🌱 Sowing & planting
- Latin name: Cucurbita pepo
- Sowing depth: 2.5 cm
- Pre-sowing: in 8 cm pots (indoors or under glass)
- Germination temperature: ± 18 °C
- Germination period: 7–12 days
- Planting distance: 80 cm around the plant
- Growth cycle: ± 100 days
- Plant out: when there are 4 true leaves
📅 Growing times
- Early: Sow indoors mid-April–end of April or plant under glass in May; plant outdoors mid-May–mid-June; harvest July–September.
- Late: sow outdoors mid-May–June; harvest late July–early October.
Courgette is a heat-loving plant: wait to plant out until after the risk of night frost.
Start cultivation (sowing)
Harvesting
JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN
Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
🏠 Pre-sowing indoors / glass
On site (outside)
🏠 Pre-sowing indoors / glass
Outside on site
🌿 Popular breeds
📘 Basic information
- Crop group: Fruit crop
- Crop family: Cucumber family (Cucurbitaceae)
- Height: 30–60 cm (wide-growing plant)
- Frost resistant: no
- Root system: ± 30–45 cm deep
- Fertilization: a lot compost
- Preferred soil: pH 5.7–7.5
🌞💧 Pitch & water
Location: ☀☀☀ lots of sun.
Watering: 💧💧 Water moderately to generously, especially during flowering and fruiting.
🤝 Good & Bad Neighbors
🧑🌾 Cultivation method step-by-step
- Sow indoors mid-April–end of April in 8cm pots at a depth of 2.5cm.
- Germinate at ±18 °C and keep the soil slightly moist.
- Plant out from mid-May (after frost) with approximately 80 cm around each plant.
- For a late crop, you can sow directly outdoors from mid-May.
- Provide generous amounts of compost and sufficient water during growth and fruiting.
- Harvest regularly, preferably when the fruits are still young and tender.
❗ Dangers & Concerns
- Snails: eat young leaves and fruits.
- Mildew: white, powdery mold on the leaves, especially in dry weather with a lot of dew.
🧺 Harvesting & storing
- Harvest when the fruits are nicely shaped but still tender.
- For culinary delights, harvest when the flower is still attached to the fruit (the flower is also edible).
- For soup you can let them grow bigger.
🍽️ Nutritional value
Per 100 g raw zucchini with skin:
- 16 kcal
- 0 g fat
- 3 g carbohydrates
- 1 g protein
- 1 g fiber
- 2 g sugar
- Vitamins: A, B6 and C
- Other: thiamin, niacin, copper, riboflavin, magnesium , phosphorus , folic acid, manganese and potassium
