Perhaps I've been a little reckless but I've had half a dozen Black Beauty courgettes outside for three weeks - in containers and a sheltered position (excepting the current strong winds) -- and they seem to be fully OK with it. In the past, I have had problems with splitting stems when planting out but, so far, OK.
The margiolds will make way in the cold frame shortly... veg is the priority - i only got marigold seeds as cannon fodder for slugs etc!
In previous yrs, i've def had courgettes as plug plants out by now. this is the first year i've tried them from seed and i've been a bit cautious as a result.
Since I've hijacked my own thread... i've seen people say to pinch out the growing tip of marigolds and/or the first flowers. any wisdom on this? there doesn't seem to be an obvious growing tip...
Planted my courgettes out this week am in south east and is fairly sheltered and a town location so quite warm . used plastic bottle cloches on each courgette to protect from cold wind and slugs, will remove when it cheers up a little.
This winter & spring have been so mild it's good to get stuff out early - let's just hope we don't get a frost in June! The wind is indeed the problem at the moment.
Does anyone know where I could get these as plug plants? Only 1 out of 4 seeds germinated and would rather have more than one plant. Not sure why the others didnt dk anything
There's plenty of time to sow some more Andy ... they'll soon catch up ... much cheaper than buying plants ... however there will be some in the garden centres any day now ... in fact I saw some the other day ... much too early to plant them out tho'.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I will not sow these until the end of the month. If you want to know the type, I would get another packet of seed. Garden centres will have loads in next month.
Hey Andy. ..I'd buy some more seeds and invest in a heat mat. They will germinate and show growth within a week. The heat mats are a great investment. I picked one up off amazon for about £25 and can fit 3-4 seed trays at one time.
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Perhaps I've been a little reckless but I've had half a dozen Black Beauty courgettes outside for three weeks - in containers and a sheltered position (excepting the current strong winds) -- and they seem to be fully OK with it. In the past, I have had problems with splitting stems when planting out but, so far, OK.
The margiolds will make way in the cold frame shortly... veg is the priority - i only got marigold seeds as cannon fodder for slugs etc!
In previous yrs, i've def had courgettes as plug plants out by now. this is the first year i've tried them from seed and i've been a bit cautious as a result.
Since I've hijacked my own thread... i've seen people say to pinch out the growing tip of marigolds and/or the first flowers. any wisdom on this? there doesn't seem to be an obvious growing tip...
Planted my courgettes out this week am in south east and is fairly sheltered and a town location so quite warm . used plastic bottle cloches on each courgette to protect from cold wind and slugs, will remove when it cheers up a little.
This winter & spring have been so mild it's good to get stuff out early - let's just hope we don't get a frost in June! The wind is indeed the problem at the moment.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.