How many courgette plants?

[Kathyis6incheshigh]

It's for me, dh and 2 dcs (aged 2 & 3). DH and I eat lots of vegetables, dcs a tiny amount.
They're F1 Defender and I've grown them from seed so I have quite a few - can anyone who has grown courgettes before give me any idea how many I should bother planting out?
Thanks.

i have put 4 in a large veg bag.
apparantly they keep producing fruit after each flower,hope this helps

Thanks Gardeningmum. Is that for a similar size family?
I sowed 10 seeds and I think they've all germinated

i saw a thread last year where someone suggested that 2 plants was more than sufficient. but i had that and never got a single bloody courgette so there we are.

i have got two normal italian plants. have also planted three different lots of sarah raven's climbing ones which have not germinated. ripoff.

One year DH planted 4 in the veg patch. Then we heard someone say on TV 'if you've got 4 courgette plants you've got 3 too many!' Boy were they right, I have never consumed so many in my whole life as we did that summer. BUT last year we planted 2 and only got one piddling wee courgette from one of the plants, and I heard from someone on here that last year was a bad year for courgettes, even supermarkets were out of them.

So I would say go for it - the dc will have lots of fun picking them and you can always make them into chutneys etc. The yellow flowers can also be eaten deep fried (yum!)

theres 3 good veg eaters in my house, 1st year i have grown them to be honest. also growing potatoes,onions.caulis,lettuce,radish and tomatoes

I think they are BIG and they'll keep fruiting if you cut them off and use them, so 2 should be more than adequate I think if they work. 10 would defimnitely be too many, but perhaps if you can keep a couple in pots as reserves in case the main ones get slugged? Slugs very partial to young courgettes. Along with everything else that they seem to chow in my garden.

I've heard that two will do the job.

We have one triffid courgette on windowsill in kitchen waiting to go out (DH got a bit enthusiastic with sowing seeds early on) plus one that germinated yesterday. I can't get the other 3 I planted to do anything which is really annoying me as everyone goes on about how easy they are to grow.

when will i see my 1st cougette start growing?

We had 2 last year and I have enjoyed having frozen courgetttes in ratatouille all winter.

we were getting 2(ish) courgettes a day through most of last summer. So unless you want to eat them every day I really wouldn't plant out more than 3 (allowing for one to fail)

This is very helpful, thank you everyone.
Great idea to have reserves - we have a big slug problem.
The flowers are the main reason why I'm growing them, as I want to try all that stuffing and frying business but I've never seen them for sale.
I am convinced this year is going to be a good year for courgettes, tomatoes etc.

If you have the space - they do take up a fair bit of space - and decide to go for three or four plants, you may find giving courgettes away increases your popularity with friends and neighbours.

DD2 brought a plant home from school last year. We planted it out in the garden and had a constant supply of courgettes all summer. This year I am growing my own and will probably have 2 plants. However, be warned, they really do spread out!!

mine are in a container. i've planted them out already and they are looking pretty good - buds! but i have a very sheltered bit, have a flourishing avocado tree there.

i did get flowers last year but didn't eat them because i kept hoping they'd turn into courgettes. fool that i am.

last year i had 2 and it was plenty to feed a family of 5.

Maybe do 3 incase one dies.

I was going to put them in the end of my raised beds, so if they want to sprawl they can do it over the lawn. Does that sound sensible or not?

I grew mine in pots and grew them upright tying them into a cane. They had a wonderful harvest, kept us going throught the summer. They dont take long to grow once you see the lovely big yellow flower. I cut mine at about 4 inches.

did same with cucumber

poopscoop, so you can grow them up canes then?

yes, if you don't want courgett and cue taking up too much room scrabbling along the ground then you can put them up canes. My lovely nursery man advised me of this last year. It worked very well. The courgettes don't get very tall, but just need a bit of support but the cucumbers can go to the top of a 6 ft cane so much space is saved.

that was why i wanted to grow climbing ones. am really pissed off they haven't germinated, not at all cheap.

depends on your slugs kathy. i found my snails mainly leave the actual plants alone but your slugs might hide underneath the sprawl. the courgettes are at the end of the plant rather than below, so could be ok.

My slugs are the evil, sneaky type. Maybe I should try growing them a bit upright then.

sarah raven is not cheap bet generally i find it is excellent - have you been back in touch with them?

Would recommend her sweet peas and cosmos. The best I have ever bought.