knobbly courgettes?

[Martin G]

Phew ! I think it will have to be a few days before I can eat any more courgettes I have too many now. I just got these from the plot including the rogue on that hid under a leaf and grew too big. I tend to eat the yellow ones first....just for the novelty so they are unrepresented in this picture.
Some of them are knobbly and misshapen they seem to fine to eat but I'm curious to know why ? The plants they come from aren't so robust as the better looking ones.

[Livebait]

Just a quess but i think it may have something to do with temperature changes In my experiences Zucs/courgettes like consistantly warm sunny days best!



The more you pick the more they keep growing

[Martin G]

I somehow doubt that can be true Livebait even here in the UK !! (with a name like that you're not a predator angler like me are you?) the plants are literally side by side I suspect there is some kind of trace element deficiency or perhaps too much of some thing. The well shaped ones come from big healthy looking plants and the misshapen one come from smaller more sickly looking ones, yours look nice and tidy.

[Lesley Jay]

Martin what do these 'sickly' plants look like? Is it just poor growth or are the leaves turning yellow? Are they planted near the tomato plants that had problems?

To me it looks like irregular watering. Courgettes need plenty of water while the plants are producing the fruits. How close together have you planted them - are the 'sickly' ones getting enough water?

Last year I gave my courgette plants a weekly feed of organic liquid seaweed. You could try that. I tend to pick my courgettes smaller than the ones in your picture - would that make a difference? Do they go knobbly after a certain size?

They will still taste great though!!

[Martin G]

Yes Lesley they are planted on the same area as the aforementioned tomatoes (they are far better now) probably they all too close to each other as well and yes the sickly ones do have yellow leaves. It did happen last year but I put that down to a very wet summer.
I do intend to pick them smaller but I have so many that I cant quite keep eat them or give them away fast enough to keep up and I miss the odd one and it gets too big before I've noticed it lurking just out of sight.
The yellow ones are a bit smaller all round plant and courgette, and yes they do start out small and knobbly and carry on becoming big and knobbly. I can only assume there is some dramatic difference over a short space of fertility or soil health. I have just got too many really but I think it's gonna be worse when the tomatoes start to ripen I've got over a dozen plants in four varieties in the ground pots and gro bags and they all look pretty robust so far.
It's funny what works one year and not the next this year my purple french beans are rubbish the same for my perpetual spinach yet last year they were both good.
I do just grow what I fancy on whim ( growing tomatoes from seed intrigues me) rather than in a properly organised way If I manage to maintain my enthusiasm next year I will be more organised with proper designated beds (raised if I can get round to it) with a greater variety of produce, I do have enough space to.

[Lesley Jay]

I know exactly what you mean about too many courgettes! Have your neighbours started pretending they are out when you go around with more courgettes?? I always tell new growers that one or two plants will be ample and I did find that with the yellow variety I grew (Gold Rush) the courgettes were slower to grow.

As the leaves are yellow why not give the plants a dose of epsom salts?

Don't worry about too many tomatoes. They freeze a treat. Courgette frittata and roast tomatoes - gorgeous!!

[Martin G]

My yellow courgettes are 'Orelia' Lesley.

I Googled freezing tomatoes before as I wasn't sure if it was possible, I do use a lot in cooking as well as eat fresh and I'm forever opening those cans to add to my cooking so I'm looking forward to having my own from the freezer.

These are just some of my tomatoes yellow again 'Tumbling Tom' I like to grow things to eat that look a bit different if I can these are three plants are in gro-bag across a couple of old chairs, I thought they might look nice trailing down, they've grown so well you can't see anything behind them.

[Lesley Jay]

Those tomato plants look really good and I doubt if any of the tomatoes will find their way into the kitchen as you will be pinching those juicy cherry tomatoes to eat on the spot as you walk passed the plants!!

Tomatoes can be frozen whole and you can make and freeze a basic tomato sauce base for pasta etc.

[Martin G]

I grew some orange tomatoes last year I can't remember the name for sure something like 'sungold' they were a cherry tomato, soooo sweet it was more like eating grapes.

[Livebait]

I quess the names a give away

Here's my weekends catch


With all the fish bones and guts i bury around here i don't get many problems with nutrients

My zuks seem to thrive best during the warmest days, just a quess but seems you got the problem figured out