COURGETTE - NERO DI MILANO
- Product Code: OCOUNM15
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£3.99
Organic Courgette NERO DI MILANO
10 Seeds Pack
Heritage courgette Nero de Milano popular variety of zucchini plant that is originally from the region of Lombardy in Italy. It produces traditional-looking fruits with dark green, glossy skins. The white flesh is juicy, firm, and very tasty. Nero Di Milano’ produces dark green fruit up to 20cm long. It is an old favourite which likes constant picking.
PLANTING & GROWING
Soaking needs to be done at least a few hours before planting, and preferably overnight. To prevent damping off when starting seeds indoors, it’s essential that you disinfect all of your pots, plastic grow trays, seed cells, and seedling tray covers before you reuse them.
Prefers well-drained, fertile, loose soil, high in organic matter with pH between 5.8 and 6.8. Plentiful and consistent moisture is needed from the time plants emerge until fruits begin to fill out.
Sow the Nero di Milano courgette seeds late March through April under glass for growing in the greenhouse, or late April through May to transplant outdoors. The seeds can also be sown direct outdoors, in a finely prepared bed, from early June. Courgette plants can be grown in traditional rows on the veg patch, spacing 90cm (36") apart, or dotted around the patch to fill gaps. They perform best in free draining soils. Add plenty of organic matter, such as well rotted manure or homemade compost, when preparing the planting site. Courgettes grow very well in containers. Choose pots of around 10litres in size.
Courgette flowers are insect pollinated. In a cold season when there might be a lack of natural pollinators, or if fruits are just failing to develop, setting can be improved with hand pollination. Pick a male flower (one with no immature fruit behind the flower), pull away the petals and insert the stamen into each female flower to transfer the pollen. Male flowers produce pollen and nectar, while female flowers produce masses of nectar, with the baby fruit visible at the base of her flower.