Vegetable · Cucurbitaceae
When to plant courgettes
Among the fastest crops from seed to harvest, which means late sowing costs you very little.
Start seed indoors
3 weeks before
Counted from your last spring frost.
Plant out
2 weeks after
Counted from your last spring frost.
Sow direct
2 weeks after
Counted from your last spring frost.
Those weeks become real dates once you name a place.
Timing, in frost-relative terms
Seed packets rarely give calendar dates, because a date that suits one latitude is wrong at another. They give offsets from the last spring frost instead, and those offsets are what make courgettes plantable anywhere.
- Start seed indoors 3 weeks before the last frost.
- Plant out 2 weeks after the last frost.
- Sow direct 2 weeks after the last frost.
- Expect 45–60 days to maturity, counted from sowing.
- Sow again every 28 days for a continuous supply.
Getting the timing right
Two plants feed most households. A single sowing two weeks after last frost is usually enough; a July sowing gives cleaner, mildew-free fruit in long-season climates.
Frost tolerance
One light frost ends the plant. Because it crops so quickly, a courgette sown after all frost risk has passed still produces for months.
Classified as tender, with damage expected below 0°C (32°F)32°F (0°C).