How To Grow Great Zucchini

Zucchini is my favorite staple vegetable. Growing great zucchini is easy since this blog teaches you how.

When to Grow Great Zucchini

Grow great zucchini in warm soil (65-70F) and in full sun. Just like me, zucchinis love warm weather. You can grow zucchini in a large container, but remember they can spread several feet across. Zucchini likes well drained soils.

The Best Soil to Grown Great Zucchini

Use soil that has been enriched with aged compost. The compost helps to keep the soil fluffy and provides nutrients. Add mulch to the top of the soil, but make sure there is an area around the stem of the plant free from mulch Straw mulch will inhibit weed growth but also creates a bed for the zucchini fruit to lay in once they start to grow.

Grow Zucchini From Direct Seed or Transplant

Plant zucchini seeds directly into the garden after all chance of frost has past. Sow the 2 seeds 1/2″ deep and 3-4″ apart. You will keep only the strongest seedlings once they are 4-5″ tall. If growing zucchini in containers, use bush type zucchini in 20″ pots and plant 4-5 seeds. Keep only 2 of the strongest seedlings.

How To Plant And Care For Your Zucchini

To grow great Zucchini, plants 2-3 feet apart or put into large 20″ pots. Fertilize with an organic nitrogen rich fertilizer with a 50/50 mix of soil and fertilizer in the top 6″ of a pot. If planting in a garden, mix 3″ of fertilizer to the top 6″ of soil. Water zucchini plants thoroughly when the top 1″ of soil is dry. Do not water the leaves, only at the root stem base because leaves are prone to rot Zucchini do well with drip irrigation. Click the link to be taken to my post on installing drip irrigation.

Companion Plant for Zucchini

Plant borage and marigolds around zucchini. Borage and marigold are plants that attract bees for pollination and they also discourage worms by the former and squash bugs by the latter

Do not plant potatoes in the garden with Zucchini because they are both heavy nitrogen feeders and will rob nutrients from each other. If you are planting in pots, it’s ok to have them near each other. But, avoid putting pumpkins near Zucchini because cross pollination, by the bees, can occur to ruin your harvest.

Diseases and Pests of Zucchini

Zucchini plants have a number of pests and diseases. These include squash bugs, squash vine borers, striped cucumber beetles, powdery mildew, and bacterial wilt. if you plant when the soil is warm and use covers until the plants flower, it will help prevent these problems. Trellis, or keep vines off the ground, with mulch. Another tip is to wrap aluminum foil around the plant stem base near the soil. This will prevent borer worms.

You can also use an insect and disease control spray, such as this one from Amazon, Trifecta Ready To Use Crop Control, to help protect plants. Do not keep any plants that have disease, pull them up and throw away (do not compost). For Squash bugs, you can use yellow sticky tags. Put out the tags before the plants flower. The babies are drawn to the yellow tags (instead of the yellow flowers). I have a post here about Squash Bugs.

Harvesting Zucchini

Zucchini is harvested young, when the flower is still on for a tender salad addition. They can also be left to grow 6-8 inches for squash recipes. The leaves are large so do not be surprised if you miss a zucchini that gets gigantic because the leaves hid it from view. Cut the stem close to the fruit.

A Great Zucchini Recipe

There are so many great zucchini recipes that I do not know where to begin. So, you can follow this link to Good Houskeeping’s website for 52 Healthy Zucchini Recipes. I mean why are you doing all of this work in the garden, if you care not going to eat healthy veggies?

Conclusion

Grow great zucchini with good soil, lots of water, well drained soil, and be vigilant against pests. All squash need daily tending to get rid of pests. But, the end product means you have a lot of vegetables to freeze to make those yummy cold weather soups. Let me know about your challenges and success stories in the comments below. I love to hear from you!