[Grubbypaws]

I got a bit carried away and put my courgette seeds in the propogator thinking that they would take a wee while to germinate; I have not grown them from seed before.
 
Two days later they were appearing. Help! As soon as they germinated I took them out of the propogater but they have continued to grow apace. The sizeable cotyledons are now perched atop 8-9" stems and are toppling over. Heavens only knows what will happen when the weight of the first leaves are added. They are just in 3" pots as recommended.

Will all be OK in the end or should I put them in bigger pots to keep them until it is time to plant them out? I am needing to use supports for them age 5 days. I seem to be growing monsters!

[stompy]

Ha Ha Ha,

I would start them again in around a months time.
They will have become way too leggy by time you need to plant them out.

[mumofstig]

Snap stompy 

Have you got more seed to start again later?

[Grubbypaws]

No I had a 'packet of 10 seeds' and have 15 baby giants!!

Is there no hope?

[stompy]

To be honest,
No there is no hope, you will be fighting all the time to keep them going and they will probably not fruit that well either.
They are only cheap seeds, buy some from wilkinsons or your local gardencentre they should be from 50p to £1:50 for a pack.

Sereously, plant some more in around a month 

[Trillium]

You can always try to save them in larger pots and with supports for a while, but I'd seriously think of buying new seeds and starting them in pots (not propagators) in about a month. As you see, they're fast sprouting and fast growing plants and will likely outgrow what you have now since their growth was not checked. We've all made this mistake, it's part of the knowledge process 

[shokkyy]

I sowed my courgettes at the end of March, which I always do. They do grow fast but I've whacked them straight into 5" pots, where they're fine, and I'll be starting to harden them off in a week or two. In my area we seldom get frost once we're into May so I aim to have all my tender stuff hardening or hardened off by mid May.

[peapod]

New ones for me too...as you have seen they germinate so well theres no point mucking about with these.
We all live and learn 

[Grubbypaws]

It seems that everyone makes this mistake at some time so I dont feel quite so stupid! Well yes I do. 

It is hard with all the good weather that we have had not to get a little carried away; I was in shorts in the Peak district this weekend!!

Experience will out I am sure but I find it hard to kill something that has sprung to life (wimp gardener for sure although the slugs are not so convinced).

So my decision .. plant a few of my baby giants into larger pots to see what happens AND plant some more in a months time.

Thank you all for your help.

Question: do you never put them in a propagator to germinate? Is this what I did wrong?

[Kristen]

shokkyy: I'm really surprised you can keep Courgettes in 5" pots for 2 months, I reckon they will be well-checked by then.

I have deliberately grown Courgettes on past normal planting out time to see if they will perform better protected against chilly nights from my normal mid-May planting out until first week of June (I don't think it made much if any difference, but they have a reputation for not liking the cold), but they needed at least 9" pots for that period, and it was only 6 weeks tops.

[Kristen]

Question: do you never put them in a propagator to germinate? Is this what I did wrong?

I do do that, as a bit of temperature helps them germinate (which probably just equates to higher-percentage and more even timing of germination).

But the moment they are up they are out into the conservatory so they get maximum light possible ... apart from on this one occasion:





But the earlier you start them off the less the light that is available. April has good light, but May will be better (and March, February ... would be a disaster by comparison)

[JayG]

Question: do you never put them in a propagator to germinate? Is this what I did wrong?

It's hard to think of many seeds which take more than about a week to germinate given the right conditions (OK, not that hard; members of the parsley family, which includes parsnips, also chillies, but now I'm struggling again!)

The main thing is to learn whether your plants are frost-hardy or not; a lot of our summer crops are tender and can't be planted out until there is no risk of frost, which for most people is late May onwards. Sowing and hardening off has to be timed accordingly.

[shokkyy]

shokkyy: I'm really surprised you can keep Courgettes in 5" pots for 2 months, I reckon they will be well-checked by then.

Oh, it's nowhere near two months. I sowed them on 26th March, pricked them out straight into 5" pots on 9th April, and they'll be in the ground by 9th May, maybe a bit sooner if the local long-range forecast is right and we have good temperatures all through to the end of April. I follow much the same pattern every year, unless the cold weather looks like dragging out, and it always seems to work well for me.

[Kristen]

Sorry, I meant 2-months-total, from germination. Even a month in a 5" pot seems long to me, isn't the rootball really overdeveloped at the end of that?

But I've not tried it, I keep potting all my plants on as soon as the outside of the rootball is well developed.

I also don't know about the weather in Swindon, but for me (in an average year) early May would be too early to plant out - the chilly nights would check the plant and it would take a while to get going again - assuming a late frost didn't do them in completely! ... well, I reckon that's the case from my rather poor memory!

[shokkyy]

Sorry, I meant 2-months-total, from germination. Even a month in a 5" pot seems long to me, isn't the rootball really overdeveloped at the end of that?

I also don't know about the weather in Swindon, but for me (in an average year) early May would be too early to plant out - the chilly nights would check the plant and it would take a while to get going again - assuming a late frost didn't do them in completely! ... well, I reckon that's the case from my rather poor memory!

I wouldn't want to try much more than a month, but in a 5" they seem fine for that length of time, I normally get nice strong plants. I guess it would vary a bit for different varieties too.

Our posted last frost date for this area is early May, and my garden is fairly surrounded by big old trees, so it is nice and sheltered. I'd expect to have my tomatoes, cucumbers and everything outside by mid May.