If you haven’t grown courgettes before then this is the year to give it a go. They are SO easy to grow….and you don’t need to worry about them too much once they’re established, just make sure they’re well watered and you should get a huge number of courgettes off a single plant from summer through to autumn.
You need to plant courgettes in a nice sunny spot and make sure they are about 1m apart to give them plenty of room to grow. They are thirsty plants so water them well, especially during dry spells. Once they start to flower, the courgettes will not be far behind. You’ll only get fruits from the female flowers, and don’t forget that you can eat the flowers as well. Once the fruits start to form, check them every day as they can turn from courgette to marrow in the blink of an eye. We’re not exaggerating. Harvest them whilst they’re still courgette sized by cutting off at the stalk with a sharp knife (you can try twisting them off but this inevitably ends up in a sad, headless courgette so it really is better to use a knife.)
As is often the case with fruiting plants, the more you harvest, the more fruits you’ll get, and courgettes are like marathon runners for cropping well. You could be harvesting them right through to October if you’re lucky!
In terms of pests, you don’t need to worry too much…watch out for slugs in the early days, but once they’ve got a bit bigger they’ll be fairly self sufficient. You might notice some blotchy leaves, this is likely to be powdery mildew, a fungus that affects the leaves. Simply cut off these leaves and burn them. Your courgettes won’t be affected by this really, so it’s not worth worrying about too much, but try and keep the soil consistently moist and that should help keep powdery mildew at bay.