Courgette
Cucurbita pepo
Courgettes are the most generous plants in the garden — sometimes embarrassingly so. One or two plants will supply a family through summer. Pick young for the best flavour; leave them and you have a marrow.
SowingBoth methods
Sunlight☀️ Full sun
Water💧💧💧 High
Days to harvest50–65
Soil pH5.5–6.8
Spacing90cm × 90cm
Planting Calendar
🌏 Adjusted for southern hemisphere seasons.
Sow indoorsSow outdoorsTransplantHarvest
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
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Nov
Dec
The Three Sisters
Courgettes grow beautifully alongside sweetcorn and climbing beans in the Native American "Three Sisters" combination — the courgette's large leaves shade the ground, suppressing weeds and retaining moisture.Sowing
Sow seeds on their edge (not flat) in individual pots of multipurpose compost in late April or May. Keep at 18°C. Transplant after all frosts have passed to a sunny, sheltered spot.Pollination
In cool, wet summers, bees may not visit enough to pollinate — hand-pollinate by transferring pollen from male flowers (on a thin stalk) to female flowers (with a tiny courgette at the base) using a fine paintbrush.Soil: Rich, moisture-retentive but well-drained soil, ideally over a manure pit