Courgette Plants

[GrowerNewbie]

I planted some courgette plants this summer that had been kindly donated but unfotunately they didn't produce, so I'm wondering what to do next...

Should I just leave them? Will they survive the winter? If they do are they likely to produce anything next year?

Or

Am I better just to dig them up, add them to the compost heap and then start again next year from seed?

The plants are quite large and taking up a lot of room and I can't help thinking that the space could be put to better use in the interim...

ANy suggestions would be gratefully appreciated :)

[Millymollymandy]

Hi there, courgettes aren't hardy so they will turn to a squidgy mess as soon as a hard frost comes along. If they haven't produced anything yet they aren't going to so you may as well compost them now.

I'm quite surprised that you didn't get any fruit though as that's a veg that most people get sick to death of because they just go non-stop for months! I'd suggest for next year buy a different packet of seeds or get the plants from someone/somewhere else (depending on where they came from).

Are they in the ground or in pots? Maybe if in pots they were too small? It does seem a bit odd!

[meestasmeeth]

I think you'd be better adding them to your compost heap and starting afresh next year, to be honest.
After my plants had stopped fruiting, they started to die off, so mine are on the compost heap now. Did you fertilise them well and keep well watered?

[grahamhobbs]

Are you sure they were courgette plants not pumkin? For a big healthy looking courgette not to produce fruits must be some sort of a record!

[snapdragon]

maybe they were planted very late? but then mine were and I'm still cutting courges (no longer courgettes cos they're too big)
I had one that had hidden in a pot (masquerading as a lettuce ) and that one didn't produce anything
they do like a bit of good compost and a lot of water

[GrowerNewbie]

Thanks for the replies guys,

They are planted in a raised bed along with some rhubarb which is growing very nicely :)

To be honest though, it is a newly raised bed and I didn't put all that much compost in as I had literally filled it with about 1/3 of a ton of topsoil and leftover potting compost that I had lying around.

The plants were donated by a neighbours family and they assured me they were courgette plants. They were already 6-8 inches in size when I planted them (in early July) and to be honest I watered and fed them in between the wonderful weeks of rain which constitutes our English summer, so I don't think not watering them enough was this issue. In fact they flowered quite a lot (big bright yellow flowers, mid august to mid september) over the last few weeks just nothing to show for it

Funnily enough, I grew some pumpkins from seed, they never produced anything other than lots of yellow flowers as well hmmmmmm......

[Millymollymandy]

That's odd, is there some lack of pollinating insects where you live? It's far more normal for pumpkins to not get pollinated and produce fruit but for courgettes it's very strange! I don't think your kind of soil would have had anything to do with it as you had flowers on the plants - and generally all you need are male and female flowers and a few bees....

[JeremyinCzechRep]

Some people may have seen this story http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11401167 in the news. So a lack of courgettes could leave you vulnerable to attacks from bears.

[Millymollymandy]

ha ha ha thank you Jeremy I hadn't seen that I think we all need to keep a marrow to hand now - not sure if I could fight off a bear with my small courgettes.

[JeremyinCzechRep]

Interesting that the BBC call it a courgette although in the photo it is 14 inches long.