garden tips
Planting zucchini: How to properly cultivate the delicious all-rounder
Zucchini not only bloom profusely, they are also versatile in the kitchen and on the grill.
© N-sky / Getty Images
Courgettes taste great from the grill, as a casserole extra, breaded or stuffed. If you want to harvest the popular fruit vegetable yourself this summer, you should plant zucchini in May. The most important tips and tricks for sowing and care.
Zucchini did not appear in the top ten most popular vegetables in Germany in 2021. This is probably due to the fact that the small, slim pumpkins are rarely used as raw food. Tomatoes, carrots and cucumbers are clearly ahead in this statistic for precisely this reason. However, the courgettes, which come from Peru and Mexico and later “immigrated” from southern Europe, are very well processed in the kitchens in this country. They are suitable for frying, for refining casseroles, as oven vegetables or as a vegan alternative for the grill. This is one of the reasons why many vegetable fans are again deciding to plant zucchini this gardening season. In this article you will find out what needs to be considered, which mistakes you should avoid and when is the best time to do so.
Plant zucchini: prefer or directly outdoors?
As with tomatoes, peppers, and some other vegetables, there are two ways to plant zucchini. Team Impatience buys a bag of seeds in spring (e.g. the variety “Black Beauty”) and prefers young zucchini plants on the windowsill at home. With so-called pre-cultivation, courgettes usually germinate within a week (room temperature approx. 20°C). If you put the seeds in seed pots in April, you can put the young plants in the bed in mid-May. Important: Wait the Ice Saints (2022: May 11-15) off, because the tender little plants could freeze to death in the event of night frost. If you still can’t wait, you should at least cover them with garden foil overnight. Team relaxation waits until the end of May and sows the courgettes directly outdoors. If you don’t have a garden, you can also cultivate zucchini in a small balcony raised bed or larger tub. Danger: Always plant two plants so that they can fertilize each other. Smaller varieties should be planted about 60 centimeters apart. Larger ones require up to one meter of space.
Zucchini are so-called heavy feeders. That means they should be regularly and well supplied with nutrients. Mature compost, loose soil and a thin layer of mulch made from lawn clippings are the perfect breeding ground for later harvest success. Zucchini should also be watered well in the morning hours if possible. Why: If the soil and root ball dry out, the fruit can become bitter. If you don’t want to wait six to eight weeks from sowing until the first harvest, you can get pre-cultivated courgettes from well-stocked garden retailers. Here, too, you should follow the weather report when planting out and wait for possible night frost.
Planting zucchini outdoors: step by step
- Remove plants with root balls from the pot
- Submerge in bucket and water until no more bubbles rise
- With planting trowel Prepare planting hole
- Insert the plant including the root ball and press down a little
- casting
- Place additional plants at a distance of at least 60 cm (small) to 100 cm
Tip for raised bed & balcony: Place plants deliberately in the corners to save space. They will then grow beyond the edge and still get enough sun.
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Location and soil tips
As already indicated, zucchini develop best on soil that is as loose, nutrient-rich and humus-rich as possible. Due to their origin, courgettes love the sun, but can also do well in partially shaded locations. Naturally, they don’t like frost at all. This is one of the reasons why we once again advise not to put them outside until after the ice saints in mid-May.
Source: extra
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