In early April,Iplanted out these 4 courgette plants. I covered them with a mini tunnel to protect them from snow and frost. The holes I enriched with chicken manure and about 30 litres of compost each. I have watered them with both nettles and comfrey potion.They are really quite huge with hundreds of potential flowers. This is the growing tipof one of the plants. Each of the plants has split into 2 growing tips. In this closeup of another of these courgettes, one can see all the tiny points, they are all potential flowers. I don´t remember if I gave them mychorizae or not, but I think so. My other courgettes planted later are not exhibiting the same startling growth.
It looks as though you could be having a glut of courgettes from those 4 plants Odif. I hope you know a lot of people who enjoy fresh courgettes.
I had to look this up..is it zucchini? You should see the look on my face. Whatever you did, they sure love it!!
Zuchini = courgette. I have about 30 courgette plants. Round, long, yellow and dark green. I will propose them to the local supermarkets and anyway beans and courgettes are among the easiest vegetables to sell here. I am soon going to have a glut of cucumbers too. I have a few clients and I do them baskets at 10 euros. This year I have many more prospective clients.
Sounds like a growing business. I have had Zuchinni split into two growing points. Usually they are on the north and south side. Not east and west. Thought that was odd. I plant Black Beauty and Golden when I can find them.
odif, do you have the squash vine borer to fight? I have dead or wilted squash on a daily basis. I am planting seeds every week as the vine borer gets in almost every plant and kills it off. grrr. I have 3 rows of 21 plants each but probably at least 5 dead at any given time in each row at varying stages of growth. some have never even had a squash harvested off of them.
Carolyn, I have luckilly never heard of squash vine borer All my cucurbitacae are healthy. The worst thing is fungal attacks round here.
you are soooo fortunate. they are a moth that comes out at night time and lays an egg or three on the stem of the zucchini and it bores into the stem killing the plant. I have everything from seeds not sprouted to mature plants in the same rows. all 3 of them. the other patch of two rows is completely finished now. I have pulled all of those plants out.
Carolyn is there anything you can put on the stems to protect them? Or is that impractical? How about row covers? Or is that impractical because the flowers wouldn't get pollinated?
Just spray the stem through the growing season with permethrin. Don`t wait till you have one,,by then its too late. I do not have squash bugs/vine borers. Thats what I do. Always have a huge crop most years. Mt neighbors are turning yellow and green from all the squash and zuchinni. I start spraying as soon as the roots are settled and growth begins. It takes very little to keep borers away.
@mart Thanks for the tip! I will try it. I don't have trouble with vine borers, it is the squash beetles that are our horror.
We have tried Mart. It is a total pain. I pulled 4 more new plants yesterday. I did sprinkle every stem with sevin though. Grrr.
Sevin is useless ! Go to your local feed store and buy Bronco fly spray for livestock, then mix about 1/2 a cup with 2 gallons of water. Bronco has a surfactant and citronella in it plus the permethrin active ingredient. Squash bugs lay eggs on the stem close to the ground, thats why by the time you see them, usually on the leaves, its too late. Spray the stem well and lightly mist the leaves. I have used this stuff for years and it never fails me. I use it for potato and squash bugs and all other pests. I even use it on me as a mosquito repellant if I am out of Cutter with same dilution.
I found a great big caterpillar boring into an aubergine today, I have never seen anything like this. I pulled it out and fed it to the chickens.
