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NIGEL COLBORN’S ESSENTIAL JOBS FOR YOUR GARDEN THIS WEEK
This is the time of year when there is a glut of courgettes, and families tend to object to being fed too many of them. No matter how numerous the complaints, though, don’t stop harvesting.
if you let baby courgettes become monster marrows the plants will begin to shut down, flowering will cease, and the season will end early.
Don’t forget that you can use surplus courgettes in a number of dishes — from vegetable ragouts, frozen for winter consumption, to delicious courgette cakes.
if nobody wants them, it’s still better to remove all courgettes as they come, even if that means having to compost a few.
Courgettes, marrows and their relatives are prone to mildew in late summer. To stave that off, keep your plants well watered at all times.
in addition, remove any old leaves that have started to become infected.
On poor soil, it’s never a bad idea to give courgettes and other vine-grown produce — squashes, marrows, gourds, pumpkins — a mid-life feed.
Diluted liquid plant food, such as seaweed extract or tomato fertiliser, can be sprayed or sprinkled over the foliage or watered onto the ground around the plants.
Do this early in the morning or evening — but never when the sun is shining directly onto the plants.
if any courgette plants are ruinously infected with mildew, it’s best to remove them altogether.
Do this with great care, avoiding contact with healthy plants. Compost them or get them away from the growing crop immediately.