Courgette Atena Polka F1 is an easy to grow, low maintenance plant that produces top quality unusual dark yellow courgettes on a semi-compact plant. Yellow courgettes have a thinner skin & slightly sweeter flavour than green courgettes.

Courgette Atena Polka F1 fruits are best harvested when about 15-20cm long as the skin is still thin and the flesh is still creamy inside. It is very productive and gives a heavy yield over a long period and will just keep cropping if fruits are regularly picked when young (from early July till October frosts).

Yellow courgettes are not as readily available as green ones in the supermarkets as their thin skin is easily marked - so growing your own is a special way to brighten up your dinner plate especially when used in combination with a variety of different home-grown coloured courgettes.

Back in Fashion - courgettes have had a reputation for being mushy boring veg but recipes by Nigel Slater or Hugh Fearnely-Whittingstall are now showing that courgettes are not just for boiling but can be griddled, thinly sliced raw in salads, added in wafer thin slices to pasta or even made into a courgette cake.

We love to make courgette soup with a little spice like curry powder or chilli. In Which Gardening Trials of 2012 'Atena' is recommended as a Best Buy as it gave 'the largest crop of courgettes of all in our trial'. We love the yellow fruits as well! A prolific veg that will brighten up your dinner plate, is easy to grow and crops really well - a bright star of the veg patch.

Pack Information

Seed Quantity:

8 seeds per pack.

When to Sow Courgette Atena F1 Vegetable Seeds

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Indoor Sowing
Outdoor Sowing

Indoor Sowing Information

Site:	Well drained & humus rich soil. A sheltered sunny spot out of way of strong winds which causes damage to the large leaves.
When to Sow:	April to May.
How to Sow:	Sow seeds vertically 1cm deep in a pot or tray of moist seed compost. Place in propagator/cover with glass, polythene bag until the seedlings appear (5-8 days). When the seedlings have 2/3 leaves transplant them into 2l pots and grow on for a few more weeks. Harden them off by putting outside during the day for 3/4 days. Plant out in mid - late May when the chance of frost has passed. Incorporate plenty of organic matter to feed the plant and help retain water. Keep well watered. Can also be grown in greenhouse soil provided it is very fertile and they are well watered or even in gro-bags or containers.
Care:	As they are hungry feeders, feed them every 14 days with a potash rich fertiliser. Keep well watered but do not wet the fruit.
Harvest:	July to October. Pick fruit regularly to prolong cropping when they are about 7cm long. The flowers can be picked before this.

Outdoor Sowing Information

Site:	Well drained & humus rich soil. A sheltered sunny spot out of way of strong winds which causes damage to the large leaves.
When to Sow:	Early June.
How to Sow:	Squashes are hungry feeders so to give them a good start outside, dig a hole 30cm square and fill with well rotted manure and cloche the area a week before direct sowing. Mound soil up and plant 2 seeds 2.5cm deep into the mound and cloche again until the seedlings grow. Remove the weaker seedling, and remove cloche a couple of weeks later. Seed will not germinate until the temperature is consistently above13C. Keep well watered. Space plants 90cm apart, and 90cm apart in rows.
Care:	As they are hungry feeders, feed them every 14 days with a potash rich fertiliser. Keep well watered but do not wet the fruit.
Harvest:	July to October. Pick fruit regularly to prolong cropping when they are about 7cm long. The flowers can be picked before this.

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