Another vegetable I've never grown before is the Courgette, I eat my fare share throughout the year, so I though I may as well try to grow some. The seeds for these came free with the garden magazine 'Grow Your Own', which I did plant a little late in the season around March-April. These were put into small pots filled with Multi-purpose compost, watered and then placed straight outside in a tray which could be topped up with water easily. I did tend to bring these inside during the night, as I felt it may benefit them and it also helped to harden them off as they grew.
Photo: Laura Lunt Date: June 2011
I was surprised that they grew very quickly, I only grew four plants, as I'd decided to place then in one of my plastic circle planter bags, and four seemed the ideal amount. As I used quiet large pots 10-12cm pots, I kept them in these till they started to grow out of them and the roots could be seen appearing through the bottom. I then re-potted them in the planter bag, which also contained multi-purpose compost and the usual water crystals, and watered well. The Courgettes plants from this point on have been watered everyday and feed every two weeks with tomato feed.
These grew very well and seemed to thrive on the balcony, the flowers started it appear, but by mid June / early July, I still hadn't seen any Courgettes emerging. A little concerned I did some research on a few garden websites and found that Courgettes tend to grow male flowers first and later, when pollinated, the female flowers will emerge with the vegetables underneath. So I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.
Photo: Laura Lunt Date: July 2011
It's taken a few weeks, but now in early August I think I spotted my first Courgette growing, while out watering the balcony earlier this week.
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