Courgettes are one of those vegetables that most gardeners grow in their gardens. That’s because they’re easy to grow and you get tasty courgettes all summer.
For me, courgettes are one of the typical summer vegetables. They are so versatile, as they can be added to sauces or curries, roasted or grilled on the BBQ, and added to a stir-fry.
I wouldn’t dream of not growing them every year. And because I love them so much, I want every vegetable gardener to grow them.
So, to convert you all, I will answer all the common questions about growing courgettes in the UK.
Are Courgettes Easy To Grow?
Yes, very easy. They don’t need that much care, as long as you keep watering them regularly. Feeding them every now and then will also benefit them.
And it’s easy to get a good yield out of them, because they tend to grow quickly and produce many fruits.
We have been growing courgettes for years, and grow them every year. I usually grow one that produces green fruit and one that has yellow fruit, as I love the variety. If you’re after a plant that is easy-going but provides a high yield, the courgette is the one for you.
Read our full guide about growing courgettes to get started.
When Do You Sow Courgette Seeds?
This depends if you want to start your courgette plant off indoors or sow straight outdoors in your veggie bed. Both are possible, and which one you choose is down to preference.
Personally, I prefer to start them off indoors, because this way the plants can grow strong in the safety of our polytunnel or the windowsill, which gives them a better chance once they are transplanted outdoors.
So indoors, you start sowing courgette seeds in small pots in April or May. They need warm soil to germinate, so keeping them on a sunny windowsill, greenhouse or polytunnel, or propagator will ensure they have the right conditions.
Keep the compost moist but not too wet, as this could cause the seeds to rot. The seeds should germinate in as little as 5 to 7 days.
If you don’t have the equipment or space to start them indoors, you can sow courgette seeds straight into the bed outside once the risk of late frost has past. Depending on where in the UK you are, this will be the end of May or early June.
Make sure you prepare the soil before sowing them to give them the best growing conditions. This means you need to dig in a good amount of organic matter to enrich the soil with nutrients.
Starting them off indoors will give them a head start, which means you can harvest a bit earlier.
How Do You Care For Courgette Plants In The UK?
Like all squashes, courgettes are very hungry and thirsty plants. That’s not surprising, given that courgettes have a water content of over 90%. This means you have to ensure you water your courgette plants regularly, especially during dry, hot periods.
One easy way to ensure your courgette plants have enough moisture to grow delicious fruits is to add a layer of mulch around them. This will keep the soil from drying out too quickly, so you don’t have to water them as often.
A study has shown that courgettes need 32% less water if plastic mulch is added. (Santosh and Maitra, 2021) Although this study was carried out at a commercial farm, it does show that mulching courgette plants can reduce the amount of watering they need.
The other thing courgettes need is nutrients. It’s important to prepare the soil where you plan to grow them. This can easily be done by digging in organic matter in early spring or adding a layer of organic matter if you prefer the no-dig method.
Once the plants have started to produce flowers, you can also feed them with a liquid fertiliser. About once a week will be sufficient to provide the necessary nutrients.
How Often Do You Have To Water Courgette Plants In The UK?
As we have said, courgettes are very thirsty plants. Ideally, the soil they grow in is constantly moist, but not wet, as this could cause the roots to rot.
To achieve this, regular watering is vital. How often that is will depend on two factors, soil conditions and weather. Soil that contains plenty of organic matter will hold moisture better than sandy soil. This means the latter will need watering more often.
But the weather also plays a big part. During really hot and dry periods, watering daily will be vital. However, when it’s cooler and there is rain, the need to water the plants reduces.
I like to test the soil by digging down a bit in the bed to see how moist the soil is. This helps me to decide if the plants need watering or if they can go without for a day.
Do You Have To Feed Courgette Plants?
Yes, is the answer. Courgettes, like all plants in the squash family, are very hungry plants. Given that they grow quite big fruits, that’s probably not a real surprise.
Feeding plants always starts with enriching the soil with nutrients before planting out. This is best done in early spring or autumn. Dig in a good amount of organic matter into the soil, which will also help with water retention.
Adding a thick layer of mulch, such as leaf mulch, is another method to get nutrients into the soil. As the mulch breaks down, it releases nutrients into the soil. This can be done in autumn or early spring.
For some vegetable plants, this will be enough. But courgettes need more, so feeding them once a week with a liquid fertiliser once they have started flowering will keep them happy. This one works great and can also be used for other plants, such as tomatoes.
- Easy to apply simply mix with water in a watering can according to instructions
- For tomatoes and flowering pot plants
- With seaweed extract for maximum growth and better crops
Why Doesn’t My Courgette Plant Produce Fruits?
There could be two reasons. If you have self-pollinating plants, then the reason is probably that they don’t get enough water.
Female flowers, the ones that will produce the fruit, will only develop if the plant has enough water. So make sure you water it regularly.
If you have plants that need pollinating, the reason is probably that you don’t have enough pollinators in your garden, such as bees. As these are needed to pollinate the courgette plants so they produce fruit. (Knapp and Osborne, 2017)
Try to encourage bees and other pollinators into your garden by planting pollinator-friendly flowers, such as Chives, Comfrey, Crocus, Marigold, Nasturtiums, Lavender, Honeysuckle, Ivy, and many more.
Here are some more tips about attracting pollinators and other beneficial insects to your garden.
Do Courgettes Do Well In Shade?
No, courgettes need sun, the more, the better. So, if you want to grow courgette plants successfully, you have to reserve a sunny spot in the garden for them.
Courgettes need about 6 hours of sunlight per day to thrive. So they can grow in partial shade, and do well. But in full shade, they’re unlikely to produce a good yield.
Sun is needed for the sun to photosynthesise. This process is plants’ way to produce sugar and carbohydrates, which they need to grow and produce fruit. (Stirbet et al., 2019)
So in full shade, the courgette plants wouldn’t be able to produce enough food to fuel a big crop of fruits.
When Do You Harvest Courgettes In The UK?
This will depend on when you have sown your courgette seeds. Generally speaking, harvesting can begin 6 to 8 weeks after sowing.
So if you started them off indoors, you can be eating homegrown courgettes from early June. If you sow them outside, it’ll be July until you can start harvesting. But once they have started, you will be harvesting regularly.
At the height of summer, be prepared to harvest every other day or so, as courgettes are prolific croppers.
The best way to harvest courgettes is by cutting them off the plant, rather than twisting them. The latter could damage the growing stem.
What Pests To Be Aware Of When Growing Courgettes In The UK?
The good news is that there aren’t many pests you have to be concerned about when growing courgettes. Slugs and snails eat pretty much everything and will nibble at courgette plant leaves.
However, they won’t do them any harm, unless the plants are still very young. So really, slugs and snails are only a threat to your courgette plants when they have first been planted out or seedlings that have just come up.
To protect them at this vulnerable stage, you can put cloches over them. Or you can put copper rings around the young plants. These will keep the slugs and snails away, because they aren’t keen on how the mucus their bodies secrete reacts with the metal.
- Protect your plants from slugs and snail by placing these best selling Copper Slug Rings around them. This pack contains 6 x LARGE Copper Slug Rings (17cm / 7″ in diameter)
- These solid Copper Slug and Snail Rings will last for many years and are simply placed around the plant where they form a barrier which slugs and snails will not cross. Slugs and snails hate copper because of reaction between their mucus and the copper.
- When the slugs and snails come into contact with the ring they are repelled and will crawl away. They are easy to use as a spring clip allows you to open the ring. Slip it around the stem and then press lightly into the soil. If you have larger plants, just link them together to make a bigger ring.
Once the plants have grown bigger and stronger, slugs and snails won’t be a problem anymore. Even if they nibble at their leaves, the courgettes will be able to tolerate them.
Like most other vegetables, aphids will also feed on courgette plants. But unless you have an infestation, they won’t cause any harm. It’s good to keep an eye out to ensure the numbers don’t increase too much, but generally, you can just let them be.
What Diseases Can Affect Courgette Plants In The UK?
The only two diseases you have to be aware of with courgette plants are grey mould and powdery mildew. They are both fungal diseases.
Grey mould thrives in wet conditions, and is therefore most likely to strike when we have a lot of rain in summer. You will see a fuzzy grey mould on the leaves and stems.
Powdery mildew occurs when water distribution in the ground is uneven and there is a lot of moisture in the air. You know that this fungus is present when the leaves have a white powdery layer on them.
A heavy infection of this fungal disease can kill your plant. To avoid both of these diseases, take these steps:
- When you plant your courgette plants, make sure they are well spaced out – this will ensure good air circulation to dry the leaves after heavy rain
- Weed the beds regularly, as the weeds could attract the dieseases
- Water your courgettes regularly and evenly – it’s best to water from underneath to keep the foliage as dry as possible
If you see any signs of any of these diseases, remove the affected part of the plant, mostly leaves, and dispose of it in the garden waste bin. Don’t compost infected plant parts, as the disease could survive in your compost and infect future plants.
Can You Grow Courgettes In Containers?
Yes, you can absolutely grow courgettes in pots! Make sure you put them in a big enough pot though, as they tend to spread out a bit.
When your seedlings are ready to be planted on, rather than putting them in a bed, plant them in a big pot. Make sure you position the container in a sunny spot.
And only put them outside once any risk of frost has passed. Water them regularly, and they should thrive!
Can You Grow Courgettes Vertically?
Yes, you can. Many people don’t know this, but you can train courgettes to grow up rather than outwards. For this to be successful, two factors play a part: the right variety and support.
Although you can technically train any courgette plant to grow upwards, it’s much easier if you choose a climbing variety. Try the courgette varieties Black Forest F1 and Shooting Star F1.
They both produce tasty fruits and naturally climb up rather than spread outwards.
Then all you have to do is give them something to grow up on. A trellis works perfectly, or a tomato cage. You can make your own support structure as well, using thick bamboo canes with some strong netting strung between the canes.
The courgettes can hang on to the netting and make their way upwards. The wigwam method also works. Use three bamboo canes and stick them around the plant in a circle. Tie the top of the canes together with some string. It looks like a wigwam if you did it right.
Once the courgette plant starts growing, tie the stems to the canes or netting. This will help the courgette to find its way up. Tie the stems below the leaves and tie them loosely, as the stem will grow thicker and you don’t want the string damaging it.
You will need to continue to do this as long as the plant grows. Find out more in our article about growing courgettes vertically.
Can You Save Courgette Seeds?
Yes, you can. But only save seeds from non-F1 varieties. That’s because with F1 varieties you never know what you will get. The change bred with an F1 variety will only last for one generation.
If you are planning to save seeds from your homegrown courgettes, grow them away from other courgettes and members of the squash family, such as squashes and pumpkins, as they might be cross-pollinated if they are close.
This would then mean that you can’t be sure what you will get. You could hand pollinate the courgettes to avoid any cross-pollination.
The next important thing is to let the courgettes ripen fully, which means until they turn brown. I would recommend doing this only at the end of the growing season, because the plant will stop producing more fruit after being allowed to fully ripen its fruit.
Cut the courgette open and remove the seeds. Wash them and let them dry. Once dried, you can keep them in an airtight container for planting next spring.
What’s The Best Courgette Variety To Grow In The UK?
One thing I love about growing any vegetable from seed is that you often have a great choice of different varieties. And it’s no different with courgettes. Did you know, for example, that you can grow yellow courgettes?
I grow yellow and green ones every year. Here are some varieties to try out for your:
- All Green Bush – this variety will give you dark green fruit, and if you keep harvesting regularly you can expect a good yield. But they will turn into marrows if you leave them too long.
- Courcourzelle – while the fruit of this variety is green, it has a beautiful striped pattern of dark and light green. They taste sweet but nutty and will enhance any dish you cook with them.
- Ball Mix F1 – if you want to grow courgettes that are round rather than long, try these. You get small round courgettes the size of a tennis ball. As it’s a mix, you could get green or yellow ones.
- Golden Zucchini – as the name suggests, you’ll get yellow fruit from this variety. They have a delicate flavour and the skin is tender.
So here you have all the questions about growing courgettes in the UK answered. Why not give one of these courgette varieties a go and enjoy homegrown courgettes this summer? Happy Growing!
