I’m checking my 4 little courgettes each day & hoping they survive as I am in a very slug prone area! I just have to work out when I think they are ready to pick?
What variety are they @*Astrantia*? Mine are just a bog standard one - El Greco. I pick them at about 5 or 6 inches or so. They vary a bit, but if you still have the seed packet, it should give you info there, or if you know the variety, you can check with some of the online seed sellers as they have good info on cropping sizes etc
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
If the slugs are eating them wholesale, the courgette fruits are probably rotting already. If just a sharp-tongued lick. be prepared to share (or race the slugs for them.
location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand. "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
May I suggest that you buy your slugs a drink? Splendid results at any time of the year that the ...darlings make their presence felt. Beer leftovers work too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1CFkHxzsPo
Really bad year for the courgettes as the weather as has
been said is not really warm enough. We've been growing “tromboncino” for the
last few years now, more as a novelty than taste. But they do climb well and I’ve
been lifting them on a wire cage as they grow to avoid the slugs. This is one
from last year as it’s far too wet to go out for a picture of this years!
However I can tell you the plants are only a third of the size.
Yorkshire, ex Italy and North East coast. Growing too old for it!
Thanks for all the advice! & Fairygirl I think the variety could be goldena? I remember getting them (seeds) in B&Q as they were reduced so thought I’d give them a go. After finding the mouse that ate most of my small plants (leaving just the 4 that are growing now) I think it had also used some of my seed packets as bedding! I threw out a few packets a while ago as they’d been nibbled, looking at the B&Q web site that is the variety they are selling now so I’m guessing that’s what I have.
I don't grow them very often @*Astrantia* and it's a very long time since I did -possibly over twenty years, so I don't know the habit for most of them, but usually they need well fed, decent moist soil to do well. I found this - although not much info- all the sites say much the same really. Picked at the same sort of size as the one I have, and a sweeter variety than many green ones. https://www.mr-fothergills.co.uk/COURGETTE-Goldena
Mice will certainly use all sorts of stuff for nests. The ones I have in the garden use the bird feeding cages for their food. I found a lovely little nest many years ago in the garage of a previous house, where they'd taken a piece of polystyrene - a corner section from something, and it was a perfect shape for it, with a lovely curved shape. Full of leaves and bits of feathers.
I keep all my seed in the house as I don't have anywhere reliably dry outdoors. Easier to keep them in good condition.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
So here’s an update on my teeny tiny courgettes ! They were starting to be eaten by slugs and looked like a bit of rot developing on the end, so I picked the few that had developed and added them to a small stir fry. The plants are still producing flowers so I’ll persevere with them for now & try again next year. Anyway the photo may give some of you a laugh! Oh well they were very tasty.
I particularly like the one 3rd from the right @*Astrantia* - it's given the one in my earlier pic a run for it's money! At least you got a few fruits. I've still got some developing too, so they'll do for the soup, or stir fries too. Have you tried baking with them? We had a thread about it somewhere. I've used them with apples or bananas in muffins. They're good for that.
I've had a few which haven't developed, and had started to rot, so I just ditched those as soon as I saw them. Unfortunately, no matter what we do, plants don't always read the instructions do they?
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Posts
Mine are just a bog standard one - El Greco. I pick them at about 5 or 6 inches or so.
They vary a bit, but if you still have the seed packet, it should give you info there, or if you know the variety, you can check with some of the online seed sellers as they have good info on cropping sizes etc
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1CFkHxzsPo
Really bad year for the courgettes as the weather as has been said is not really warm enough. We've been growing “tromboncino” for the last few years now, more as a novelty than taste. But they do climb well and I’ve been lifting them on a wire cage as they grow to avoid the slugs. This is one from last year as it’s far too wet to go out for a picture of this years! However I can tell you the plants are only a third of the size.
& Fairygirl I think the variety could be goldena? I remember getting them (seeds) in B&Q as they were reduced so thought I’d give them a go. After finding the mouse that ate most of my small plants (leaving just the 4 that are growing now) I think it had also used some of my seed packets as bedding! I threw out a few packets a while ago as they’d been nibbled, looking at the B&Q web site that is the variety they are selling now so I’m guessing that’s what I have.
I found this - although not much info- all the sites say much the same really. Picked at the same sort of size as the one I have, and a sweeter variety than many green ones.
https://www.mr-fothergills.co.uk/COURGETTE-Goldena
Mice will certainly use all sorts of stuff for nests. The ones I have in the garden use the bird feeding cages for their food. I found a lovely little nest many years ago in the garage of a previous house, where they'd taken a piece of polystyrene - a corner section from something, and it was a perfect shape for it, with a lovely curved shape. Full of leaves and bits of feathers.
I keep all my seed in the house as I don't have anywhere reliably dry outdoors. Easier to keep them in good condition.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
At least you got a few fruits. I've still got some developing too, so they'll do for the soup, or stir fries too. Have you tried baking with them? We had a thread about it somewhere. I've used them with apples or bananas in muffins. They're good for that.
I've had a few which haven't developed, and had started to rot, so I just ditched those as soon as I saw them. Unfortunately, no matter what we do, plants don't always read the instructions do they?
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...