fertilizer guide
Courgette belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family, species Cucurbita pepo, and it is an annual herbaceous plant with a creeping nature. The fruit is a fleshy berry, with no central cavity, green or yellow. Its skin is smooth and very sensitive to chafing. It is elongated, cylindrical and with very short peduncle. Fruit is harvested approximately when it is halfway through its development.
Climate: Courgette is not too demanding in temperature, less than melon, cucumber and watermelon, although it supports higher temperatures.
- Germination: Optimum temperature 20-25°C, minimum temperature 15°C and maximum temperature 40°C.
- Vegetative Growth: Optimum temperature 25-30°C, minimum temperature 10°C and maximum temperature 35°C.
- Flowering: Optimum temperature 20-25°C, minimum temperature 10°C and maximum temperature 35°C.
Soil: It adapts easily to all types of soils, although it prefers loamy, deep and well drained soils. It is a very organic matter demanding plant.
Humidity: Optimum relative air humidity is between 65% and 80%.
Light: It is a very luminosity demanding plant, so that a greater insolation will lead to an increasing production.
pH: 5-7
Carbon dioxide in greenhouses: 1,500 p.p.m. of CO2 increase production and precocity.
Nutritional requirements
| Growth conditions | Yield | N | P2O5 | K2O |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outdoor | 25 | 75-100 | 30-40 | 110-160 |
| Greenhouse | 80-100 | 200-225 | 100-125 | 250-300 |
Fertigation recommendations
| Nutrient dosages (kg/ha). Yield: 80-100 t | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crop | N | P2O5 | K2O | CaO | MgO |
| Autumn Crop | 200 | 150 | 350 | 60 | 50 |
| Winter-Spring crop | 300 | 200 | 500 | 64 | 50 |
| Nutrient dosages (kg/ha) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Growth | Yield (t) | N | P2O5 | K2O |
| Outdoor | 25-35 | 85-102 | 30-40 | 110-160 |
| Greenhouse | 50-60 | 200-250 | 60-80 | 220-300 |
Foliar Fertilizers
Foliar fertilization is the fastest and most effective method to supplement and enrich plant nutrition and to correct nutritional deficiencies when needed. This contributes significantly to higher and better quality productions.
Lima Europe has a wide range of foliar fertilizers and special products for foliar application.
To verify the safe rate under local conditions, it is advisable to spray recommended rate on a few plants. After 3-4 days check the tested plants for scorching symptoms.
Courgette fertilizer program
5 NPK Terra 12-44-12 + 6 CaO + 3 MgO + TE
5 NPK Multi 20-20-20 + 6 CaO + 3 MgO + TE
5 NPK Fructus 18-9-36 + 6 CaO + 3 MgO +TE
Vegetative 27-27-27 + 3 MgO + TE: 2-5 kg/ha
Fruit 18-11-59 + 2 MgO + TE: 2-5 kg/ha
Grogreen Ca/B: 2-4 kg/ha. In order to correct Ca deficiency. Ca/B increases flowering and fruit set
Pro-mino: 200-300 ml/hl from establishment to fruit development
Micro: 0.5-1.5 kg/ha. Possible deficiencies from vegetative growth to fruit development
proteKt-K50: 2 l/ha. 1 application before first flowering and 3-5 applications at fruit growth stage