Courgettes in pots

alfharris8

Does anyone successfully grow courgettes in containers? I have a little veg patch but whilst netted seems to be a struggle to stop things being munched. 
If so,  what size container do you use?
Thanks. 

Emptyheadtime

I have grown them in pots before. I found they struggled a bit for food/water once they were fully grown so tried one that was more compact and for containers (forget the name) that did ok before the powdery mildew got it. I used a pot that was probably over 12” wide/deep. I grow mine in the ground now as I feel growing them in pots stresses them and makes them more susceptible to powdery mildew, but that said the ones in the ground often get mildew too so may be a coincidence. If the pots big enough they should crop but they can grow/trail a fair bit so need space.

pansyface

I grow them in the same pots that I use for tomatoes. The pot dimensions are 40 cms diameter by 30 cms tall.   I begin them indoors but they are now outside.

I can’t grow them in the ground because the badgers like to act as dumper trucks and push them around.

At the moment they are being well watered by the rain but I have to keep an eye on them every day and feed them once a week. Same as the toms really.

Here’s a photo of the tomatoes in the conservatory to give you an idea of the size of the pots.

alfharris8

Thank you. Those tomatoes look lovely. 

pansyface

Underfloor heating helps.😁

KeenOnGreen

We have grown them successfully in pots, but much larger than the tomato ones shown above. I think they were 20 litre pots. They still need regular watering though.

alfharris8

@KeenOnGreen - thanks,  I just get so disheartened having so many things eaten.

Dovefromabove

I find that not much eats the courgette plants at least … probably because of their bristly leaves. 

Plashing

use old car tires for my courgette plants and they have always done well I usually stack one tire on in  top of another gives them of depth of compost and soil to grow in, I also insert a plastic drinks bottle to water and feed them, also you can put some small mesh wire to stop the slugs and snails attacking them.

alfharris8

@Plashing - crikey,  that sounds like one hell of a set up 👍

philippasmith2

Slugs and Snails will certainly graze both the leaf and flower stems of courgettes as well as young emerging leaves  - the plant will often recover and go on to produce fruit given a long enough season.  As mentioned above, they tend to leave the mature leaves alone. 
I find that you can grow 2 plants in a container the size of a dustbin if you are short of open ground.  Preparing the bin over winter with plenty of raw kitchen waste. manure etc.usually provides a sufficient base for a good harvest the following summer.