Courgettes

Simple to grow and produces lots of plants when grown!

It is best to sow courgettes indoors for 2 weeks and then they can be grown outside. Courgettes are best sown from mid-late April.

Sow your courgette seeds in small 7cm pots of fine seed compost indoors. Sow each seed on its side and 1/2 inch deep in each pot. Make sure they have access to sunlight and water gently. After about 2-3 weeks, the courgette plant will have used all the nutrients from the small pot so should be potted into a bigger pot of compost. Keep inside for about another week or two. 

Before moving outside, make planting pockets 3ft apart for courgettes a week prior. Gradually transition your indoors plant to the outdoors by taking it out during the day and bring it during the night for about a week. Then the week afterwards, you can leave them outside all day and all night in a sheltered spot. Alternatively, if you have a coldframe, when moving the courgette plant outside, after approximately 4-5 weeks it can be transferred from indoors to the coldframe for a week before planting outside.

You can be harvesting 2-3 courgettes a week when they start to grow.

Once the first fruits start to swell, feed every 10-14 day with high potash liquid fertiliser.

Top tips

– Pick a sheltered sunny spot for your courgettes where they can be protected by strong winds.

– Plant one metre away from each other – they will need the space to grow!

– Water around the plants, not on top of them. Try not to get water on the leaves.

– Pick the courgettes when they are smaller. They taste better and will take less energy from the plant so more will grow.

Key timings