Zucchini

Plant of The Month Info Card

Zucchini (Cucurbita pepo) is a popular edible for home gardeners, as they are easy to grow and produce an abundance of food on a single plant. Zucchini can also be grown in pots or grow bags, so they make a fantastic high-yield option for urban gardens.

Zucchini is so versatile and can be used for sweet or savoury dishes and both raw or cooked. The great thing about growing Zucchini is that you will have more than enough to preserve, gift, swap, or trade.

Creating an abundant garden that you can share with your friends, family, and neighbours, is a rewarding and fulfilling way to garden.

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SOW

Spring and Summer.

SOIL

Rich compost and composted manure soil. Create soil mounds.

LOCATION

Full sun 6 hours per day.

CARE

Water at the base to prevent mildew on the leaves.

FERTILISE

Feed every 2-3 weeks with liquid seaweed fertiliser.

PESTS

Mildew in humid climates. Rodents may attack the fruit.

HARVEST

Spring and Summer. Usually around 2 months after planting.

REPRODUCE

Save seeds from your best Zucchini at maturity.

Why Grow Zucchini?

Zucchini are quick-growing and can be used to make a wide variety of meals. Zucchini is a great base crop to grow, allowing you to create more meals straight from your garden. Below are just a few reasons to grow your own Zucchini at home.

Here are some of the many reasons to grow Zucchini:

Easy to grow
Prolific production on each plant
High in Vitamin A & C
Rich in Antioxidants
Can promote healthy digestion
Edible flowers
Can be eaten raw or cooked
Can be used for sweet or savoury dishes
Absorb flavour easily
Generous crops for gifting, swapping, or trading

Popular Zucchini Varieties

‘Black Beauty‘– Most popular heirloom variety with dark green skin. Prolific, quick-growing, ready to harvest in 7-9 weeks.

‘Long Florence‘ – Italian heirloom with green ribbed skin. Grows larger flowers perfect for stuffing. Ready to harvest in 6-8 weeks.

‘Fordhook‘ – Classic variety with smooth green skin with light speckles. High yield. Ready to harvest in 6-8 weeks.

‘Costata Romenesco‘ – Italian heirloom variety with pale green ribs and speckles. Looks like a star when sliced. Quick growing, ready to harvest in 6 weeks.

‘Lebanese‘ – Pale green or ‘grey’ variety. Sweet flavour. Best picked small. 8 weeks to harvest.

‘Golden‘ – Bright yellow/golden variety. Great for summer BBQs or baking. Ready to harvest in 9 weeks.

‘Ronde de Nice‘ – French heirloom variety. Small round fruits with green skin. Great for stuffing. Bruise easily so you don’t see these available at the shops often. Ready to harvest in 8 weeks.

How to Grow Zucchini

Zucchini grow in a large low structure and do take up quite a lot of space in the garden due to their large leaves. Choose a full sun location with at least 6 hours of sunlight a day. Zucchini can also be grown in pots and containers.

Zucchini are warm-loving plants and can be damaged by frosts. It may be best to plant your seeds in small pots or seed trays until your last frost has passed. Otherwise, Zucchini grow best sown directly into the soil. Plant your seeds as per the packet instruction as each variety and climate will have different growing suggestions. Once your seedlings have 4-5 leaves and your likelihood of frosts has passed, plant your seedlings in free-draining soil with plenty of compost. If you are growing Zucchini in garden beds, create small mounds of soil to plant your Zucchini seedlings on top of. Plant each seedling at least 1m apart.

When to Plant Zucchini

Plant Zucchini seeds directly in the soil during spring and summer. For early crops you can plant seeds inside in seed trays and plant outside once your last frost has finished.

Care/ Maintenance

Zucchini are heavy feeders, so it can be helpful to feed your plants with liquid seaweed or garden fertilizer every 2-3 weeks.

Mulch around your plants to protect the soil and retain moisture. Water your Zucchini at the base to avoid getting the leaves wet, as Zucchini can be prone to powdery mildew. Watering in the morning can also help to prevent this, as the leaves will have time to dry out and not sit wet for too long. If you do see white powdery mildew, remove the affected leaves and make up an organic spray with a mix of 9 parts water to 1 part milk. Spray this over the Zucchini leaves.

It can be beneficial to remove the older leaves at the base of the plant to increase airflow and prevent moisture from sitting around too long. Use sharp and clean secateurs to reduce the spread of any diseases.

Some plants may need staking or support as they grow.

Pollination/ Fruiting

Zucchini produce both male and female flowers on each plant for pollination. Our bees do a fantastic job at pollinating, so planting flowers nearby will help to encourage plenty of pollinators to your garden.

If your Zucchini are not reaching maturity and seem to shrivel and die prematurely, this may be due to a lack of pollination. You can manually pollinate your flowers by using a small paintbrush to dust the pollen of the male flower’s stamen (single flower with no baby Zucchini forming) to the female flower Stigma (flower with a baby Zucchini at the base). This can help boost your success rate and grow more Zucchini. This can also be achieved by picking a male flower, removing the petals, and using the pollen-covered stamen to transfer pollen to the female flowers. If you do notice pollination issues be sure to plant lots more flowers in between your plants to attract more bees.

Another reason your fruit may be dying off could be due to blossom end rot. This will cause the end of the Zucchini to go brown and start to rot before reaching maturity. This is due to a number of factors such as lack of calcium in the soil, feeder roots being cut or damaged, and most commonly, inconstant watering. During hot, dry periods, it is important to keep a regular watering schedule. An automatic timer will come in very useful. Mulching will also help retain moisture.

Pests / Disease

Zucchini is relatively pest-resistant. Protect young seedlings from slugs and snails. They can get some fungal diseases in humid weather. It is important not to wet the leaves to prevent powdery mildew from forming. If you do start to see some powdery mildew, remove the leaves (if it is only a few) or create a spray of 1 part milk to 9parts water and spray over the affected area. Once the fruits start to mature be aware of rodents or other animals finding your harvests.

How/ When to Harvest

Harvest your Zucchini when they are small (15-20cm long) and often. This will encourage your plant to produce more and more fruit. Use sharp secateurs to avoid accidentally ripping the entire plant out or snapping off part of your Zucchini.

Zucchini grow very quickly once the plant is established, so you may need to check every day or every other day for new produce.

If you want to harvest Zucchini flowers for eating, choose the male flowers. Otherwise, you will be reducing the number of Zucchini you get from each plant. Be sure to leave some male flowers for pollination, or harvest your flowers after manually pollinating the female flowers.

Reproducing

Zucchini seeds are the easiest way to reproduce. Let 1-2 of your best-looking Zucchini grow to maturity (until the skin is hard and cannot be broken with your fingernail). This will be when the seeds are mature and ready to harvest. Wash the flesh off the seeds and allow them to dry before storing it in a cool, dry, dark space.

Cooking and Using Zucchini

There are so many ways to use Zucchini and with just one plant, you will have plenty of opportunities to try many of them out! Below are just a few of the many ways to cook and preserve your abundant Zucchini harvests.

Zucchini Pairs well with: Basil, Tomato, Garlic, Lemon, Onion, Mushroom, Capsicum, Feta, Berries, Chocolate, Eggs, Salmon, Ricotta, Yoghurt

Zucchini ideas:

‘Zoodles’ or Zucchini noodles made using a spiraliser. Great for salads or replacement for noodles or pasta.
Grilled slices or strips
Sliced in stirfry or curries
Soups
Frozen in chunks to thicken smoothies
Fresh in salads
Marinated fresh or grilled
Pickled or fermented
Chutney or Relish
Stuffed whole
‘Zucchini Boats’ – Cut in half lengthways, scoop out the inside and stuff then bake.
Zucchini Bread
Zucchini fritters
Cakes and Slices
Dehydrated chips
Zucchini fries
Summer rolls
Lasange sheet replacement
Kebabs
Pizza topping