Zucchini is the trend vegetable - but growing it doesn't always work. With these 10 tricks you can also grow zucchini successfully.
Grilled, boiled or pickled: zucchini are enjoying great popularity again in many kitchens. But green vegetables are also becoming increasingly popular in gardens. No wonder, after all, the courgettes grow quickly, are relatively undemanding and also taste delicious. Nevertheless, not everything always runs smoothly during cultivation. In these ten tips and tricks, we will tell you what you need to consider and how to achieve a successful harvest.
10. Location
The right location is essential for a successful harvest, even if courgettes are not particularly demanding. Zucchini likes it warm and sunny best, ideally protected from the wind. The courgettes like their soil rich in nutrients and loose, so it is worth digging up the bed before planting and working in a nutrient-rich soil such as our Plantura organic tomato and vegetable soil or alternatively compost. The courgettes (like their close relatives the pumpkins) need a lot of space to thrive properly. Count on 1.5 to 2 m² per plant. This may seem like a lot at first, but the courgettes are growing so quickly that the bed is almost too narrow.
9. Potty or in the bed?
If the ice saints are over in mid-May and no late frosts are to be expected, the zucchini can be sown in the garden. Sunk 2 to 3 cm deep in the ground, the courgettes only need a little more time and sun to grow. But even before the ice saints, you can start sowing the zucchini. From the end of April you can prefer the small plants in the pot. To do this, the seeds are also pressed 2 to 3 cm into the ground and the pot is then placed in a warm, bright place. As soon as the zucchini seedlings get their first leaves, they can find their way into the bed. However, wait for the ice saints here too - the young courgettes cannot tolerate late frosts.
8. Everything just bought
If you don't want to go to the trouble of sowing the courgettes or growing them indoors, you can also use young plants from specialist shops. There are often a wide variety of zucchini varieties, from green and long to yellow and round. It is recommended to buy varieties that are resistant to powdery mildew. Also make sure you take he althy and strong plants home with you - only these will later bear a good harvest in the bed. You can plant the new plants as usual from mid-May.
7. Water on!
Regular watering is particularly important for the zucchini so that it produces enough flowers and fruits. The zucchini can get new water about twice a week, more often on particularly hot days. The water should always be poured directly onto the soil and not onto the leaves - wet leaves are much more susceptible to mildew infection. In order to reduce the extreme evaporation a bit in summer, it can make sense to place fleece under the plants. This has two other advantages: weeds don't stand a chance and the ripe fruits don't come into contact with the ground and get dirty.
6. Something for the big hunger
Zucchini are known to be heavy feeders, so they need a lot of nutrients to grow properly. Therefore, the bed should be treated with compost before planting to create a good basis. Sufficient nutrient supply for the final harvest is also important during growth: the plants should be given some organic fertilizer about every two weeks. Organic fertilizers release the nutrients evenly and provide the zucchini with the best possible care. Mineral fertilizers, on the other hand, should be used with caution: If the plants get too much nitrogen, they become more susceptible to diseases.
5. Everything in moderation
Zucchini are relatively susceptible to stress and then form more male than female flowers. The problem with this is that only female flowers ultimately produce fruit, while the male ones are only responsible for pollination. So if more male flowers form, the harvest will be significantly smaller in the end. But how can a plant have stress? dryness or waterlogging,Lack of nutrients or over-fertilization, everything that is not within the normal range, stresses the plant and thus ensures a poor harvest. Therefore, it is important to keep a he althy balance in everything.
4. Bees
As mentioned above, courgettes have male and female flowers. This ensures that there is a gene exchange between different plants so that the offspring of the plants inherit different traits from their two parents. In plain language, this also means that only pollinated, female flowers form fruit at all. So that the female flowers are actually pollinated, insects are particularly necessary. There are a few tricks to ensure that they find their way into your garden: leave a few corners in the garden as natural as possible to give the insects a place to retreat, do without chemical insecticides and give the insects access to your plants by letting them For example, open the windows of your greenhouse. For more tips on how to turn your garden into a bee paradise, click here.
3. Jumpstart
Especially in wet, humid summers, even a bee-friendly garden may not be enough to ensure adequate pollination of the female flower. Then only one thing helps: manual work. So you can easily pollinate the female flowers yourself. To do this, take a mature male flower (this has longer stems and, unlike female flowers, does not have a short bulge under the petals) and remove the petals. Then use the stamen of the male flower to stroke the stigma of the female flower. This allows multiple flowers to be pollinated. As soon as the petals begin to wilt and the ovary swell, the flowers should be removed entirely - otherwise they are a welcome gateway for fungal diseases that cause young fruits to rot while still on the plant.
2. Harvest
After six to eight weeks, the courgettes are ready to be harvested. However, one should not exercise restraint - regular harvesting promotes the formation of new flowers and thus increases the yield of fresh zucchini. When cutting, the zucchini shouldbut not quite ripe yet. The reason: With age, bitter substances can accumulate in the zucchini. This can be avoided if you harvest the zucchini early enough.
1. Be careful, bitter!
As indicated above, a zucchini can suddenly taste bitter. Now it's time to hands off! The bitter taste is caused by the substance curcurbiaticin, which is toxic to humans. These poisonous zucchini should therefore no longer be eaten. In seed from conventional manufacturers, this substance is usually bred out, but it can occur again and again, especially in your own seed. Ornamental gourds near zucchini can also lead to a sudden appearance of curcurbiaticin. The decorative pumpkins contain the substance naturally and are closely related to the zucchini. If a zucchini is now pollinated by an ornamental gourd, the resulting crossbreed can contain the poisonous bitter substance.
