What is nibbling on my courgettes?

simondanger

Every morning I awake to find a few more little areas eaten.

Attached is a couple photos, any ideas?

igorbiscan

hi, think its hungry slugs,had the same problem with radishes,but thats my opinion,im no expert:p only 1st year grower..

MysticFred

simondanger wrote: »

Every morning I awake to find a few more little areas eaten.

Attached is a couple photos, any ideas?

Birds?

Skrynesaver

Slugs, but don't worry courgettes will out grow the slugs, come the end of summer you'll be trying to work out what to do with all the bloody things

glanman

simondanger wrote: »

Every morning I awake to find a few more little areas eaten.

Attached is a couple photos, any ideas?

Rats I would say

Mad Benny

I've never heard of rats eating vegetables glanman while they are growing. What brings you to that conclusion?

I'm growing courgettes in my garden and haven't had any problems. Slugs have been a major problem over the years. We caught a lot last year by putting beer in a bowl and they drowned themselves. For some reason this year they have stayed away. I figured that they weren't into courgettes.

Is it still happening OP?

HardyEustace

Definitely slugs, try scattering coffee grounds around them?

If your garden is anything like mine, it has turned into a slug nursery. There are so many little ones that are able to inflict major damage.:mad:

Corsendonk

Well if its happening at night, head out into the garden with a torch in the late evening. You might catch them in the act, do the second photo looked alot of damage for a slug and you always get the sliver slimey trail as a hint. Birds usually leave a deep wound due to the beak.

glanman

Mad Benny wrote: »

I've never heard of rats eating vegetables glanman while they are growing. What brings you to that conclusion?

Had damage to a certain amount of courgette fruits that are away from the main garden. Put up a netting and poison and not problem since. have had very little problems with slugs this year so don't think it was them.

Had rats eating my beetroot and turnip while in the ground last year, they nibble the whole top half of the flesh that was exposed, don't think it would be anything else

JIZ

Id say mice

BoardsMember

I saw the thread title and had an insurpressable urge to post this - "Ooooh Matron" (in the voice of the late Kenneth Williams)

Wally Runs

Skrynesaver wrote: »

Slugs, but don't worry courgettes will out grow the slugs, come the end of summer you'll be trying to work out what to do with all the bloody things

A bit off topic, but looking for courgette recipes as i am entering the flood. So far I have fritters, use in salads, julienned fried in butter and mixed with pasta, also batter and deep fry the flowers. Anybody got something?

Mad Benny

Wally Runs wrote: »

A bit off topic, but looking for courgette recipes as i am entering the flood. So far I have fritters, use in salads, julienned fried in butter and mixed with pasta, also batter and deep fry. Anybody got something?

Both of these have been made a few times over the last few weeks and have gone down well.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4716/creamy-courgette-lasagne

and

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/10466/courgette-and-parmesan-tart

The second one above can be made with creme freche instead and is very tasty indeed.

glanman

Wally Runs wrote: »

A bit off topic, but looking for courgette recipes as i am entering the flood. So far I have fritters, use in salads, julienned fried in butter and mixed with pasta, also batter and deep fry. Anybody got something?

This is excellent

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/633634/chocolate-courgette-cake

as are these, made the second and third a few times, leave out certain ingredients if not to your taste... The dill cream is really good with white fleshy fish. The cake is savage too

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/aug/16/nigel-slater-courgette

make ratatouille for freezing, and pasta sauces too!

I would welcome other recipes, I have 24 plants producing a glut every day! Have some being sold in a local veg shop but could use other avenues too!

What a great vegetable, a real champion of the garden this year!

Mad Benny

glanman wrote: »

What a great vegetable, a real champion of the garden this year!

I have to agree. I have six plants and I'm very happy. I would love to have the space for more.

JIZ

http://neckredrecipes.blogspot.com/2008/03/pickled-zucchini.html

Pickled they taste as good as the one's in burgers.

glanman

Another recipe that I have kind of done up on my own, COURGETTE GRATIN...

Heat oven at 200 celcius.

Cube up a courgette into small dices. Cut an onion up pretty small too.

Fry the onion in butter and oil at a medium heat til they are soft and fairly translucent, about 3-5 mins. (Add a little garlic if you wish) Put the onions aside. Now fry the courgettes for 5 mins on a medium heat. Pop into the oven for 5-10 mins until you get some of the water coming out. Strain the liquid off and add the courgettes, onion and now add cream to the frying pan and simmer for 2-3 mins, stirring occasionally.

Put all of these in a casserole/lasagna dish. Cover with a layer of grated cheese, about 150g. Then add a layer of breadcrumbs, about 2 or 3 cups.

Pop in oven at 200 C for 10-15 mins or until browned on top.

Yummy!

Qualitymark

I sometimes cook them in an egg custard - also a delicious way of cooking white fish, if you add some sliced fennel and/or chicory.

Slice the courgettes and salt them well, put them in layers in a strainer and put a heavy weight on top for a few hours, over a bowl to collect the liquid that drains out.

For the custard, lightly beat a couple of eggs with about half a cup of milk; add salt (if not using fish).

Butter a baking dish and put in the sliced courgettes, cover with the egg mixture, and scatter some grated cheese on top - a mixture of cheddar and Parmesan is good.

Bake in the oven until delicious; finish off by toasting under the grill to make the cheese sizzly.

(My own courgettes, planted at the top of a wheelie bin full of strawberry plants, have blossom end rot. Haven't had a single usable courgette off the whole plant all summer.)

Corsendonk

Qualitymark wrote: »

I sometimes cook them in an egg custard - also a delicious way of cooking white fish, if you add some sliced fennel and/or chicory.

Slice the courgettes and salt them well, put them in layers in a strainer and put a heavy weight on top for a few hours, over a bowl to collect the liquid that drains out.

For the custard, lightly beat a couple of eggs with about half a cup of milk; add salt (if not using fish).

Butter a baking dish and put in the sliced courgettes, cover with the egg mixture, and scatter some grated cheese on top - a mixture of cheddar and Parmesan is good.

Bake in the oven until delicious; finish off by toasting under the grill to make the cheese sizzly.

(My own courgettes, planted at the top of a wheelie bin full of strawberry plants, have blossom end rot. Haven't had a single usable courgette off the whole plant all summer.)

Never seen Blossom end rot in courgettes before, did you try giving it a high calcium feed.

Qualitymark

I didn't. What would be high calcium, in organic terms? Online sources say it's dampness, but the courgette hasn't been wetted except by rain - we always water it from underneath.

Pain in the ass seeing courgette after courgette starting out, flowering, growing nicely for a couple of inches and then rotting from the flower end. I've tried taking off the flowers, leaving them on, immediately cutting away rotting fruits - nothing works.

i57dwun4yb1pt8

are you pollinating them yourself ?

I had to do all mine by pulling off the male flower full of pollen and rubbing it into the female flower ( attached to the mini courgette )

or use an ear bud.

its a pretty common problem in some gardens - particlualy ones with loads of flowers , or too much shelter

before this all my courgets reached about 1,5 - two inches before going soggy and rotten.

now they are firing out big ones , and new ones every couple of weeks , still keep pollinating them .


looks like the flowrs oepn for so little time , that sometimes the bees dont get to them quick enough .

Qualitymark

Thanks, DaDumTish, lack of sex hadn't occurred to me as the problem. I'll try getting down and dirty with the next one, see if it helps.