Scottish growing tool

Courgettes Variety Selector: Which One For Your Garden

Every recommendation below traces back to our full Courgettes varieties comparison — this page is the fast route to one answer for your specific situation, no clicking through required.

If: Site has struggled with powdery mildew before

TuscanyAGM

The better pick on a site with a history of powdery mildew. It's the only one of the five AGM varieties explicitly tied to cooler-climate suitability, and its strong powdery mildew resistance makes it the clearest disease-driven choice for a site that's struggled with mildew before, or one that's sheltered but humid.

If: Space is limited, growing in containers on a patio or balcony

AstiaAGM

Suits container growing on a small patio or balcony where space, not disease, is the limiting factor. It's a compact cultivar bred for large containers, producing heavy crops of straight, uniform, dark green fruit, with some resistance to powdery mildew, though that resistance is partial, not full like Tuscany's.

If: No particular problem, something else matters more → A longer harvest on a larger plot

LoreaAGM

The largest plant of the five, with a semi-late harvest running July to October, worth choosing for a longer cropping window on a larger plot. No resistance is claimed, and it's listed as potentially susceptible to aphids, powdery mildew, downy mildew and grey mould, the fullest susceptibility list of the five, so it's a trade worth weighing if disease pressure is a known issue on the plot.

If: No particular problem, something else matters more → Best flavour, no known disease pressure on the plot

El GrecoAGM

A vigorous, erect variety with glossy, slightly speckled fruit and a flavour rated highly, with no bitterness. It carries AGM on the strength of yield, reliability and flavour, not disease resistance, since none is claimed, so it's worth choosing for taste and vigour on a site with no particular mildew or CMV history.

If: No particular problem, something else matters more → Not sure, just give me the safest all-round choice or Not sure, just give me the safest all-round choice

DefenderAGM

The strongest all-round choice for most Scottish gardens, combining excellent resistance to cucumber mosaic virus with a reliable, heavy crop. It's popular and reliable, with an open habit that produces heavy, solid, mid-green fruit, and its open growth also helps air move through the foliage.

Answer these as a quick wizard instead →

Courgettes growing guide →Full Courgettes varieties comparison →