My pathetic courgettes

[Marb67]

Well the failure continues with my only 3 courgettes that are thin, wispy with no forming fruit. One of the main centre stems has been chewed off by slugs so pretty much another one to tick off as a write off or do they still have time ?


Sorry about harsh sunlight as only had phone camera.

[Penellype]

Still loads of time. It may help to get an old plastic bottle and cut it into 3 rings of plastic about 2 inches thick, then cut down them so you can fit them round the stems. Get some copper tape (Wilko is probably the cheapest if they have it) and put a band round the plastic making sure there are no gaps. This should help to keep the slugs off. The rings can be reused in future - I use them for courgettes, brassicas and lettuces, and sometimes for young bean plants.

[Marb67]

I have sheep wool pellets but so far not very effective.

[roitelet]

Courgettes are hungry things. I dig a hole in the autumn and fill it with stuff that would normally go on the compost heap. In the early spring I cover it with soil and come May I plant the courgettes on the top of the mound. This gives them something to feed on and helps to retain the water.

[Marb67]

The courgettes came in the end and still getting good sizes. 2 out of 3 plants producing so not bad. For future reference I will not give up hope if they are still small and spindly late in the season. Fed with comfrey.

[Snoop Puss]

Congratulations, Marb. Mine have long since given up the ghost!

[Mr Bones]

Nice one Marb, mine too are long gone

[bario1]

Mine too... does anyone ever remember to sow another a bit later in the season?

[Snoop Puss]

^^ I meant to...

[veggiechicken]

Mine too... does anyone ever remember to sow another a bit later in the season?

Is it too late now?
My courgettes are just starting to crop - weird year! Next year, I'll be sowing a couple of seeds every month - to see how that works. Actually, I'm not going to wait - I'll sow some now (I'm nuts!)

[Jimmy]

I think it's a bit late now.
And yes successional sowing works well with courgettes, mine seem to burn out after a time.
Also they hate wind, if you can put up some wind breaks around them they will love it.
Plus I prefer yellow ones, less watery.
Jimmy

[veggiechicken]

I've just sown 6 seeds - and they're All green ones. I have hundreds of courgette seeds so I won't lose any sleep when they die - I mean IF they die

[Bren In Pots]

I picked what I think were my last ones the other day, there's a few that are an inch long so I'll give them a bit longer before pulling up the plants.

[1Bee]

Well done, Marb, and thanks for letting us know.

Mine were still producing last week... then visited the plot yesterday and the plants had all but disappeared... weird!

[bario1]

One of mine seemed to stop before all the others, I was a bit disappointed. Now that they've all died back, I can see there's a zeppelin sized marrow attached to the early finisher.... how did I miss that??