The sunny windowsill is a good place to grow your own zucchini plants. Sowing is easy; water, warmth and light are enough for germination. After just a few weeks, small plants emerge from the approx. 1 cm large seeds.
How can you properly grow zucchini plants?
To successfully grow zucchini plants, you need flower pots, potting or garden soil, and seeds. Sow in mid-April by planting seeds 2-3 cm deep in soil-filled pots. The seedlings appear after 6-14 days. After about 4 weeks they can be planted outdoors or in balcony pots.
All you need are:
- Flower pots, with at least 9 – 10 cm diameter
- commercial potting soil or garden soil
- and of course seeds
Seeds from a bag or grown yourself?
You can easily get the seeds at the garden center or choose from the large online shipping range (€4.00 at Amazon). A seed bag usually contains 7 to 10 seeds. Even after pricking, this is enough for a family.
Another option is to get the seeds yourself from fully ripe fruits. The seeds are removed, dried on kitchen paper for 2 to 3 days, cleaned and stored in a dry place until sowing next spring.
Sowing, germination time, pricking out
It starts in mid-April: First, fill the pots with soil and insert the seeds 2 to 3 cm deep. Then you can water them carefully and place the pots on the sunny windowsill.
The first seedlings appear after 6 to 14 days. During this time the soil must always be kept moist. If several seedlings develop per pot, only the stronger one is left standing. The weaker ones are carefully removed by hand.
While the young plants are growing, you can put them outside in the sun for a few hours. This is especially recommended if they gradually become too big for the windowsill.
Planting out
About 4 weeks after sowing, the plants are large enough to be moved outdoors or into a balcony pot. It's a good idea if you wait for the Ice Saints in mid/late May. Without damaging the delicate ball, carefully remove the plants from the pot and place them in the prepared planting holes in the vegetable or flower bed or in the large pot.
Tips & Tricks
The name zucchini comes from the Italian word “zucca” and means small pumpkin. While pumpkins come from America, zucchini were first grown in Italy in the 17th century.
