I've been growing 2 varieties of zucchini this year.
1. Green zucchini (I *think* that's what it was called). Grown from seed. 3 seeds total in the packet. Germinated no worries. Took over the garden. Any zucchini not picked grew into nice big fat marrows (well that's what I'm told they're called when they get bigger) which were still perfect for grating and freezing to use in spaghetti bolognese and other recipes. Has fruited well, cost very little and continued to flower throughout the season.
2. Black Jack Zucchini. Grown from seedlings. So cost slightly more although I got half a dozen plants instead of 3. Slightly smaller plants. Still choked out my cucumbers (because I planted them too close together). Currently invading my corn crop (but not harming it any). At least I *think* it's the zucchini growing through there and not the pumpking (I'm such a knowledgable gardener aren't I???? LOL). Fruit is a LOT smaller and it's not fruiting quite as prolifically. I'm also finding the fruit is a LOT firmer. The skin is tougher and there are less seeds. The family don't seem to enjoy eating it as much as they do the green zucchini.
Notes for next year:
* try to grow only from seeds - 3 plants is PLENTY. Not that we've got a glut of zucchini's or anything. Enough for eating plus a bit to go in the freezer.
* I've been able to trim some of the outer leaves of plants without it seeming to affect the plant's overall health. This has limited the amount it has smothered the rest of the garden.
* Allow it a little more room to grow. I've read that zucchini plants can be trained to grow upwards but haven't had much success getting them to do that. Need to see if a different variety might be easier to train up a trellis.
* Possibly plant in bed 1 in front of corn so that if they go wild, they can grow into the corn and not all over the tomotoes (which are a little more fragile).
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Zucchini
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5 comments:
Oh I have been contemplating setting up a blog for my garden too.. I am hopeless at retaining all the information and find I am making the same mistakes again and again!
Anyway lovely to read about your garden, I am going to try and find some 'green zucchini' for next year.. we have black jacks this year and ours don't ramble at all... not like a pumpkin... so interesting to hear that yours do.
Ok shall stop rambling myself now!
They don't ramble quite as much as the pumpkin do. But they sure do spread and smother!!! :)
Added this one to my favourites. I love to read about gardening.
Hmm - maybe it was blackjacks I had? I have no idea, as they never did anything except become triffads and fall off the stem... And that was after I had treated the powdery mildew.
Jeanie - had they been fertilised? The female flower has a small fruit that forms behind the flower. If it doesn't get pollen from a male flower then it basically doesn't get any bigger. You can manually fertilise by brushing some of the male pollen onto the flower of the female. I haven't had to worry as we have so many bugs here but I know in the cities a lot of people need to do this. Just a thought.
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