Zucchini 'Black Jack'

Cucurbita pepo var. cylindrica

How to grow Zucchini 'Black Jack'

  • Full Sun

  • Medium

Black Jack likes a position of full sun and remember to water moderately. Keep in mind when planting that Black Jack is thought of as tender, so remember to wait until your soil is warm and the night time temperature is well above freezing before moving outside. Black Jack requires a soil ph of 5.6 - 7.5 meaning it does best in weakly acidic soil - weakly alkaline soil.

Growing Black Jack from seed

Try to aim for a seed spacing of at least 2.92 feet (90.0 cm) and sow at a depth of around 0.99 inches (2.54 cm). Soil temperature should be kept higher than 16°C / 61°F to ensure good germination.

By our calculations, you should look at sowing Black Jack about 42 days before your last frost date.

Transplanting Black Jack

Ensure that temperatures are mild and all chance of frost has passed before planting out, as Black Jack is a tender plant.

By our calculations, you should look at planting out Black Jack about 14 days after your last frost date.

Harvesting Black Jack

Expect harvests to start to occur in early summer.

Zucchini Black Jack Etymology

Archaeologists have traced the origins of courgettes to Mexico , where they are thought to have been developed from the giant pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima) sometime between 7,000 to 5,500 BCE, and were an integral part of the ancient diet of maize, beans and squashes. That pre-Columbian food trio is still the mainstay of Mexican cuisine and is known today as the “three sisters”.

The first conquistadores brought pumpkins and other squashes back to Spain , where they were given the name calabaza, a word of Arabic origin meaning “gourd”; calabazin is the diminutive applied to courgettes. The Catalan names carabas and carabasò are similarly derived. The Latin word cucurbita and the Late Latin word cucutia.both mean “gourd”. Their derivatives are the Old French word cohourde and thence the modern French word courge, and the modern Italian word zucca, which also apply to squash, and from which come the diminutive names courgettes and zuchinni.

Black Jack folklore & trivia

Both hybrid and non-hybrid (OP) varieties of Zuke by this name are in existence.

Courgettes belong to the Cucarbita family, native to the Americas . The colonists of New England adopted the name squash, a word derived from several Native American words for the vegetable which meant “something eaten raw”. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were squash enthusiasts who even enjoyed growing them.

Other Names for Zucchini 'Black Jack'

Zucchini, Courgette