Growing squashes and courgettes vertically?

[Likac66]

I am growing the following squash and courgettes and wondered if any of them were suitable for trying to grow vertically?

Courgettes: zuchini, tondo chiaro, taxi
Squash - winter dumpling

Oh and I have a melon as well. Um... I think it's called earli dew.

Oh and if any are suitable for growing vertically, what would be the best way to do this? Cane wigwams? Some kind of trellis? Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you.

[oohaargh]

Hi

I tried this last year after watching Geoff Hamilton do the same in an old episode of GW. It worked well but the weight to the plant and fruit became an issue...I've gone back to the ground this year!

Good luck

[Jelliebabe]

Yep as above it really depends on the size and weight of the fruit! You wouldnt want an atlantic giant pumpkin growing over any kind of support. You'd be squashed flat!

[rustylady]

A lot of courgettes are bush plants rather than trailers or vines.

[Dotty Sarah]

I've grown bns around a wigwam and that worked but they failed to fruit (pollination problem not related to vertical growing). I've read that you can use nets that oranges come in to support the fruit when they get heavy.

[BertieFox]

Sweet dumpling will work very well like this, but the main problem is that most courgettes are now bush plants and don't really make a long trailing plant that is suitable to vertical training. You can sort of tie them up into the frame but it's not quite the same and doesn't save much space. You CAN still buy some non-bush courgettes but you would need to find an appropriate variety. Most of the small squashes are very suitable, but I found the large butternut type fell off the vine before they were properly ripe.

[hellybore]

I am thinking of trying to grow a courgette and a squash plant vertically in my new blowaway greenhouse this year. I thought I'd try tying them in to the greenhouse staging and resting the fruits on the shelving, if it happens to be at the right height! My OH doesn't think it will work, but got to prove him wrong now!

[Jelliebabe]

Would love to see pics helly!

[hellybore]

Would love to see pics helly!

Hee hee! Watch this space!

[cazp]

I am thinking of trying to grow a courgette and a squash plant vertically in my new blowaway greenhouse this year. I thought I'd try tying them in to the greenhouse staging and resting the fruits on the shelving, if it happens to be at the right height! My OH doesn't think it will work, but got to prove him wrong now!

I'd give it a go. I did similar with 2 Dragons egg cucumber plants planted in an old recycle tub in a tall (6ft or so) blowaway and it worked brilliantly (didn't need to support the fruits) - the leaves of these plants were not too big so they fitted in fine -see pic. This year, using the same setup, I'm trying one dragons egg plant and 2 minesota midget melon plants which aren't as tall so hopefully will fit in.

[BertieFox]

Cukes, melons and squashes all work ok as they produce a leader and sideshoots which you can pinch out after a fruit or two has set. But bush courgettes present a real challenge as they seem to produce side growth equal to the apparent leader. I've found a bush courgette starts off by producing most of its fruit on the 'leader' and then that begins to give up a bit later in the season and then most of the fruit ends up on the other growth, until you have something like an octopus. Does anyone know what happens to a bush courgette if you rigorously prune out every single side shoot? I have vague memories of wrecking a plant trying to do this, but my aged old brain may well have got it wrong. Not only in training courgettes vertically but in ways of keeping them in reasonable bounds as they always outgrow their given space, what do people find the best way of training them? Given their productivity I guess it doesn't matter too much if the crop is reduced later in the season.

[Two_Sheds]

they always outgrow their given space, what do people find the best way of training them?

I give them a square metre each, more or less, and just leave them to sprawl and get on with it.

[Likac66]

Ok, well I think I will do it with the melon, the sweet dumpling and the courgette tondo as they all seem to be trailing types. Thanks for the ideas.