Courgette leaves start green, then they develop into silvery marks which form a lovely pattern. Late in the season, you may start to realise that some of the silvery patterns don't look quite as pretty as they used to, and close up you see small round patches of whitish powder on the surface - this is the start of mildew. It's usually a late season thing, when the courgettes are coming to the end of their useful lives anyway.

That happened to one of mine this year - the stem had rotted through at one point, and therefore everything died off. It would also happen if a snail had eaten through the stem, which is a strong possibility this year!

If I were growing mine outdoors, I would probably grow them in the ground because they are big plants. But on the other hand, since they're in the greenhouse they're only in 12 inch pots and that undoubtedly restricts their growth a bit - outdoors I could put them in something much larger.

They'll need feeding in a pot - I use tomato fertiliser. For soil, I start the plants in seed compost, then transplant them into my own garden compost, which is humus rich and water retentive, though varying in nutrient content.