Courgette Help!

[MrsHaroldRobbins]

I'm an allotment/vegetable growing newbie .... have been reading up on everything and most things I've planted/sown are doing something at least. But my courgettes (which I'm most looking forward to growing as they're easy and prolific) haven't shown any signs of sprouting. I sowed them (on their sides as per Monty's instructions ) about four weeks ago and kept them in a greenhouse. Is there any hope or do I need to buy more seeds and start again? Any advice much appreciated

How often have you been watering? How deep did you plant them?

I planted mine inside about 6 weeks ago and most are growing. Could you move them to a sunny spot on a windowsill- greenhouse may be too cold?

About an inch deep. And have been keeping them moist but not watering every day. Yes, I'll try putting them on the kitchen sill and cross my fingers!

They need it to be above 20 degrees celsius to germinate so it's probably just too cold. I've got mine in the lounge and they sprouted within a week. You can move them back to the greenhouse once they've come up. Dig down and have a look at the seeds you've planted if they're not mouldy they should be ok.

It has been the coldest spring since 1922. I’m not surprised seeds aren’t growing. Mine aren’t either.

That sounds encouraging, I'll check them and bring them inside. Thank you all for replying!

Give one a poke and have a look, I did this with tomato that have taken forever to come up, only one has bothered to show itself though

Radiators and sunny windowsills are your friends. My problem is that I have only got one so some have to take their chances in the cold frame. The Cosmos and watercress have coped with it, everything else I started inside.

Although easy to grow, my experience is that they are buggers for sprouting in spring. I've sown atleast 12 seeds and only two are up. They have been babied in the window sill and all . They normally sprout much easier later in the summer.

Thanks everyone. That was my other thought - if they sprout late, will it be too late for them to grow enough and crop during the summer. I've brought them inside now to a warm spot so they're being coddled

My main problem (and I never bloody learn) is labelling. Now I cant tell the courgettes from the cucumbers (again!).

Mine started to pop through after 8 days on a coolish window sill. They’re looking good - despite being out of date seeds. I always start them off indoors but they’ll go outside in a week or so as the forecast looks like no frost.

They have still got plenty time to sprout though OP. I usually do a late batch which I’ll sow this weekend and don’t expect any problems

Can I recommend a propagator? The gentle bottom heat seems to encourage germination. I sowed three courgette seeds and have three courgette plants. When i was starting chillis and tomatoes back in March I had the propagator on 24 hours, but now it's warmer in the day (our south facing porch gets very warm) I have it on a time switch to come on at night.

They definitely need to start off warm. Mine are in a propagator which is slightly warmer than a room in the house. They are just beginning to show after about 6 days I think. There is plenty of time to catch up, they cant really go outdoors until the end of May/beginning of June depending where you live. We had hail stones here in the NE today on the allotment so could be looking at July at this rate..!

Don't worry OP, they will soon catch up once the weather warms up and they are planted out.

Thanks for all the advice. It's good to know that patience and warmth will (hopefully!) be the key!

I found mine sprouted really quickly (indoor south-facing windowsill) but i did them at the beginning of April and now they have got huge, but really leggy, and i still can't put them outside because it's freezing! They go out on the patio if it's sunny, but I have to traipse them (and the tomatoes, cucumbers and beans) all indoors to get tucked up at night.

In other news my chillies have finally sprouted - it took at least 3 weeks on a warm windowsill. I had almost given up hope.

There are 3 beans and a cucamelon that I think are lost causes though.

This time of year is the worst, everything is so slow and you keep questioning what you’ve done wrong. Give it a couple of months and you’ll have more courgettes than you know what to do with.

It’s just not quite warm enough yet, and like me they’re not ready to get out of bed and face the day.

@ChristopherTracy

My main problem (and I never bloody learn) is labelling. Now I cant tell the courgettes from the cucumbers (again!).

So been there, the year with squash, courgette and cucumbers was the worse 😀 After seeing a friend’s neat labels I treated myself to a label printer and it’s encouraged me to label properly so no surprises this year (so far).

Courgettes are sulky seeds and like the others I start indoors. Do not under any circumstances plant load of seeds just in case, have loads of plants and put them out just in case without a firm plant about how you are going to use loads of courgettes!

In other news my chillies have finally sprouted - it took at least 3 weeks on a warm windowsill. I had almost given up hope.

I killed DS's chilli by leaving it in the enclosed porch - it was just a bit too cold (even though I used to overwinter mine out there). So I started sowing seeds from the remaining fruit.

Batch no 1, sowed in March in a propagator in the porch, didn't germinate. Batch no 2, sown April in propagator, all germinated, and I now have about 24 sturdy chilli plants about 3 inches high. Batch 3, overflow from Batch 2, sown in pot on windowsill in porch, are just beginning to uncurl from their seed cases - so about 3 weeks behind in germinating.

Batch 4, seeds purchased in panic before Batch 2 germinated, and sown in propagator about 3 weeks ago are at cotyledon stage. 5 out 8 have germinated.