How do I grow courgettes?

Courgettes are one of the easiest and prolific vegetables to grow in your garden. If you have a greenhouse you can get a real head start growing this versatile crop.
The first thing you need is the right kind of seed. Ideally buy some fresh seed mail order from a reputable seed supplier or from the garden centre. There are many different sorts of courgettes, you can choose to grow deep green ones, and stripy ones, yellow ones and even some that are round or space ship shaped. They are all easy to grow and they are all delicious to eat.
Once you have chosen some seed, the first thing you need to understand is that these plants are tender, this means they will be killed by frost and freezing temperatures. With a greenhouse you can provide the vital early protection until it is safe to plant your plants outside. By sowing your courgette seeds from mid March onwards you can pretty much ensure that by the time they are large enough to plant outside all danger of frost has passed.
First sow the seeds
Three or four plants will provide most families with masses of courgettes for the summer. If you have a large garden or allotment or simply love eating courgettes or giving them away then grow more. It’s a good idea to sow them in stages so that you can stagger their productivity. It’s always great to have an early crop but sow a few seeds in late May or June so you get a late crop too.
Fill a few small, clean flowerpots with clean, fresh seed sowing compost or a quality multi-purpose compost. Make a hole in the centre of each pot with a dibber about 2cm deep and push one courgette seed on its side (i.e. the narrow side uppermost) into each hole. Cover over with fresh seed compost and water gently then cover over with a propagating lid. Keep them in a light, frost free, warm environment to germinate. As soon as they are up remove the propagator lid and keep the compost gently moist but not wet.
Then Grow Them On
As your plants are in individual pots there is no need to thin them out or prick them out, but you do need to monitor their growth. As soon as the roots fill the pots it’s a good idea to pot them on because if they become pot bound this will check their growth. All you need to do is to choose a slightly larger pot, add a few centimetres of fresh compost into the bottom of the new pot. Carefully tip out your developing plant. Drop the root ball into the new pot and fill in around the roots with fresh potting compost. Water well with slightly tepid tap water.
Now Plant Them Out
As soon as the last frost has passed, usually mid to late May in the UK you can harden off your plants by placing them inside a cold frame for a week or so before planting them out in the garden.
To know more about greenhouses and growing plants in your greenhouse visit http://www.growhouse-greenhouses.co.uk/greenhouses.php