Solara Zucchini
A sun-drenched courgette: bright yellow fruits on a robust, easy-to-manage plant.
About the variety. Solara produces cylindrical fruits in a deep yellow colour, weighing 200–600 g each. Its open, non-branching habit—a rarity among courgettes—keeps the fruits in full view, making harvesting faster and easier. The flowers are edible and help attract pollinators to the garden.
Itinerário técnico
Um guia de cultivo passo a passo, da sementeira à colheita.
Usually started in trays and transplanted when the plant has 2 to 3 true leaves. Bear in mind that this crop is somewhat sensitive to transplant shock, so the operation should be carried out as carefully as possible to minimise root damage. Plants can be grown in rows, spacing them 30 to 60 cm apart with 1.5 to 1.8 m between rows.
The crop thrives in fertile, well-drained, heavy-textured soils. pH should be between 6.5 and 7.0.
The crop thrives in bright locations, away from cold winds and late frosts. In summer it prefers daytime temperatures between 22 and 32°C and night temperatures no lower than 20°C. A south-facing position is ideal.
This is a somewhat demanding crop, so some compost should be incorporated as a base fertilizer.
During the initial phase, adequate soil moisture is essential, as well as during pollination and fruit set. Drip irrigation is a great option for this crop: in addition to precise water delivery, it also prevents water from sitting on the leaves, which can lead to disease development.
Mulching is an interesting option for this crop, both with organic materials and plastic, as it helps prevent weed competition, keeps the courgettes from touching the soil, and can also raise soil temperature in early crops.
Mites, aphids, whitefly and thrips are the main pests of this crop. For mite control, biological control with predatory mites can be used, as well as applications of azadirachtin and sulphur dust. For aphid control, attention should be paid to moderate fertilisation without excess nitrogen, natural limitation through boundary hedgerows to encourage beneficial insects, biological control with parasitoid or predatory hymenoptera, weekly spraying with nettle slurry, and applications of potassium soap and azadirachtin. For whitefly control, attention should be paid to moderate fertilisation without excess nitrogen, avoiding transplanting infested plants from the nursery, placing yellow sticky traps for detection, and biological control with parasitoid hymenoptera and predatory mites, as well as the use of azadirachtin. Finally, thrips should be controlled through the use of suitable border plants that support anthocorid beneficials (such as marigolds) and biological control with predatory mites and anthocorids.
Fusarium wilt, downy mildew, powdery mildew and grey mould are diseases affecting this crop. To control Fusarium, it is recommended to practise adequate crop rotations, biofumigation and soil solarisation. Downy mildew is controlled through adequate crop rotations, wide plant spacing, avoiding excess soil moisture and the use of copper-based fungicides. Powdery mildew is controlled through wide plant spacing and moderate fertilisation without excess nitrogen; wettable or dustable sulphur powder may also be applied (as an alternative, sulphur powder + lithothamne (1:1) as a dust, which is less phytotoxic than pure sulphur).
The fruits can be kept for approximately two weeks at a temperature between 5 and 10°C and a relative humidity of 95%.
