Courgette
Cucurbita pepo · Zucchini in the US
In a typical UK garden, sow indoors late March to late April, sow outside early May to early June, plant out early May to late May, and harvest late June to late October.
When to sow, plant and harvest
Growing facts
- Spacing
- 90 cm apart, rows 90 cm apart
- Square foot
- 1 per 4 squares (30 cm squares)
- Sowing depth
- 2.5 cm
- Ready in
- 35 to 50 days from planting out
- Grows to
- 60 cm
- Hardiness
- Tender: killed by any frost
- Sun
- Full sun
- Crops for
- About 12 weeks
Growing tip
Pick at about 15 cm every couple of days in summer, before they turn into marrows.
Neighbours
Grows well with
Keep apart from
Squashes are one crop rotation group. Try not to grow them where any of the family grew in the last two or three years. How crop rotation works
Guides
Zucchini in zone 6 go out in May and crop until the October frost
In USDA zone 6, sow zucchini directly outside from early May to early June, or start seeds indoors from late March to late April and plant out in May. Plants start cropping about 50 days from sowing and keep going until the first frost around mid-October.
Sow courgettes in late April and you'll be picking by July
Sow courgettes indoors from late March to late April and plant them out in May, once the risk of frost has passed. Or sow straight into the ground from early May to early June. Plants start cropping about six weeks after planting out and keep going until the first frost.
More squashes
Where these figures come from
Every crop in VegLog was checked against published growing advice. Dates are worked out from average frost dates, so they shift with your garden. For courgette, we used:
Grow courgette with VegLog
Add courgette to a bed and VegLog reminds you when to sow, plant out and pick, timed to your own town's frost dates.
