered to the lottie in the Autumn. By May it has rotted down enough to rake the top flat. I sow 10 courgette seeds in 9" pots (no particular favourite) in the polytunnel about mid April and by the end of May they're ready to put out, so I plant them all in the muck bins and let them get on with it.

The muck is warm so they grow quickly, it holds moisture pretty well so only needs watering if it's very dry and I end up giving most of them away.

Then at the end of the growing season, the plants go on the compost, the muck gets spread and the new load arrives ready for the next crop.

I usually leave 2 plants to mature into marrows, just 'cos I like them stuffed with fresh carrot, onion and mince. I'm a vegi by proxy. I eat the animals that eat the grass.