Vegetable (fruiting annual)
Courgette (Zucchini)
Cucurbita pepo
Notoriously prolific once established — the challenge is rarely growing it, it's using the harvest fast enough.
| Light | Full sun, 6-8 hours |
|---|---|
| Water | Deep, 2.5 cm+ per week, more in fruiting stage |
| Spacing | 90-120 cm — it needs more room than most gardeners allow |
| Zones | Annual everywhere; frost-tender |
| Harvest | 45-55 days; pick at 15-20 cm for best texture |
| Difficulty | Easy |
Hand-pollinate if fruit rots at the tip
Small fruit that yellows and rots at the flower end usually means poor pollination, not disease. Courgettes have separate male and female flowers; if bees are scarce, transfer pollen from a male flower (thin stem, no swelling behind the bloom) to a female (swollen stem) with a small brush.
Harvest small and often
Fruit left to grow past 20-25 cm turns watery and seedy, and picking regularly signals the plant to keep producing rather than setting seed and stopping.