Grow Your Own Magazine

Ok, I've finally given in on growing courgettes from seed, they just won't germinate!

I bought a plant for 99p today, 'green bush', which I plan to put in a tub on the patio.

The lady mentioned I should put it in a low tub, so the plant doesn't break as the courgettes tumble over the edge.

All the low tubs I've got seem very shallow (obviously) - how deep would you recommend a tub needs to be, and how wide, for one courgette plant?

Thanks

Michelle

I've seen them growing very happily in old car tyres. They're obviously pretty low, fairly wide and the tyre wall can support the fruit as they swell and expand. They're also very easy to come by. Perfectly suitable for an allotment, perhaps less so for a garden though.

I love that idea, and live opposite a tyre garage, but this year due to circumstances I've taken over my parents' rather small paved garden and don't think they'd be so keen! Also with things in pots they're nice and easy to move if we eventually sell our flat and buy a house (we gave up the lottie because we were moving but it fell through).

Thanks for the idea though!

If its any help I have mine in a 12" pot which is about 10" tall, they seem to
be going okay although i have filled the soil up high to help the fuit (hopefully) grow out !

Last year I grew my courgettes in a large tub, approx. 38cm dia and 35cm deep, and they were fine (one plant per tub!)!

Good luck with yours!

Great advice, I was wondering if courgettes could grow in tubs this morning, I have put a couple out in pots, but saved some in the greenhouse in case the outdoor ones failed! Great to know they can survive in pots of these dimensions given.

Thanks!

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"A cat sees no good reason why it should obey another animal, even if it does stand on two legs."

I've got a couple of mine in half'barrel tubs, and three more in the ground, 70cm apart. They do sprawl a lot, best to give 'em plenty of room. 'Gold rush' variety is a smaller plant - I've put them two to a half-barrel planter.
They do like a lot of food- last year i used a large amount of manure and was rewarded with several that I let grow to about 2 kilos each! They were still tasty and not hollow inside, even though they were supposed to be courgettes not marrows.
You could interplant radishes around them- they're good at deterring a variety of pests, and my courgettes last year were never troubled by anything, so I reckon it's well worth doing.