Vertical Gardening - Jack Be Little Pumpkins

[Welsh76]

First post here so please be gentle with me..

Last year I dipped my toe into the world of fruit/vegetable gardening (although more fruit than vegetables) and threw myself into the deep end and just planted away and hoped for the best, but with a reasonable amount of success..

This year I've tried to do it a bit more scientifically and actually read the labels on the packets about what I'm supposed to be doing. I've had success so far in germinating all the seeds that I've planted indoors (although the wife will soon be seeking a divorce if I take up more windowsill space, but that's for another thread).

I have a reasonable sized garden, but most of it is already taken up so I'm limited in what else I can do and one thing that went well last year was growing pumpkins; the kids loved watching them grow, but they were a pain with the amount of space they took up sprawling across the garden (I had 3 vines growing from large pots), so I've decided to try and grow smaller pumpkins (Jack Be Little) vertically, spiralling up around an obelisk. Does this sound like a reasonable plan of attack?

Does anyone have any tips with growing pumpkins vertically? Ideally up an obelisk as my fence is pretty much full of other growing fruit/veg.

Thanks!

p.s. I'm in sunny South Wales if that makes a difference (I'm not looking to grow hundreds of potatoes in buckets!!).

[veggiechicken]

Croeso Welsh76
I think most of Sunshiny South Wales will be members here soon
I grow Tromboncino up canes and they're great fun too look at and eat.
Have a goggle for them

[Jay-ell]

Hallo and welcome.

I've grown other squash (Baby Bear, Sweet Dumpling, Trombone) up arches before and once you get them going they'll grab on and support themselves. You may need to prod the vines back towards the trellis/mesh on the obelisk and tie it with twine - more as a guide than support as they can get a pretty firm hold with their tendrils.

Jack be little aren't too large so you probably won't be needing to make them hammocks to support them.

p.s. I'm in sunny South Wales if that makes a difference (I'm not looking to grow hundreds of potatoes in buckets!!).

You wont need outside grow lamps either.

[Welsh76]

Croeso Welsh76
I think most of Sunshiny South Wales will be members here soon
I grow Tromboncino up canes and they're great fun too look at and eat.
Have a goggle for them

They look very interesting and I might give one of those a go; I already have 3 small Jack Be Little seedlings developing nicely and I'm finding it hard to get rid of one of them as it is (I only need 2 to fit in the space allocated for them).

Does anyone have tips on how to not feel guilty about 'removing' the seedlings that are surplus to requirements? Once germinated I feel like I owe them a chance of living..

[Welsh76]

You wont need outside grow lamps either.

Thanks, I'd better cancel my outdoor grow light set-up I just bought off eBay..

[Jay-ell]

Does anyone have tips on how to not feel guilty about 'removing' the seedlings that are surplus to requirements? Once germinated I feel like I owe them a chance of living..

Get an excitable dog, leave the extra seedlings on a low, unstable table near the door and shout "WALKIES". That way you don't feel guilty about throwing out the mess of seedlings and compost, Your other half might not be too happy but the kids will love the dog.

[Bren In Pots]

First post here so please be gentle with me..
Does anyone have any tips with growing pumpkins vertically? Ideally up an obelisk as my fence is pretty much full of other growing fruit/veg.

First I'll say hello and welcome to the vine

I've grown squash up a old trailer covered with a piece of netting but I've not tried growing up a obelisk.

[veggiechicken]

Does anyone have tips on how to not feel guilty about 'removing' the seedlings that are surplus to requirements? Once germinated I feel like I owe them a chance of living..

You can't discard them like an odd sock. You brought them into the world, so they deserve a life, an education and pocket money. No excuses, make room for them or you'll be forever wondering how many little Jacks they would have given you.

[Welsh76]

You can't discard them like an odd sock. You brought them into the world, so they deserve a life, an education and pocket money. No excuses, make room for them or you'll be forever wondering how many little Jacks they would have given you.

If it was just one Jack Be Little pumpkin plant, I could easily find a home for it, but this winter I planted way more seeds than required, not sure of the germination rate for all my fruit & veg plants, but so far all of them have germinated!!

I regularly dine at Wahaca in Cardiff and as you may already know, they give out free seeds each visit, so I've accumulated around 30 seeds from the free 'matchstick' packets they give out and last week I planted them all in the hope a few may germinate. Over the weekend 12 of them started popping through the soil and I'm expecting more tonight when I get home!

These are in addition to the ones I already have germinated; I forgot about the Wahaca seeds and found them at the bottom of a drawer, I wasn't expecting a high germination rate, but they've already far exceeded what I expected!!

Looks like it's Chilli plants all round for friends and relatives! I'm not callous enough to just chuck them out!

[vixylix]

Hi Welsh and welcome! I like you already - this thread made me giggle a lot

I have no idea whether your obelisk plan will work - but I like it and may just steal it.

I found my wahaca seeds in the bottom of a drawer recently too - I think mine might be about 10 years old but I'll give them a go.

I'm afraid you're asking totally the wrong people - do we look like the type to throw seedlings away?!

[happyhumph]

I had spaghetti squash last year which decided to join the runner beans & peas growing up an a-frame covered in netting. Had some big fruit dangling with no support & they were fine.

Don't ask me how to throw away seedlings - I have 40 of one type of tomato (I'm growing 4 types) sitting on the sideboard.......

[Twynyrodyn]

They look very interesting and I might give one of those a go; I already have 3 small Jack Be Little seedlings developing nicely and I'm finding it hard to get rid of one of them as it is (I only need 2 to fit in the space allocated for them).

Does anyone have tips on how to not feel guilty about 'removing' the seedlings that are surplus to requirements? Once germinated I feel like I owe them a chance of living..

Me too! I hate choosing which should live and which should die.

[happyhumph]

Try jackarmy''s method - (see minor rant thread!)