10 tips for a gigantic zucchini harvest

Zucchini is the trendy vegetable - but cultivation doesn't always work out. With these 10 tricks you can also grow zucchini successfully.

Grilled, boiled or pickled: zucchini are again enjoying greater popularity in many kitchens. But green vegetables are also becoming increasingly popular in gardens. No wonder, after all, the zucchini grow quickly, are relatively undemanding and also taste wonderful. Even so, things don't always run smoothly during cultivation. In these ten tips and tricks, we'll tell you what you need to consider and how you can achieve a successful harvest.

10. Location

The right location is essential for a successful harvest, even if zucchini are not particularly demanding. The zucchini prefers it warm and sunny, ideally also protected from the wind. Courgettes like their soil rich and loose, so it is worth digging up the bed before planting and a nutrient-rich soil like ours

Plantura organic tomato & vegetable soil to incorporate or, alternatively, compost. The zucchini needs (like its close relatives, the Pumpkins) plenty of space to grow properly. Calculate 1.5 to 2 m² per plant. That may seem like a lot at the beginning, but the zucchini shows enormous growth, so that the bed soon seems almost too narrow.

9. Potty or off to the bed?

Once the ice saints are over in mid-May and late frosts are no longer to be expected, the zucchini can be sown in the garden. Sunk 2 to 3 cm deep in the ground, the zucchini only need a little time and sun to grow. But even before the ice saints you can start sowing the zucchini. From the end of April you can prefer the small plants in the pot. To do this, the seeds are also pressed 2 to 3 cm into the earth and the pot is then placed in a warm, light place. As soon as the zucchini seedlings get their first leaves, they can find their way into the bed. But wait for the ice saints here too - the young zucchini cannot tolerate late frosts.

8. Everything just bought

If you don't want to do the work of sowing the zucchini or preferring it in the house, you can also use young plants from the specialist shop. There is often a wide variety of options here Zucchini varieties, from green and long to yellow and round. We recommend buying varieties that are resistant to mildew are. Make sure to take healthy and strong plants home with you - only these will later produce a good harvest in the bed. You can plant the new plants as usual from mid-May.

7. Water march!

Regular watering is particularly important with the zucchini so that it produces enough flowers and fruits. The zucchini can get new water about twice a week, more often on particularly hot days. The water should always be poured directly onto the ground and not onto the leaves - wet leaves are much more susceptible to infection mildew. To reduce the extreme evaporation in summer a bit, it can be useful to place a fleece under the plants. This has two other advantages: weeds don't stand a chance and the ripe fruits don't come into contact with the ground and get dirty.

6. Something for the big hunger

Zucchini are known to be heavy eaters, so they need a lot of nutrients to grow properly. Therefore, the bed should be processed with compost before planting in order to create a good foundation. Sufficient nutrients for harvesting are also important during growth: the plants should be given a little organic fertilizer about every two weeks. Organic fertilizers release the nutrients evenly and optimally supply the zucchini. Mineral fertilizers, on the other hand, should be treated with caution: If the plants receive too much nitrogen, they are more susceptible to disease.

5. Everything in moderation

Zucchini are relatively prone to stress and then produce more male than female flowers. The problem with this: Only female flowers end up producing fruits, while the male flowers are only responsible for pollination. So if more male flowers are formed, the harvest will be significantly lower in the end. But how can a plant have stress? Drought or waterlogging, lack of nutrients or over-fertilization, everything that is not within the normal range stresses the plant and thus ensures a low harvest. It is therefore important to maintain a healthy mediocrity in all things.

4. Bees

As mentioned above, zucchini have male and female flowers. This ensures that there is an exchange of genes between different plants so that the offspring of the plants adopt different properties from their two parents. In plain language, this also means that only pollinated, female flowers develop fruits at all. In order for the female flowers to be really pollinated, insects are especially necessary. There are a few tricks to help them find their way into your garden: Leave a few corners in the garden as naturally as possible around the insects Forget about chemical insecticides and give insects access to your plants, for example by opening the windows of your greenhouse to open. More tips on how to make your Turn your garden into a bee paradise can be found here.

3. Jump start

Especially in wet, humid summers, a bee-friendly garden may not be enough to ensure adequate pollination of the female flower. Then only one thing helps: manual work. So you can easily pollinate the female flowers yourself. To do this, take a fully developed male flower (this one is long-stemmed and, in contrast, has to female flowers no short thickening under the petals) and remove the Petals. Then stroke the stamen of the male flower over the stigma of the female flower. Several flowers can be pollinated in this way. As soon as the petals begin to wither and the ovaries swell, the flowers should then be removed completely - otherwise they are a welcome gateway for fungal diseases that cause young fruits to rot on the plant will.

2. harvest

After six to eight weeks, the zucchini are ripe for the harvest. But you shouldn't exercise restraint - regular harvest promotes the formation of new flowers and increases the yield of fresh zucchini. The zucchini should not be fully ripe when you cut them. The reason: With age, bitter substances can accumulate in the zucchini. This can be avoided by harvesting the zucchini early enough.

1. Careful, bitter!

As already indicated above, it can happen that a zucchini suddenly tastes bitter. Now the motto is: hands off! The bitter taste is due to the substance Curcurbiaticin which is toxic to humans. These poisonous zucchini so shouldn't be eaten anymore. This substance is usually bred out in seeds from conventional manufacturers, but it can occur again and again, especially in own seeds. Ornamental pumpkins near zucchini can also cause curcurbiaticin to appear suddenly. The decorative pumpkins contain the substance naturally and are closely related to the zucchini. If a zucchini is now pollinated by an ornamental pumpkin, the resulting cross can contain the poisonous bitter substance.