Cucurbits (Cucurbitaceae)
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Early start: mid April
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Seeding: from end of April to end of May
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Planting: If started early: 4 weeks after early start, if bought: mid May. Not before and not after mid May
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Distance: 100 cm x 50.0 cm
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Height: 50 – 60 cm
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Harvest: If started early: 8 weeks after early start, if sown: 8 weeks after seeding, if planted: from July to October. Not before July and not after October
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Habitat: sunny, partial shade
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Good Neighbours: Broad beans, Bush beans, Onions
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Bad Neighbours: Cucumbers, Radish, Radish
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Courgettes flourish as companion plants. Two courgette plants are quite enough for a family of three to four.
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Require a lot of nutrients
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Order at
poetschke.de,
tomgarten.de,
amazon.de,
obi.at
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Properties
(No User Tips)
Most courgettes are long and green and
look like cucumbers. There are also yellow, orange, green striped and cream & green striped courgettes as well as some round ones.
Habitat
(No User Tips)
Courgettes prefers a sunny to shaded, warm location with well drained, moist garden soil.
Propagation
(No User Tips)
Propagate generatively using seeds. Highly bred plants (F1 hybrids) are not suitable for generative propagation but the older varieties are e.g. cocozelle von Tripolis. The dried seeds are able to germinate for 5 to 8 years.
Good Successors
(No User Tips)
Plants that are well suited for next year cultivation:
(not specified)
Bad Successors
(No User Tips)
The following plants should not be planted in the following years:
How many years: |
Not to plant: |
Winter Protection
(No User Tips)
Not applicable.
Cultivation
(No User Tips)
About 2 to 3 weeks before planting out, put 2 seeds in a pot. Later on, when planting out/cultivating you only
keep the strongest plant.
The pots should not be kept too moist.
- Water regularly. The soil must be well drained.
- Regularly apply some compost.
- Loosen up the bed at regular intervals.
- Mulching the bed prevents weeds from growing
as well as rot and keeps the soil moist for longer.
- Earth up the soil a little.
Tip:
Use coffee grounds as a fertilizer and at the same time as a natural defence against snails.
Deseases / pests
(No User Tips)
Pests: Slugs, aphids
Control: Spray the plants with a solution made of elder leaves, bracken and fern, or a coffee solution.
Disease: Powdery mildew, bacterial soft rot, courgette yellow mosaic potyvirus (yellow spots on the leaves)
Preventative measures: Immediately remove affected courgettes, mulch, do not water on the leaves, rotate the crops properly, avoid mechanical damage, water with a nettle solution, grow resistant varieties.
Harvest
(No User Tips)
Courgettes are ready to pick when their skiny are shiny and firm.
They are most tender when harvested at a length of 10 to 20 cm.
If you allow them to grow, they will reach the size of a marrow. They keep very well.
Storage
(No User Tips)
The courgettes should be kept in a cool, dark place.
The
larger and fresher the courgettes are, the longer they will keep. Freshly
harvested courgettes will keep in your fridge's vegetable cooler for up to three weeks.
Frozen courgettes will keep
for about 8 months in the freezer. Before freezing courgettes, cut them small and blanch briefly.
Tip:
Do not keep courgettes next to apples or tomatoes.
Preparation
(No User Tips)
Courgettes can be eaten raw, boiled, steamed or fried. They can
be stuffed with minced meat, couscous, mushrooms or rice.
Tips:
- The large courgette flowers are also edible.
The male flowers are held to be particularly delicious (they sit on long, thin stalks). - When the courgettes start to flower, usually lots of male flowers appear.
Only a few
male flowers are needed to pollinate the female flowers. - Remove
male flowers shortly before they open.
Location of your garden:
(Unknown Address)