Help ...courgettes

[MEL78]

Hi just come back from the allotment and my courgette plants have rotted (from the root upwards) could some one please let my know why this would of happened and what I can do next year to stop it happening again..

Thanks

[gregorach]

I'd blame it on the weather... I'm blaming everything on the weather this year.

[grahamhobbs]

Most likely cause is too much water, ie. water logged soil, but it can be fungal. Some recommend growing mustard as a green manure and digging in just before planting the courgettes out, it is supposed to act as an anti-fungal.

[PossibleBoris]

I've had lots of problems with courgettes this year.

Last year I threw them in the ground, not realising each produced several fruits, and was overrun.

This year I planned better (supposedly) and all the 4 I started off in a propagator rotted before I could plant out. I grew 4 more - one immediately rotted indoors, one has just rotted having been in a grow-house, the two outdoor ones have one courgette between them.

Confused.

[baldybloke]

I grew four courgette plants this year, 1 rotted but the rest have cropped reasonably heavily. I went away for a couple of days over the Bank Holiday and came back to marrows. Ho Hum.

[JeremyinCzechRep]

Marrows are not as tasty as courgettes but are great as 'fillers' for almost any kind of meat pie. They are also great in spicy marrow chutney - I've made 25 jars so far - based on my http://www.jeremytaylor.eu/Spicy_pumpkin_chutney.htm recipe.

[gregorach]

I rather like Mathew's Marrow Pickle - I seem to recall I halved the quantities of spices when I made it last year, and it was still remarkably pungent.

[Hernaic Tom]

The soil on my plot was full of bits of slate, so I used the larger bits to rest the courgettes on as they grew, to minimise their contact with the soil and it seemed to reduce the amount that rotted. I also built little Forts out of dried bramble to keep the slugs off.

The woodlice got some. But we humans ate many!