On Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:46:49 +0100, Christina Websell wrote:

"David Hill" wrote in message
...
On 16/06/2013 03:03, Christina Websell wrote:
"David Hill" wrote in message
...
On 13/06/2013 20:48, David.WE.Roberts wrote:
Bought a couple of pots of courgette seedlings from Lidl.

When I came to plant them out, one pot had two courgette plants
closely intertwined, the other had three.
I know because I could see the seed leaves.

Now another year, if it was earlier in the season and I had a bit
more time I would have broken up the root ball and teased the plants
apart in the hope of getting 2 or 3 for 1.

Standard planting instructions say to plant two seed together then
pinch out the weaker one after germination.

Here, they look to be so closely intertwined that separating them
could set them back a few weeks.
Pinching one or two out didn't seem a good idea as they were so well
developed, plus having rotting dead plants mixed in with live ones
might not be the best idea.

So I have just planted them up in their friendship group.

Am I likely to get a decent yield from a group of plants?

Cheers

Dave R

Plant them as they are and just feed well and keep them well watered
if it turns dry.
In nature they would grow in clumps.

Totally disagree. Courgettes need grow alone to fruit well


Why?

Because, *if* they are grown alone you'll get a better crop from each
plant.

My courgettes were very successful last year.
I put each one on a heap of chicken manure and could hardly keep up with
picking them before they grew into marrows.

It's worse, I have ten now, growing away well.

Of course that includes IF you can separate them without major damage.

Starting point seed - single courgettes are fine.

Starting point is three well grown but seriously entangled plants - you
risk losing them all if you damage the roots beyond their ability to
support the extensive top growth.

So the real question is how much risk is there in separating established
plants.

Cheers

Dave R