Can I squash squash?

[Florence Fennel]

If I'm planting my 4-6" high calabrese well spaced apart, can I plant courgettes or squash inbetween, or will the squash suffocate the calabrese. Dithering ....

[rustylady]

Courgettes are bushy, so will suffocate anything growing between them. What sort of squash are you growing?

[Creemteez]

Never heard of grown calebrese with squash before. I think there might be an overshadowing problem as squash grow like the clappers once they get going whereas brassicas are notoriously slow. Of course, sweetcorn are the traditional companions to squash, how bout them? I've had a load of squash volunteer in my runner bean bed and seeing as the beans are well on their way up the canes, am giving the squash their stab at glory. It might all end in tears, on the other hand I might get a bonus crop!

[kingkano]

Squash much better under beans/sweetcorn for me. Calabrese dont get all that tall (18"? maybe 2ft) and the growth is all at the base so I think they might suffocate them. Unless you leave lots of space, but that kind of defeats the object then.

Could you plant the squash at one end and allow them out of the bed or up a frame? Very easy to build with a bit of plastic fencing grid stuff and some cheap pressure treated wooden uprights hammered into the ground. Tie the squashes to it and bobs your auntie's live in lover.

[Florence Fennel]

I've got courgettes under the runner bean wigwam and pumpkins all over the place. I've some room to find for patty pans and spaghetti squash, so if the calabrese has got to have it's own bed, it looks like some more lawn has got to go ........