I have some courgette seedlings raised individually in 3 inch pots - an F1
variety with yellow fruit.
The plants are at the 2 true-leaf stage. They are quite big (4-6" high) but
do not look mature. I was planning on planting them out in a couple of
weeks. Should I pot them on into bigger pots first, or keep them in these
same pots until I plant them in their final positions?

PS
Anyone know any good recipes for rhubarb and escargot, currently my most
productive crops?
Have you seen this? - Gordon Ramsay cooks garden snails!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaOZpKtwBpM

Duncan

AriesVal writes
On Wed, 6 May 2009 23:34:35 +0100, Duncan wrote:

I have some courgette seedlings raised individually in 3 inch pots - an F1
variety with yellow fruit.
The plants are at the 2 true-leaf stage. They are quite big (4-6" high) but
do not look mature. I was planning on planting them out in a couple of
weeks. Should I pot them on into bigger pots first, or keep them in these
same pots until I plant them in their final positions?

Personally I never pot on any kind of squash plant but put them straight
into their cropping positions as soon as they have several leaves and no
frosts are forecasts. I already have two courgette plants outside where
they've been for about 10 days now but I live in the SW of UK where temps
are usually warmer than further north. If a frost is threatened I cover
tender plants with fleece - works for me HTH

I pot courgettes on once there are a reasonable number of roots poking
out of the bottom - either into a bigger pot or straight into their
final 12inch or bigger pot. My impression is that they are greedy plants
which like to keep growing, so I try not to check their growth by
keeping them in too small a pot - at least until they are a productive
size, when I am limited by greenhouse space!



--
Kay

"Duncan" wrote in message
...
I have some courgette seedlings raised individually in 3 inch pots - an F1
variety with yellow fruit.
The plants are at the 2 true-leaf stage. They are quite big (4-6" high)
but do not look mature. I was planning on planting them out in a couple of
weeks. Should I pot them on into bigger pots first, or keep them in these
same pots until I plant them in their final positions?


And if I may.. on the same subject: courgettes.. I have got several
courgettes (golden zucchini) that are now in big pots and rapidly getting
potbound. Each seems to grow visibly by the hour, and each has lots of male
flowers and budding zucchini (the zucchini are currently about 1.5cm long).
Some of the male flowers are on the point of opening. Do I need to remove
the male flowers to prevent bitter tasting zucchini developing, in the same
way as some cucumbers require some flowers to be removed to stop the
cucumbers becoming bitter?

Other varieties I have coming on in leaps & bounds are a couple of patty pan
varieites (one yellow, one green) a DiNizza and a couple of butternut
squashes. Do these require any specialist treatment too?

On 2009-05-06, Duncan wrote:

Anyone know any good recipes for rhubarb and escargot, currently my most
productive crops?

not so keen on the escargot, but I made some lovely rhubarb jam last
year when I got bored of eating crumble.

Recipe approximately as follows:

Put equal weight rhubarb and jam sugar in a bowl and cover with clingfilm.
If you like, you can add some fresh ginger at this stage as well. Leave
it in the fridge overnight and the sugar will extract some of the moisture.

Put the lot in jam pan and gently heat until the sugar desolves. Bring to the
boil and cook until it's ready to set.

You can test for setting by dropping a spoonful of jam onto a saucer
and then pushing it with a fingernail. If the surface crinkles it's
ready for bottling (in hot sterile jars) If it doesn't, boil for another
5 minutes or so and test again.

If a scum forms on the top, a knob of butter will usually disperse it
but I don't always bother as it doesn't appear to cause any storage
issues.

-Paul
--
http://paulseward.com

Little Paul writes
On 2009-05-06, Duncan wrote:

Anyone know any good recipes for rhubarb and escargot, currently my most
productive crops?

not so keen on the escargot, but I made some lovely rhubarb jam last
year when I got bored of eating crumble.

Recipe approximately as follows:

Put equal weight rhubarb and jam sugar in a bowl and cover with clingfilm.
If you like, you can add some fresh ginger at this stage as well. Leave
it in the fridge overnight and the sugar will extract some of the moisture.

That's a brilliant idea! It means you don't have to add water to
dissolves the sugar, so you don't have to spend time boiling off the
added water.


--
Kay

On 2009-05-07, K wrote:
Little Paul writes
On 2009-05-06, Duncan wrote:

Anyone know any good recipes for rhubarb and escargot, currently my most
productive crops?

not so keen on the escargot, but I made some lovely rhubarb jam last
year when I got bored of eating crumble.

Recipe approximately as follows:

Put equal weight rhubarb and jam sugar in a bowl and cover with clingfilm.
If you like, you can add some fresh ginger at this stage as well. Leave
it in the fridge overnight and the sugar will extract some of the moisture.

That's a brilliant idea! It means you don't have to add water to
dissolves the sugar, so you don't have to spend time boiling off the
added water.

I should have mentioned that "overnight" is about right, but "24 hours" is
a bit too long. You don't want to extract so much of the water from the
rhubarb that the remaining flesh becomes dehydrated and chewey :-)

If you're not planning on making jam in the morning, put it in the fridge
before you go to work and it should be ready for when you get home.

-Paul
--
http://paulseward.com

wafflycat wrote:

"Duncan" wrote in message
...
I have some courgette seedlings raised individually in 3 inch pots -
an F1 variety with yellow fruit.
The plants are at the 2 true-leaf stage. They are quite big (4-6"
high) but do not look mature. I was planning on planting them out in a
couple of weeks. Should I pot them on into bigger pots first, or keep
them in these same pots until I plant them in their final positions?


And if I may.. on the same subject: courgettes.. I have got several
courgettes (golden zucchini) that are now in big pots and rapidly
getting potbound. Each seems to grow visibly by the hour, and each has
lots of male flowers and budding zucchini (the zucchini are currently
about 1.5cm long). Some of the male flowers are on the point of opening.
Do I need to remove the male flowers to prevent bitter tasting zucchini
developing, in the same way as some cucumbers require some flowers to be
removed to stop the cucumbers becoming bitter?

In a word NO - I think that they do need pollinating.

Paul

--
CTC Right to Ride Rep. for Richmond upon Thames

"Paul Luton" wrote in message
. uk...


And if I may.. on the same subject: courgettes.. I have got several
courgettes (golden zucchini) that are now in big pots and rapidly getting
potbound. Each seems to grow visibly by the hour, and each has lots of
male flowers and budding zucchini (the zucchini are currently about 1.5cm
long). Some of the male flowers are on the point of opening. Do I need to
remove the male flowers to prevent bitter tasting zucchini developing, in
the same way as some cucumbers require some flowers to be removed to stop
the cucumbers becoming bitter?

In a word NO - I think that they do need pollinating.

Paul

Thank you!

Paul Luton writes
wafflycat wrote:
"Duncan" wrote in message
.. .
I have some courgette seedlings raised individually in 3 inch pots -
an F1 variety with yellow fruit.
The plants are at the 2 true-leaf stage. They are quite big (4-6"
high) but do not look mature. I was planning on planting them out in
a couple of weeks. Should I pot them on into bigger pots first, or
keep them in these same pots until I plant them in their final positions?

And if I may.. on the same subject: courgettes.. I have got several
courgettes (golden zucchini) that are now in big pots and rapidly
getting potbound. Each seems to grow visibly by the hour, and each has
of male flowers and budding zucchini (the zucchini are currently
about 1.5cm long). Some of the male flowers are on the point of
opening. Do I need to remove the male flowers to prevent bitter
tasting zucchini developing, in the same way as some cucumbers require
some flowers to be removed to stop the cucumbers becoming bitter?

In a word NO - I think that they do need pollinating.

No need to remove the male flowers, although the flowers are edible, and
while you have lots of male flowers you might as well make use of them

Once you have female flowers as well, you will need the male flowers for
pollination. The courgettes won't develop without pollination unless you
have one of the parthenogenetic varieties.
--
Kay

On Thu, 7 May 2009 09:23:16 +0100, K wrote:

AriesVal writes
On Wed, 6 May 2009 23:34:35 +0100, Duncan wrote:

I have some courgette seedlings raised individually in 3 inch pots - an F1
variety with yellow fruit.
The plants are at the 2 true-leaf stage. They are quite big (4-6" high) but
do not look mature. I was planning on planting them out in a couple of
weeks. Should I pot them on into bigger pots first, or keep them in these
same pots until I plant them in their final positions?

Personally I never pot on any kind of squash plant but put them straight
into their cropping positions as soon as they have several leaves and no
frosts are forecasts. I already have two courgette plants outside where
they've been for about 10 days now but I live in the SW of UK where temps
are usually warmer than further north. If a frost is threatened I cover
tender plants with fleece - works for me HTH

I pot courgettes on once there are a reasonable number of roots poking
out of the bottom - either into a bigger pot or straight into their
final 12inch or bigger pot. My impression is that they are greedy plants
which like to keep growing, so I try not to check their growth by
keeping them in too small a pot - at least until they are a productive
size, when I am limited by greenhouse space!




Do you think there is much advantage over growing in open ground
rather than say in 10 inch pots?

On Fri, 08 May 2009 00:17:51 +0100, Judith Smith
wrote:

Do you think there is much advantage over growing in open ground
rather than say in 10 inch pots?

I have only grown courgettes in open ground. Judging from their habit
and root system, 10 inch pots sound tight.
They are greedy plants and eager to show the results. At certain times
last year it was almost impossible to give away the numerous surplus
courgettes!
Apparently they do freeze OK.

Jiri B - "compost mentis" in North Staffs.

"K" wrote in message
...


Once you have female flowers as well, you will need the male flowers for
pollination. The courgettes won't develop without pollination unless you
have one of the parthenogenetic varieties.
--
Kay

I have both male & female flowers - the little golden zucchini are coming
along nicely.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e2...-001050509.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e2...chini00105.jpg

AriesVal writes
On Fri, 8 May 2009 07:26:15 +0100, wafflycat wrote:

I have both male & female flowers - the little golden zucchini are coming
along nicely.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e2...-001050509.jpg


http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e2...erbudsongolden
zucchini00105.jpg

I've always pinched out the male flowers and never noticed any detrimental
effect on the production of courgette fruits.

Why do you pinch them out?
--
Kay

Judith Smith writes
On Thu, 7 May 2009 09:23:16 +0100, K wrote:

I pot courgettes on once there are a reasonable number of roots poking
out of the bottom - either into a bigger pot or straight into their
final 12inch or bigger pot. My impression is that they are greedy plants
which like to keep growing, so I try not to check their growth by
keeping them in too small a pot - at least until they are a productive
size, when I am limited by greenhouse space!




Do you think there is much advantage over growing in open ground
rather than say in 10 inch pots?

Lots of advantage - more root space, plant will be able to spread
better.

I grow in pots only because I have too many snails and slugs.


--
Kay

AriesVal writes
On Fri, 8 May 2009 15:10:41 +0100, K wrote:


I've always pinched out the male flowers and never noticed any detrimental
effect on the production of courgette fruits.

Why do you pinch them out?

It seems to encourage the plant to produce more female flowers - I may be
wrong of course.

Could be fun to try an experiment and pinch out on some plants and not
others.

Cross pollination is the ideal for plants, to introduce new genetic
material and overall health of he species, so many plants have means of
avoiding self-pollination. Courgettes for this by producing male flowers
first (at least, I think it's the reason, but thinking through the logic
I'm not so sure, but the behaviour is clear) and later on producing both
males and females. So you start by having all males, and if you pick
them off you then start getting females - but you would anyway even if
you hadn't removed the males. So the question is, do you get a higher
proportion of females on the plants where you have removed the males?
--
Kay