Did you know that growing zucchini in your garden isn’t as complicated as it may seem? For beginners, the zucchini plant probably isn’t one of the first vegetables that you think of when growing your own vegetables at home. However, Zucchini’s are brilliant vegetables to grow at home which can be used in a huge range of meals. So we’re sure there’s no doubt that you’re thinking, how many zucchini per plant do you get?
The number of zucchini you get per plant depends on the conditions in which you are trying to grow your plant. The zucchini plant needs a full day of sunlight, regular watering and the correct fertilizer to produce the best quality of zucchini’s.
How Many Zucchini Per Plant?
A healthy, well maintained zucchini plant should yield 5-15 zucchinis per plant.
If your zucchini plant is yielding more, or less than this amount, then the conditions for growing healthy zucchini vegetables aren’t correct. We have seen some articles stating that you can get up to 40 zucchini per plant, although this isn’t impossible, it’s not the usual amount you should get, so don’t have these high expectations.
We would imagine that a non-organic fertilizer is being used to produce such high zucchini yields. But this is totally your decision, however we don’t recommend this, which we’ll highlight later on.
There are many healthy, organic fertilizers available that you can use to produce the best quality of zucchini per plant. All of which use natural growth enhancers such as Potassium, Nitrogen and Phosphorus.
What Factors Can Affect How Many Zucchini Per Plant?
There are many factors that can affect how many zucchini you get per plant, which all have to be considered when growing this vegetable. Factors such as; the weather, pests, correct fertilizers, and plant spacing all play a crucial role in the amount of zucchini you get per plant. So let’s take a closer look at these factors.
The Weather
Zucchini plants aren’t the most hardy vegetable plants which you can grow at home. If the conditions aren’t correct then you will have some trouble growing healthy, full sized zucchinis. The weather plays a huge part in the development of the zucchini plant. Zucchini plants need a soil temperature which ranges, and stay between 65 – 70 degrees fahrenheit to grow correctly.
With a temperature any less than this, you may have delayed zucchini growth, with the zucchini itself not growing to its full potential. For healthy, full sized zucchini, you have to respect the soil temperature range of 65 – 70 degrees fahrenheit.
Pests
Pests are another factor which really affects the growth of your zucchini plants. When pests are present around your zucchini plants, they will start to eat away at the plant itself. When a zucchini plant becomes under attack from pests, it will naturally stop growing. The plant will expend all their energy trying to heal and regrow the parts of the plant which have been eaten by the pests.
This means that the energy which is usually being used to grow quality zucchini vegetables, is being used elsewhere, reducing the growth rate of the zucchini. Where possible use an organic pesticide to keep unwanted pests away.
Correct Fertilizer
Choosing a suitable fertilizer for your zucchini plant is crucial for the growth of your zucchini vegetables, and how many zucchini you get per plant. We recommend that you use a balanced fertilizer such as 4-4-4 or 10-10-10.
Miracle Gro All Purpose Plant Food, is one of the best natural fertilizers on the market. Its equal balance in Potassium, Nitrogen and Phosphorus, gives the best results when growing zucchini. Using this fertilizer you should get healthy, full sized zucchini, when grown at home.
Zucchini Plant Spacing
Last on our list we have zucchini plant spacing. This is probably the factor that is most easily neglected by beginners as they want to plant as many zucchini plants as possible. Zucchini plant spacing will have a big impact on how many zucchini per plant you get, as they need a lot of space both above and below the ground for best results.
You should plant the zucchini seed ½ an inch deep into the soil, spaced 3-4 inches apart. Your zucchini plant should grow brilliantly at this spacing, however you will need to transplant them when they reach 4-5 inches tall (as they will need more room to grow from this stage).
Once at the height of 4-5 inches tall, you will need to transplant your zucchini plants, so they are spaced 6-8 inches apart.
If you have the space, or if you are choosing to grow your zucchini in a pot, then you can space your zucchini plants at 6-8 inches apart from the very beginning. This will eliminate the need to transplant them at a later date.
Growing Zucchini On a Trellis?
Another option that people like to use when growing zucchinis is to grow them using a trellis. Growing zucchini on a trellis has many benefits, providing you have the space to accompany them.
Using a trellis to grow zucchinis is a fantastic way to increase how many zucchinis per plant. Growing zucchini on a trellis can increase yield, reduce pest invasions, whilst maximizing the available space in your garden.
Using a trellis means that your zucchini will grow above ground level. This means that they will get more sunlight per day, whilst being out of direct reach from slugs, snails and other insects that may like to feed on your vegetables. Growing your zucchini on a trellis doesn’t completely eradicate the possibility of pests, it just massively reduces it.
Best material used for growing zucchini on a trellis?
One of the best materials you can use for growing zucchini on a trellis is bamboo. Bamboo is one of the strongest natural materials that you can use, and relatively cheap too, so you won’t need an abundance to build a suitable trellis.
Not only this, but bamboo never rots, which means that even in the worst weather conditions, it will still stand strong time and time again. Many other materials that can be used to make a trellis will start to rot over time, and will need replacing after a couple of years.
For zucchini to grow on a trellis you will need quite a bit of space, so please keep this in mind before you go ahead with this method. Your trellis will need to be at least 2 feet away from any other standing objects, for example, walls, fences and plant pots. The zucchini plant needs the ability to grow in all directions to provide the adequate spacing it needs to grow healthy zucchini vegetables.
Growing Zucchini On a Trellis Method?
Stage 1 – The Set Up
The first stage of growing zucchini on a trellis is the set up. First of all you will need to find a suitable place to build your trellis, roughly a distance of 6 feet long, and 3 feet wide (6 x 3 feet).
Using a 6-foot tall bamboo stake, hammer this into the ground, at least 1 foot deep to ensure stability. Then mark out where the second bamboo stake needs to be placed, 6 feet away from the first. Once the position of this stake has been finalized, hammer the second stake into the ground.
You should now have 2 bamboo stakes hammered 1 foot deep each, 6 feet away from each other. Make sure you locate the trellis away from any other vegetables you may have growing, as you don’t want to block their sunlight.
Stage 2 – Apply Chicken Wire
The second stage to building your trellis is to attach chicken wire between the two bamboo stakes.
You can buy pre-tied chicken wire, which we would recommend buying as this makes the process a lot easier. The chicken wire should look like a little square of wire, no more than 3 x 3 inches in sizes.
You will need to run the chicken wire between both the bamboo stakes, from bottom to top. Using a staple gun, you can staple every couple of inches up the bamboo stakes to ensure there is no slack in the chicken wire.
Stage 3 – Planting the zucchini plant
Once you have your trellis setup completed, you will then need to plant your zucchini plants. Roughly 2-3 inches in front of the trellis and 2 feet apart, you can start digging the holes to plant your zucchini seeds.
(Grow your zucchini plants in pots prior to this stage until they are 5 inches tall, ready for transplanting).
This means that along your trellis you should have 4 holes, ready for planting. The holes should be at distances as follows;
First hole should be dug 2-3 inches from the first bamboo stake.
Second hole should be dug 2 feet down the line of the chicken wire.
The third should be another 2 feet down the chicken wore from the last.
And the final hole should be dug 2-3 inches from the last bamboo stake.
Once these holes are in place, you can then begin to transplant the zucchini plants from their pots, into the holes you’ve provided. Remember not to plant them any deeper than they originally were.
At this stage you can add your balanced fertilizer in with the soil, to enhance growth. Also remember that zucchini plants need to be watered at least once every week. This should be increased as the surrounding temperature rises too. Watering a zucchini plant 2-3 times a week in warmer weather is sufficient.
Stage 4 – Attach the vines to the trellis
Once the plants are big enough, you can start to gently tie them to the trellis using any garden string you can purchase. You should continue to tie the plant in a vertical position every couple of inches.
You should avoid tying the vines too tightly, as they will need space to grow still. The first ties should be fairly loose as this will be the thickest part of the plant once fully grown.
Stage 5 – Relocate the new vines
Once you have about 3 or 4 ties onto the bottom of the trellis per plant, you wont need to continue tying the plant. Naturally the zucchini plant will begin to intertwine itself around the chicken wire, however you may need to help it sometimes, by feeding the vines in and around the chicken wire.
Stage 6 – Untie the plant completely
The final stage of growing zucchini on a trellis is to completely remove the ties holding the stems to the chicken wire. Once the plant has begun to intertwine itself around the chicken wire, you can take off the ties.
From this stage your zucchini plant will be able to hold itself up, clinging onto the trellis for support, growing around the chicken wire naturally.
Stage 7 – Wait
Now all you have to do is wait.
Roughly about 2 months after planting your zucchini plants, they should be ready to harvest. If you realize the plant’s leaves are starting to turn yellow, you should harvest all the zucchini as the plant is beginning to die.
How Many Zucchini Per Plant To Feed a Family?
As we have stated before, you should get roughly 5-15 zucchini per plant, so how many zucchini per plant you need to feed a family really depends on how often you plan to eat zucchini.
We would roughly recommend that you need 2 full sized zucchini to feed a family of 4. This means that if you are eating zucchini twice a week, then one plant will feed a family for about 1 month. If you want to provide zucchini for your family for a longer period of time, then it’s recommended that you plant your zucchini plants 1 month apart at a time.
The best method for growing zucchini for your family is the trellis method. This means that you can plant a zucchini plant every month, and have 4 plants growing at any one time, giving you three months of zucchini growing at once.
During different months and temperatures, your zucchini plants may grow at different rates. You can harvest zucchini prematurely and they are still safe to eat. Not only that, they taste great too.
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