Content

• To step
• Part 1 of 2: Preparing to plant
• Part 2 of 2: Planting your zucchini
• Tips
• Warnings
• Necessities

Growing zucchini is incredibly easy, and it's the perfect vegetable to encourage children to start a garden. When zucchini fruit begins to form, it won't be long before harvesting, which will give young gardeners a kick.

To step

Part 1 of 2: Preparing to plant

1. Decide how to start with your zucchini. There are two common methods of growing zucchini - either by planting seeds or by purchasing small potted zucchini plants and putting them in your garden. If you choose to grow your zucchini from seed, you will need to pre-germinate your seeds four to six weeks before you can plant them. Buying a potted zucchini plant is always easier and takes less time, but it can be less satisfying than growing your zucchini from seed.
   • There are a few varieties of zucchini, but the fruits are all the same on average. You can find zucchini classified as "open habit" or "dense habit", which refers to the way the leaves grow on the bush (irregular / with tendrils or as a dense bush).
   • Most woody varieties are used in an unripe form like zucchini, while the ones with tendrils are used as a ripe pumpkin.
   • Courgettes naturally vary between a yellowish hue and a green color that is so dark it appears black. Some have very light streaks and spots, this is normal and you don't have to worry about it.
2. Know when to plant. Zucchini are generally considered a summer plant because the plant thrives and produces fruit in the summer. Some varieties are considered winter squashes, but that has more to do with the time of the year they bear fruit than the time when they should be planted. Zucchini like sun and will not do well in cold soil. That is why you should plant your courgettes when the temperature of the open ground is at least 13 ° C. This is usually the case after the first or second week of spring, when there is no longer any chance of frost on the ground.
   • If you are unsure of when to plant, contact a garden center or home gardener to ask for detailed information about the correct zucchini planting time.
3. Find the perfect location to plant. Zucchini thrive in a spot with plenty of sunlight and plenty of room to spread. Find a spot in your garden that provides at least 6-10 hours of sunlight per day, and not too much shade. Make sure to choose a spot that has well-drained soil; zucchini like moist soil, but not soggy soil.
   • If the soil is not well-drained, it can be adapted for the plants, if you don't have a better location.
   • Do not plant your zucchini on the north side of your garden, as there will be the least amount of sunlight there.
4. Prepare your soil. While not everyone has the time, it will create the best growing conditions for your zucchini if ​​you prepare the soil a few months in advance. Start by mixing in mulch and fertilizers to provide the soil with the necessary nutrients. Test the soil's pH level and adjust it if necessary; zucchini need a pH between 6 and 7.5. To make the soil more acidic (lower pH), you can mix in peat moss or pine needles. If you need to make the soil more alkaline (higher pH), use lime.
   • Work compost into the ground monthly if possible; this will help the soil to better absorb the nutrients.
   • If your soil is not well-drained, mix in some sand to improve drainage.
5. Pre-germinate your seeds. If you'd rather not take risks by putting your seeds directly in the ground, you can pre-germinate your zucchini seeds indoors 4-6 weeks before you can take them outside. Get seed trays, no soil potting mix, and your seeds. Put a seed in each container, cover it with 3 mm potting mix and water it well! These bins must be placed in a place where they receive sunlight and it is at least 16 ° Celsius. When the second set of leaves comes, the zucchini plant can go outside.

Part 2 of 2: Planting your zucchini

1. Prepare the spot. Use a garden trowel to dig a small hole for your zucchini plant. When planting seeds, you must push each seed less than 1 cm below the ground. With zucchini plants, make each hole slightly larger than the root ball of your plant. Keep a distance of 75 to 100 cm between each plant (you also keep the same distance between the rows). You can thin out seedlings as needed.
2. Plant your zucchini. Place all zucchini seeds or pre-sprouted zucchini plants in their own hole. Cover seeds with 0.5 to 1 cm of soil so they can get the necessary sunlight and water to germinate. Cover a zucchini plant with enough soil to cover the root ball, without partially covering the trunk. Finish by giving plenty of water and you're done!
3. Maintain your zucchini plants. Keep an eye on your zucchini as they start to grow. They require relatively little attention, but they do need a little support to stay in tip-top shape. Pull up weeds and put a layer of mulch if weeds remain a problem. Add a liquid growth fertilizer every 3-4 weeks to support the growth of your zucchini. Cut off diseased or dying fruit to prevent disease spreading to other parts of the plant and to support further growth.
4. Support growth. In order for your plant to produce zucchini, it must be fertilized. If you have few or no bees or other fertilizing insects around, or if your zucchini plant is not producing fruit, you can fertilize your plant yourself. Pick a male zucchini flower, recognizable by its long, slender stem and visible stamens in the center. Gently pull back the blossom and rub the stamens inside a female zucchini flower. Female zucchini flowers have short stems and a hump-like deformity where the flower sits on the stem, and no stamens.
   • You can do this with multiple flowers, or with less, depending on the amount of time you have and the growth you want to achieve.
5. Harvest your zucchini. Zucchini are ready to be harvested when they are at least four inches long. Picking courgettes regularly ensures that more is produced. If you want a lot of zucchini, pick all zucchini as soon as they are ripe. If you don't want that many zucchini, let one or two zucchini sit for the rest of the season to slow production. To harvest your zucchini, use a sharp knife to cut the zucchini from the rough stalk that connects it to the bush.
   • Enjoy the flowers in salads. The flowers are edible and when you pick them, not that many zucchini fruits will grow.
   • If they are well established in the spring, the crop will continue to grow until the first frost.
   • You can cut the stem of a zucchini to encourage growth if you don't want to harvest all of your zucchini right away.

Tips

• Yellow and green zucchini taste the same, but the yellow ones are easier to find if you grow many!
• Zucchini is delicious when you fill it, add it to a pasta sauce and make a soup. It can be used in salads and is often au gratin to make "zucchini pasta".

Warnings

• Pests include whitefly, spider mites, roundworms, mildew, fungus and viruses.
• If the fruit does not form properly, it is because there has been no proper fertilization of the female flowers. You can take a male flower and manually pollinate the female flowers to make sure this is not a problem.

Necessities

• Zucchini seeds
• digging tools
• Suitable space in the garden