Courgettes - HELP!!!

unrecordings

Got my first mini courgettes at the weekend (oven baked with asparagus)
I've four planted in large pots in the greenhouse and a further four now planted out (i grew them from seed in modules then on to 9cm pots). This year i'm trying to train them upwards rather than let them sprawl across the bed. As for the slugs, they're vicious round here

sachi

dissolve dried garlic granules in hot water and pour into a water spray bottle.let it cool and then put a light spray of the solution on your plants, will deter slugs and snails, (but could keep the bees away also) so be prepared to pollinate by hand with a cotton bud.

andrewf75

Cottage_Economy wrote: »

I have courgette envy.

In the nine years I've been here not one of my courgette plants has ever survived, either in a pot or in the soil.

There is a saying that every gardener has a plant they can't grow and mine is courgette.

I'm sure theres truth in that saying, but you must be doing something wrong, courgettes are really easy! unless the slugs get them when they're really small they grow so fast nothing will stop them.

unrecordings

Slugs are having a go at the courgettes outside - so far only minor damage. As far as garlic spray goes, the little blighters have chomped straight through two of my hardneck garlic stalks so i'd hate to encourage them further !

mfmaybe

I now have 2 courgettes in the ground, still surviving the slugs, but not really thriving either. I suspect my soil isn't very nutrient rich at the moment (note to self, make sure farmer leaves plenty of the muck heap when he empties it). I did try a tomato feed, is there anything else I could be doing to give them a boost?

Will plant out one of the other in a tub I think, as an experiment, and put the last one in the ground. My 5th one went on the muckheap but that was devoured by slugs immediately.

PlymouthMaid

I have one in a tub which is thriving, one in the ground catching up and the other one in the tub looks quite unhappy. I think my dog may be piddling on that one I have been giving mine Tomorite too. o far I have picked one courgette and have two half way there.

jonewer

First picking from my plants is likely to be on Saturday. Have about half a dozen plants which should be enough for the two of us! o_0

mfmaybe

mfmaybe wrote: »

I now have 2 courgettes in the ground, still surviving the slugs, but not really thriving either. I suspect my soil isn't very nutrient rich at the moment (note to self, make sure farmer leaves plenty of the muck heap when he empties it). I did try a tomato feed, is there anything else I could be doing to give them a boost?

Will plant out one of the other in a tub I think, as an experiment, and put the last one in the ground. My 5th one went on the muckheap but that was devoured by slugs immediately.

Just boosting this up a bit as still much the same. I do have some flowers, and might yet get courgettes, but the plants are very small and leaves very pale. The one plant with darker leaves now has brown spots on it.

It's been dry here for weeks other than rain and blustery wind yesterday.

Should I dig into the muckheap to get manure? Or just keep up the tomato feed?

ed110220

We've already had a good crop of courgettes, I planted them out a bit earlier than usual under mini polytunnels to give them a head start.

However today I noticed the first sign of mildew on them. Normally it's not this early in the year.

Ordered some Systhane fungicide for them as even though nothing is approved for control on courgettes in this country it seems, there are lots of references to using it in America.

ed110220

Well the systhane has worked a treat, mildew has been stopped in its tracks! In previous years the leaves were practically covered by now.