Nevertheless, zucchini is also suitable for the smaller vegetable garden because you can guide it up in height, especially the climbing variety. For zucchini, now is the best time to sow.

Usually you only see the familiar green zucchini in the store, but there are many more varieties. There are also light green, yellow, white and very dark green colors, and there are also zucchini varieties where the fruit has a different shape, such as the special patisson. A white, round zucchini with a wavy edge.

Seeding

Zucchini likes sunlight and warmth. In spring you can sow in the cold frame as early as April, when no more frost is expected. But in May and June you can sow directly in the ground. The seed germinates extremely quickly; after just a few days you will see the first green-yellow tops peeping out of the ground. If you sow directly in the ground, keep a distance of about 1 meter between plants. This is because zucchini grows rapidly and becomes quite large. The best way is to guide/let the plant climb up along a rack, 'weaving' the stems horizontally through the rack.

Male and female flowers

Soon flowers will form. There are male and female specimens and the bees and bumblebees should take care of fertilization. The flowers are also edible, but do not pick the male flowers too soon, otherwise fertilization will not take place and thus you will not be able to harvest zucchini. The male flowers simply have a stalk, but the female flowers are recognizable because instead of a stalk, they have a fruiting principle. A kind of mini zucchini, which over time, and thus only after fertilization, grows into a zucchini.

Harvesting

The first zucchini are ready to harvest after about 7 to 8 weeks. With zucchini, it is always better not to wait too long to pick. This is because large specimens have much less flavor than smaller ones. A good size for harvesting is when the zucchini is about 7 to 10 centimeters. As long as you keep harvesting, the plant will keep forming new fruits. The yield is really huge and often you can benefit from your plant into the fall! If you don't harvest, the plant will go to seed and the fruit formation will quickly decline. So always keep harvesting!