When to pick courgettes?

[veggiewomble]

I have a few courgettes growing in containers. Some of them, I believe, have been pollenated as they were growing in leaps and bounds, but suddenly their growth has completely stagnated recently. They're about 2.5 - 3" long, and mostly not very thick, about the girth of a finger.... how can I tell if they are ready to pluck and eat, or if I should just leave them to grow some more?

I don't know what variety they are, just bought them from a garden centre a few months ago.

veg

[zazen999]

Hi
I always cut off the first few at finger size as I find these seem to either drag on and on or they stagnate and then rot. So my first few went on a Pizza on thursday. Plus it seems to spur the next lot on, which are usually more speedy.

[Mrs Dobby]

We had our first courgette on Thursday night, in a rissotto with broad beans, mange tout, onions, garlic, peppers and carrots, all from the plot! Only thing I couldnt grow was the carnalloli rice!

[Two_Sheds]

Pick them when they are about 10cm long. If your ones start to rot, take them off and compost ~ better ones will come along after.

[Alison]

If the ones you've got at the moment are stalling then I definitely suggest having them as mini ones (very expensive in the shops so quite posh really!), it will spur on the next ones and they're likely to grow a bit bigger - before you know it one of them will have become a marrow while you weren't looking!

[Waffler]

Definitely pick these as babies to make the plant produce more!

[JO,JO]

yep ditto
just done this myself.it works as i did this last year.

[gojiberry]

If they have got to that size and stopped growing chances are they have not been fertilised and will rot, pick and use them.

Ian

[Wren]

I ate my first harvested one tonight.
New potatoes roasted with courgette , onion and cherry tomatoes.
Very yummy and they had a sweetness i have never noticed in courgettes before!
I hand pollinated my first two and there was no stopping them from putting on the growth. Its lucky that they flower first thing of a morn before i go to work so its just a quick visit to do the business in the garden while the kettle is boiling to make the first cup of tea.

Wren

[Two_Sheds]

Hand pollination? No need! Courgettes are quite prolific enough.

[Alison]

You only need to hand pollinate if you are growing an early crop under cover - they should all be outside by now so not a problem - those big yellow flowers are just built for attracting insects.

[veggiewomble]

OK I've picked all the small ones - only about 2.5" long and as thick as a finger. They were a bit bitter to taste. I've got one larger one growing which *looks* like it has been pollenated but I cannot be sure! I haven't seen any insects at all this year. I'm on the 4th floor of a central London block and I have resorted to hand pollenating as the female/male flowers don't seem to open at the same time, but I'm not sure how successful I've been as so many of them seem to stagnate after reaching a certain (small) size.

I'm still waiting for my bumper crop!

veg

[BarleySugar]

It might be a bit late for this year, but if you aren't getting many insects try one of the courgettes with a parthenocarpic habit. This means they don't need pollinating. I got mine, Cavili, from T&M, and have harvested 7 so far, but haven't had a male flower open yet. I picked at about 4 inches, and they were really good. They are also smaller plants, so more suitable for pots. I'll definitely go for these again next year, as last year was a complete disaster, with very few courgettes because of the cold wet weather. Not cheap at £3 for 5 seeds, but I actually got 8 seeds!

[Flummery]

I don't like the idea of these parthenocarpic plants. It's a way of making sure you have to buy seed next year! If you are not growing an F1 hybrid you can keep your own seed. A big saving on £3 a pop.

[BarleySugar]

Not if you don't get any courgettes in the first place Anyway, I haven't got the space to let one grow into a marrow, I'll still save a lot of money on buying the courgettes. I've already bought next years in T&M's half price sale.