courgettes and pumpkins: 1 or 2 per hole?

Never heard of leaving two per station to grow on. Nor have I ever heard of putting in that many just to eventually leave two!

I  pop 2 seeds in per pot & nip out the weakest.

   Courgettes are such prolific growers they would be very crouded if two were left growing in each station.

Yeah, it seemed strange to me too. Looking at the seed packets again i realise that it's the spanish brands which advise planting six and leaving two. the courgette packet from Lidl just says to space 1 metre apart, as you said, mr Isaacs.
so perhaps it's something to do with the drier conditions here meaning smaller plants and/or less life expectancy. I think i'm going to leave just one plant in each station though, as you both advise, and try to remember to water them enough
thanks for the help


rebecca

imagine if the seed packet had 40 seeds, as per DD.'s advice seed would last for atleast three years and as per seed packet advice it will last for just one sowing. If it gets killed by frost then you have to run to the shop to buy it again  . thats why they print like that. They need more money from you! 

And if you sowing direct then I would say one per hole and 5-10 in pots. seperately. replant if you didnt get any from the direct sown one. If all come good then sell the pots off for a good money

I too only plant one seed per pot, as Aelf says the geremination rate is nearly 100% and considering if you get 10 seeds per pack and get only 50% germination then you have 5 courgette plants which will feed a family of four for many weeks, and a few neighbours too .
   I planted four plants last year and the produce lasted me for about 7/8 months, I've planted 2 more this year to stock my freezer during Jan/Feb and March.
   I love courgettes

Mind you, most of the packets of seed that I buy in Spain/Portugal are significantly cheaper than those sold in the UK and have far, far more seeds in them.

SS

Hi snoop, i'm just north of barcelona, not exactly down the road but not that far away  . Do you think the thing labeled "calabaza buen gusto" will be alright left 2 to a clot?

I've not grown calabaza buen gusto before. I've just looked them up on the Web and I notice the instructions are six to eight to a hole. They don't mention thinning out! I wouldn't do that but very successfully grew squash and melon last year two to a clot, which I was advised to do by one of the locals here.

If you train the plants round in a circle as they grow (make sure you leave space to get in to water them and use a cane or other indicator to mark where they're growing from so you know where to water), you should be able to keep them relatively compact. I'm no good at maths these days but have just tried to work out the square metres of the irregularly shaped patch where I planted mine last year. If I've done my sums right, I had a courgette plant, five squash plants and nine melon plants in an area of about 15 square metres. The squash and melons were all entangled but not cramped.

I do the same as DD - 2 per pot.  Only I'm not so good at pinching out the weakest and end up potting 2 on and then giving some away to Freecycle/friends!

I would never sow 8 per station as they are pretty reliable.  Maybe for the smaller seeded varieties like tomatoes, but even then 8 is a lot. and a big waste of seed.