Squash questions

[ian]

How successful are winter and avalon varieties in this country? I live in the midlands and have read about growing them in the pea bed. Allowing them to train up the pea support following the pea crop. Is this feasible?

[Lesley Jay]

I grow quite a few different varieties of squash and they are big heavy plants. I doubt if pea supports would be strong enough to take the weight of the plants plus the squashes are also heavy so if you trained a trailing variety of squash up supports you would then have to find a way of supporting the vegetables as they grew. I have grown Avalon for a few years and you get a good sized butternut squash so they are worth growing. Last years crop was poor but we had a dreadful summer weather wise where we live and I blame that.

[Amanda1]

LJ, how do you grow your squashes? I was going to grow them up canes. Do you just leave them without support? Thanks

[Lesley Jay]

I just plant them at least 3 - 4 foot apart and leave them to get on with it. You can pinch the growing tip out of the trailing varieties when there is enough fruit set. That way the plants strength will go into the fruit and not into making the plant any bigger.

[ian]

LJ, Thanks, my idea was to have 2 8ft pea rows, netting above the rows supported in middle and either end by wooden posts, I then planned to place 2/3 canes running across between the posts and a squash plant at one end of each row. The netting supporting the peas and the canes supporting the squash.

[Lesley Jay]

Ian give it a try. You could always grow one squash on supports and another on the ground and see which you prefer. Avalon butternut squashes are big so you would need to watch the weight.

Welcome to the grapevine Ian!

[ian]

Thanks LJ, I'll be a happy man cometh the day that I am worried about the weight of my squashes!!! I was also going to try a couple on the floor in my sweetcorn bed as I had heard that they can compliment sweetcorn.

[Lesley Jay]

A little word of warning about planting squashes amongst other crops - the plants really do grow very big. I would give them their own area.

[Shortie]

They can be pretty unruley can't they LJ? Mine grew through my shared fenced with my mum and dad and round one of their pots before any of us had a chance to notice!

[Mel]

This might be a stupid question, but here goes. I adore squash with a passion, but only have a small garden. My beds are now more-or-less full now so anything else I want to do needs to grow in pots. I stuck a couple of squash seeds in the beds but I'd like to do some more. Is it possible to grow them in large pots do you think or is that insane? How much room do their roots need and how much sunlight do they need?

[Lesley Jay]

The recommendation is to grow trailing varieties in grow bags and bush varieties in containers at least 12 inches wide. They like it nice and sunny.

[Shortie]

Their main root (ie the one the seed grew from) are quite long but not many of them. From the variety I've grown, they root themselves at distances along the trailing stem, but these I've only know to be short and stout (about and inch long if that).

Others may know different as I've only grown butternut sprinter before....

[Mel]

Thanks for your help. I'm going to give it a go and see what happens. I'm in a seed swap, which arrived yesterday. I took out some acorn squash so am keen to give them a whirl.

[lyndap]

Ian, I live in what is classed as the midlands and your squashes should grow fine. I plant mine in their own bed(they are rampant growers!), in about a weeks time if weather not to bad,under half pop bottles with lid on,then about week later remove lid, then remove bottle altogether when reach top. Started seed earlier this week in 3in pots stood in propogator,with 100% germination.

[Amanda1]

I read somewhere, might have been GYO, that you have to dig a hole of 45cm when planting out squashes. This seems awfully deep. I'm also planning on intercropping with sweetcorn so I don't see how I can do this without disturbing the corn which will be 1ft apart in blocks. Any planting advice would be gratefully received!