Courgette leaves turning yellow.... wind burn???

[Davinagreenbyname]

Hi Folks,
This is my first post!
I wonderd if anyone in Scotland have experienced any problems with their veg since the hurricane force winds we had a few weeks ago. I noticed almost immediately afterwards that my previously healthy and vigorous courgettes, out in my veg plot had turned yellow. They hadn't started fruiting yet, so it was just the leaves. Could it be wind burn? They've stared to flower now, but their quite small and the leaves still look pale. All the other young veg in the raised bed are fine, and the soil is very fertile. I've read that courgettes can be quite sensitive. Or is it something completely unconnected? We've had good rain spells here, but nothing that gives a good soaking. Also, we've had very little prolonged sunshine. Is it too cold?? The other courgette plant, still in its pot, in the greenhouse is thriving. What do you think is going on?

[Germinater]

id say a combo of wind and cold. mine were very slow to begine with but after puting them in the gh they are 3times the size they were a few weeks ago....good luck

[Tam]

You must be on the west side of Scotland as here, in the east, we have had a real drought and I have had the sprinklers on most days, but, hallelujah, it rained a couple of days ago. It was never heavy, but constant for quite a few hours. My courgettes are doing very poorly as they haven't had enough water and some nights have been very cold. I am hoping they will pick up when it gets a little warmer - as it surely must.

[chris]

Are they a green, or yellow fruiting variety? My yellow ones have yellow leaves..

Edit: my green ones have green leaves- in the same conditions (ground, pots, and compost/soil).

[Florence Fennel]

I haven't put mine out yet, that's a job for this evening actually. Sounds like it's been a bit cold and dry for them.

Oh and welcome to the Vine by the way!

[Kiwi_Soph]

My outside fella has a mix of green and yellow leaves too - it is a yellow courgette so I'm not too worried - the new growth and leaves are healthy so that is the main thing. It does seem to pause itself on cold days but zooms off on hot ones so hopefully I will get some courgettes eventually!

Welcome as well by the way - I am pretty brand new myself and I hope you'll find (like me) that this is a lovely, welcoming place with buckets of tolerance for all the newbie questions!

[pipscariad]

Welcome to the Vine!

My courgettes have also got very yellow leaves, and I'm 95% sure this is due to the wind. I live in a very exposed coastal location, and the courgettes seemed to suffer more than anything else in the gales of the previous week or so. I lost 3 plants completely (snapped off), and the remaining ones are only just starting to look slightly happier after a week under a cloche (I'm cursing that I didn't think of that earlier!). I noticed last night that I've lost yet another courgette, so I'm now down to 4 of my original 11, and have actually re-sown some direct, as I was worried I might end up with none at all.

I'd try to give them some kind of shelter if possible (I rigged up a makeshift windbreak with a strip of debris netting and tent pegs for one of mine), and make sure they've got enough water and perhaps a drop of seaweed feed if you have some. Good luck!

[bearded bloke]

First of all welcome to the vine Davina

This may help (pic's taken today),a wind burnt courgette leaf in my garden ........

Edit:If you click on the pics they get bigger



Same plant newer growth (approx 2 weeks)......



Next plant is 3 feet away .......



Confused me for a while (about two weeks ago),then I found that the damaged plant was in a bit of a wind tunnel caused by a low down gap in the nearby hedge,it had also damaged my cucumber's .....



After realising what was occurring I hung a piece of fleece up (visible in pic) to shelter the cucumbers,low & behold the courgette also recovered

[Flummery]

Hi and welcome - I think it's the cold too. Mine have only been out for a week here in E Yorks. They are quite tetchy things as to temperature and I treat them like I would tomatoes in terms of putting them outdoors. The new leaves will come green though, don't worry.

[jacob]

Some notes:

a) early leaves on corgettes die off anyhow

b) as Flummery says, courgettes are definitely summer plants and will sulk in the cold and be damaged by the wind. When they're in sulk mode the leaves tend to be rather yellower than in glorious summer sun.

c) always remember that outside veg don't always look pristine!

PS Tam, in this bit of East Scotland it's rained quite a lot over the last month....