Topic: um...is a corgette a squash?

[sarah]

:P :-[ok so i know a butternut squash is a squash, and i know a cucumber is a corcubit, but whats a corgette?  I have a small patch on my plot ready for a three sisters type experiment, the sweetcorn is ready to go, and the beans are in hand, i am just wondering if i can put a corgette in there,  as well as my butternuts.  While i am on this rather vague wondering, can i grow a butternut up a wigwam?

[amphibian]

A courgette is a Cucurbita Pepo, it is a squash, often called a summer squash.

[sarah]

.......hmmmm....so is a cucumber also a squash, kind of?...and could i grow one of them in my three sisters bed?

[Robert_Brenchley]

Yes. It's a lot smaller than a lot of squashes, but it's in the same group.

[amphibian]

.......hmmmm....so is a cucumber also a squash, kind of?...and could i grow one of them in my three sisters bed?

Cucumbers are in the Cucurbitaceae family, but are in the genus Cucumis, along with melons. Squash are in the genus Cucurbita. So no, cucumbers are not squash. Personally I would not grow cucumbers in a three sisters bed.

[Merry Tiller]

I would :o

[saddad]

Sarah wanted to know if she could use Courgettes instead of squash, not cucumbers. My understanding of the three sisters is that in hot dry areas like the great plains of USA is that the leaf area of the squash stop the soil drying out too much, so in our wetter climate the average courgette should do the business, perhaps planted a little closer together. If you wanted to use cucumbers instead something like crystal apple might work.
 ???

[sarah]

thanks for your answers.  i feel in me bones that a cucumber wouldnt do well there so am going to go with the squashs and the corgettes and grow the cucumber up a wigwam. I have not grown any of these things before and am trying to squeeze a quart into a pint pot, but no worries, if this site has taught me one thing it is that there is more than one way to skin a cat.  and that tommorro is another season. You guys make me feel so much more relaxed about things. thanks ;)

[supersprout]

i feel in me bones that a cucumber wouldnt do well there

trust them bones sarah, they won't often let you down ;) :)

[amphibian]

Sarah wanted to know if she could use Courgettes instead of squash, not cucumbers.

Actually she asked about courgettes in her first post, and in her second post asked about cucumbers.  :P

[Curryandchips]

Butternuts up wigwams, yes, but you may need to tie the butternuts on with string ... or lay pieces of trellis in to give something to grip onto.

[saddad]

Sorry amph., didn't mean to tread on any webbed feet! Never been able to get anywhere with Butternut squash. Have managed cucs. outdoors under a wigwam! I cannot recommend Crystal Apple enough, it is open pollinated so no messing with flowers and the seed are really cheap, compared with F1's...  ;D

[Tee Gee]

[quote  for a three sisters type experiment,
[/quote]

Excuse my ignorance! 3 sisters??? is this a 'local' term for plants from similar families, and and/or an aid to rotation.

Certainly a new expression to me, would be very much interested in an explantion.

As they say live & learn and you are never too old learn

[sarah]

no tee gee not a local term, its (apparently) an old native american way of growing beneficial crops together.  the three sister traditionally are corn underplanted with squash which has the benefit of using space efficiently and also acting as a kind of mulch i guess keeping moisture in and weeds away, the third sister is climbing beans which, theoretically climb up the sweetcorn, and (maybe?) fix nitrogen in the soil.  I hope that is a good answer, i am sure someone will pick me up on it if i am wrong. there are other threads on here if you do a search.  :)