'trailing habit'

[delnel]

I'm growing butternut squash for the first time and was reading some instructions, but what does a 'trailing habit' mean?

[Alison]

It means that it goes everywhere. If you don't provide it with any support it will spread over quite a large area of the ground. I tend to train mine onto some trellis so they don't take up so much room. There are advantages and disadvantages with both, ones on the ground look after themselves and stop moisture loss from the soil but take up a lot of space and the fruits are prone to slug damage. Ones trained upwards take up less space but obviously need more effort and the fruits can need to be supported as you can end up breaking the stems if they get too heavy.

[delnel]

Thanks
I'm growing all my veg in pots as we are renting our house and can't plant in to the ground. So I might try some on a trellis and some on the ground just to see which works best.

Thanks for the advice