Black Beauty Zucchini

Cucurbita pepo

Also known as: Black Beauty Courgette


The benchmark dark-green zucchini — a compact bush carrying long, glossy fruit so deeply pigmented they read almost black in the shade of the leaves. Skin is smooth and slick, flesh is tender and creamy white, and the flavour is the clean, mild profile most gardeners think of when they picture a zucchini. Best picked at 15–20cm, when the whole fruit slices cleanly and cooks in minutes. Kept picked, a single bush produces steadily for weeks. Widely regarded as one of the standard heirlooms every summer garden should have. Bush habit — no trellis or trailing room required.

Days to harvest 50–65 days from sowing
Fruit size Long cylindrical fruit, best picked young at 15–20cm
Sowing depth 15–20mm
Germination 6–10 days at soil temperature 21–30°C
Spacing 60–90cm between plants
Aspect Full sun; moist, well-drained soil rich in organic matter
Frost tolerance Frost-tender — sow after last frost only

Growing notes

A warm, sunny position suits it best. Black Beauty starts producing quickly once the weather warms and rewards regular picking through the season.

Soil preparation: Well-rotted compost and aged manure worked in before sowing. Zucchini are heavy feeders, so build the bed generously.

Sowing method: Sow 2–3 seeds per station 60–90cm apart, either direct into warm soil or into large pots for transplant, then thin to the strongest seedling per station.

Support: None needed — the plant holds itself upright as a compact bush.

Containers: Suits a large pot of 40L or more. Keep water and feed consistent, as pots dry out faster than beds and zucchini are thirsty croppers.

Watering & feeding: Deep, consistent watering at the base — like other summer squash, susceptible to mildew, so keep water off the leaves. Side-dress with well-rotted manure or a balanced liquid feed once flowering starts.

Harvest: Pick every two to three days once fruiting begins, cutting fruit at 15–20cm for the tenderest eating. Larger fruit turn tough and seedy quickly, and slow the plant down, so pick even the ones you don't need. The dark colour makes overlooked fruit disappear against the foliage — check the plant carefully. Fresh use only — this is a summer squash, not a keeper.

Timing: First fruit ready 50–65 days from sowing.

Key features

  • Deep, glossy near-black skin
  • Tender, creamy white flesh
  • Compact bush habit — no vine to train
  • Prolific and long-producing
  • Well suited to small gardens and large containers
  • A classic mid-twentieth-century heirloom, All-America Selections winner

Short season tips


Direct sow into warm ground from mid-spring to early summer once frost risk has passed. In Coonabarabran and similar inland zones, that means mid-November onwards. If time is tight, start seed indoors in large pots 2–3 weeks before transplanting — cucurbits resent root disturbance, so handle carefully and move on with the root ball intact. A staggered sowing three to four weeks after the first extends the picking window into autumn.

  • Spring
  • Summer

Annual

  • Corn, climbing beans, nasturtium, borage, marigold
  • Potatoes, other cucurbits within cross-pollination distance if saving seed


Introduced to the American seed trade in the late 1950s and awarded an All-America Selections prize in 1957 for its productivity, uniform shape, and deep colour. It became the standard-bearer among home-garden dark-green zucchini and has held that place ever since — grown in home gardens all over the world for close to seventy years, and still one of the reliable benchmarks against which newer bush zucchini are measured.