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Courgettes / Summer Squash
Road Apple Stew
Posts: 100
in Fruit & veg
I grew both in my greenhouse (1st time) last summer, from grow bags - oh my, talk about Day of the Triffids! At one point I had to rescue my daughter who was being dragged in (ha ha!)
Probably not ideal for a greenhouse then?
I won't bother with the squash but would like to do courgettes again - do they do well outside? I've heard people grow them in compost heaps
Any ideas you good, green fingered people?
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depends on your location. I've grown them in North Devon with great results, even in not too good soil when we first moved here.
I grow my courgettes outside here in Norfolk - I wouldn't grow them inside as they need plenty of insects to pollinate them Sometimes we grow them in raised beds, sometimes in open ground in the veg patch.
This year I'll be growing pattypan squash instead of our usual yellow courgettes - just because we fancy a change
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Yes, they will be ok outside. Gve them somewhere that's fairIy warm and sunny and sheltered from too much wind. If you are somewhere (as I am) that has cool weather in early summer, then an open-ended cloche will give them and the pollinators some shelter. Remove it when the weather warms up properly. Keep them well fed and watered and you should get enough for most family needs, even if they are less prolific than in warmer climes.
Ive always grown them outdoors, no problems at all, as Dove said ive had to hand pollinate from time to time, more with pumpkins than courgettes. As far as growing in the compost heap goes, yes the fertility is good, but it would have to be a compost heap thats fairly well rotted or it would be to loose to plant in
I grow them outside, in raised beds in a sheltered spot, and they're always huge and prolific. I did try planting one seedling in the compost heap but the slugs or snails got it. Really, they seem pretty foolproof. Yellow ones look pretty if you fancy a change.
I grew courgett Tondo di Toscana they are round with the texture of watermelon but not so sweet, I have grown summer squash pattypan which look nice but I didn't rate the taste.
I grew 3 last year in buckets with the bottoms cut out at the back of a raised bed,the extra height and gap at the top of pots helped with watering. They still spread out and I missed a few that in a blink of an eye turned into marro w. Unplanned veg but a treat, and they keep for weeks in the cool and dark, I might let a couple get big towards the end of harvest again this year.
Thanks everyone!