I grew 9 different varieties of courgette or zucchini plants in the polytunnel, to try to find varieties that work well in this context. Some of the plants were just way to vigorous, and had to be removed early, and I was surprised that the smaller plants did so much better.
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Part of the Cloughjordan Ecovillage, Tipperary, Ireland http://www.thevillage.ie
43 Comments
First 🙂
I like rampicante since it has no seeds in the neck, only in the bulbous bottom. It has a vining habit and works great for verticle support. It is vigorous and often has 25-foot vines…but responds to careful pruning.
I've never seen your polytunnel so crowded!
nice experiment
Seeing these massive plants made me wonder if their size leads to a significant reduction in soil fertility. Could that be an argument against such overly vigurous plants being grown in the poly tunnel where space and soil are quite limited? Are they a harmful competition to other plants when it comes to accessing the limited soil nutrients?
Very informative video! Thank you.
Another great video! You are a busy man ! 1 idea i just had watching this is that i think i would drive in 8' garden stakes pre plant every 3' and plant the crop right up against the stakes and tie with twine. Easy access may increase the quantity ??
Yeahh more videos!!
I planted my Courgettes (Ambassador) outdoors at normal density this year through Mypex into small pits of home made compost mixed with MPC, but tried something new – a 1m high polythene windbreak all around the patch of 13 plants which grew more vigorously in the semi- protected environment and initially I was pleased with higher cropping.
But I neglected to prune the more vigorous than normal plants, and they got congested and were really badly hit by powdery mildew, totally ceasing cropping for several weeks at what should have been height of the season.
P.S.Your runner beans look fantastic compared to mine that were devastated by the up to 40 Deg C heatwaves, all the flowers fell off and the leaves were frazzled. There's hardly any leaves or beans left on them to be hit by the central England temperature of 2 Deg C forecast for tonight. (And just as my Courgettes were starting to make a comeback!)
Even with a simple trial like this one, I feel like the most important properties of these varieties showed. You were clearly able to make a decision of which ones to grow again and I think I'd pick the same. I do wonder, however, if there was a noticeable difference in taste/texture between the varieties and if any of the less productive ones stood out?
Interesting production on the various strains. Thanks Bruce
A few years ago you made a video on each of the family scale and I loved it! I was wondering if you could do an update on each of the gardens, and how you have changed them. Possible a different video for each garden?
I love your data! Thanks for sharing
Thanks so much Bruce! This is some incredible information!
I was writing a long comment on your last video when my phone battery ran out.
as far as eating what var did you prefer? I seem to like the patti pan on my plate.
Thank you 👌
You are a star, Bruce. I have missed your videos this year.
Will you do a video on pests this year especially on slugs and rodents (my biggest struggle)? As home gardener, I want to find real good reasons to continue vegetables and fruits growing given the challenge of growing under stress so close to the house (especially on rodents). Thanks.
I grow Patti Pan/Scallop Squash, Yellow Courgettes, Green Courgettes and Butternut Squash outside here in the North East of England without any problems. I save my under glass area for Tomatoes, Chilli's, Turmeric, Ginger and Cucumber.
I’ve relied on Gold Rush for years for my yellow squash, even with its poor performance here in Zone 3 Alberta. I’ll look into the other yellow types you grew to try out.
🇨🇦 I do enjoy your trials.
I grew a short season variety of zucchini this year. It turned out to be compact in nature, and a good producer. Certainly worth planting again. Thanks for the perspective.
Oh my garden god yea that was massive
Wonderful episodes as usual, very detailed 👌 🤗🤗🤗💚🌱💚
thanks for the video! I grew striato d'italia this year outside and was super impressed. still harvesting from the plants now in october, despite powdery mildew started early this year in late August already. best regards from austria!
Yes Atena goes mad…i have grown them for years for this reason. I only grow yellow ones myself, so I don't miss any.
It is great to support something so important. I look forward to the videos. Happy autumn.
Genovese is the only one I grow, probably because I live only 50km from Genova and so this is the most common here. The flavor is great both cooked and raw. Although sometimes I get a plant that grows bitter fruits. Do you ever have this problem?
I grew spaghetti squash this summer, the 3 plants literal grew to cover an area of 10×10 ft, I had to cut it down so it didn't kill everything else. It was so big, bugs and animals used it to hide and propagate. I sprayed but that didn't stop anything, it just kept getting bigger. Became good compost tho.
Solar panel fans for the poly tunnels. Watering early enough and having enough airflow circulation throughout the day. Having the strongest of the starts to begin with and compost or chicken feed for the rest. Been watering directly on the plants for years, however next year I'm upgrading to irrigation for time and efficiency. I've found drastically less molds, mildews and rotten fruits and flowers and leaves making it point to have everything mostly dry on the actual plants before it gets warm in the morning. Giving everything just enough space to grow beautifully both roots and foliage and balance productivity. Zukes, cukes, melons, maters and corn have been the best they've ever been so far. Hope for more growing seasons like it. Hope the very best for you and yours. I wish I could keep my ship half as organized as yours. What you are doing is solid gold. I'm grateful for you putting your content out there for us. Thank you.
Very helpful video. I am growing 3 different varieties at the moment and for the first time. Will see how they go..
Do you have trouble with squash bugs? They are relentless here in my area of west Tennesse USA. If I don’t get my squash family plants in really early in the season the squash bugs move in and destroy everything
Your documentation of your results is so impressive! I barely have time to do the essential care of my plants, harvest, store, and cook 3 healthy meals each day. Maybe, next year, I'll make record keeping a habit? You are an inspiration!
"… most importantly, thank you for watching." I too want to thank the donors that help you make more and better videos. I feel guilty for not being able to join them but I'll keep watching for I am getting so much from this channel – thank you for understanding. best of health to all of you!
Thankyou for your always informative videos. 👍
Thank you.
Excellent video! It’s my first year in our new home, in a new country, we moved from Wales to Bulgaria, and the garden was my first priority. I tried several different courgettes, one type were young plants I bought in the local market and the rest from seed. I haven’t been keeping a track of the harvest but I know what I’ll do differently next year. It never occurred to me to remove side shoots, and the local variety ended up becoming triffids despite being planted with tomatoes, aubergines and cucumbers around, they were in slightly raised beds with compost added. The ones I grew from seed were in a different part of the garden, kind of interplanted with climbing beans and they didn’t do so well, no compost added there and planted a little after. I’ll be growing in a different part of the property next year hopefully, with polytunnel space too, to extend the season either end. I’m about to do one final harvest and remove all the summer plants now, it’s looking incredibly untidy, but happy to make space for winter and spring veggies.
Great to see this video. i tried courgettes in my tunnels this year for the first time and tried a variety called Partenon, a parthenocarpic variety, which sounded promising, but it had the most unusual characteristic of putting out almost all female flowers for much of the season and having very poor pollination. I ended up having to hand pollinate but even with a dozen plants there were times I couldn't find a single male flower to use!
Wow that's great 👍👍👍👍
Did you have any problems with pollination?
Great video
this is very good, i want to farm like you….
a lot of UK seed companies are selling internationally on ebay,. as ebay collects any additional customs / taxes on their behalf . (premier seeds direct being one of many companies to do so ) also some Irish growers are selling to UK via ebay for the same reason
Always an amazing video! My summer squash seeds were stolen everytime I planted them by chipmunks. I only got 1 zucchini. I was thinking of trying a round variety this year.