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Courgettes are a summer favourite that produce masses of fruit so you'll only need a couple of plants for most households.
January | February | March | April | May | June |
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July | August | September | October | November | December |
PLANT/HARVEST | HARVEST | HARVEST |
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Courgettes are very sensitive to frost. Sow the seeds in late April or early May, no more than four weeks before it’s safe to plant outside in your area. Sow the large seeds individually into 7cm pots of a Best Buy compost for sowing seeds in a heated propagator or on a warm windowsill at about 20ºC. For most households, two plants will produce more than enough fruit.
Dig a hole about 30cm in depth and diameter. Fill it with a mixture of soil and garden compost or well-rotted manure, leaving a slight mound. Wait until the danger of frost has completely passed before you plant out in late May or early June. By this time, the young plants should have at least one large leaf.
Some varieties are compact enough to grow in pots, such as 'Sure Thing' and 'Patio Star'. Use a container that has a volume of at least 10L and use a Best Buy compost for containers mixed with a Best Buy controlled-release fertiliser. Check if the compost feels dry to the touch every day and water thoroughly when needed. Feed plants in containers with a tomato food (high in potash) to encourage fruit.
Discover our Best Buy tomato feeds
Cover them with fleece until they are growing strongly.
In dry weather, water every 2 to 3 days with a decent amount. When it's hot, each plant can produce one or even two courgettes every day, when there is plenty of moisture around the roots.
Harvest in: July to September
Harvest the fruits when they reach 10-15cm long, or even smaller, to avoid a glut. If any fruit get missed and grow too large, cut them off to encourage the plant to produce more fruit.
Powdery mildew usually appears in late summer or early autumn as the plants start to run out of steam. You will first see a white dusting on the leaves, which gradually becomes more severe, before the leaves turn yellow and die.
Read more about powdery mildew.
Several varieties of courgette, including ‘Royal Flush’, have smooth-surfaced silvery patches on their leaves. This is perfectly normal and does not require action.
Yellow-fruited varieties may also produce yellow leaves. This puts commercial producers off growing them, because they can look a bit sickly even though they’re perfectly healthy. Again, it’s nothing to worry about if you’re growing them.
The fruits start to develop normally and then, when still quite small, start to discolour and rot at the flower end. The rot then spreads back along the fruit towards the stem.
Read more about rotting courgettes.
Sometimes courgettes fail to fruit much, especially during dry weather and when grown in pots.
Read more about courgettes failing to fruit.
Courgettes, squash and their relatives are prone to virus infections and symptoms include yellowing, poor growth, stunting and mosaicing, ring-spotting and streaking of the foliage, usually combined with a very poor or non-existent yield.