Topic: rotating squash

[gwynnethmary]

Hi- I asked this question at the end of an older post, so maybe it hasn't been spotted, so thought I'd better ask it again!  I must admit I hadn't thought of including squash in my plans for my hopefully soon-to-be lottie, but on trawling through the postings (as one does!) I've been inspired by the wonderful harvesting pics. Where does squash come in the rotating beds scenario?  Does it actually need to rotate, or can it grow on the same ground every year?  And will it grow in the North-East outdoors?  I would have a small greenhouse, but how much space would it need?  As you can tell, I'm a novice where veg are concerned.

[chriscross1966]

We don't reeally get any of the major squash pests in this country, especially up north so you could leav it in one place for a while but it is a gross feeder adn you'd be better off rotating it. They get a bit big for greenhouses though polytunnels wouldn't be a bad idea especially up north, it's always a good idea to start squash off indoors with heat, harden them off then plant them out.. Chose a variety that has a short growing season, or at least tolerates one such as Winter Festival rather than the long season habits of Butternuts. It makes a pretty good clearing crop (pour out some piles of manure, cover the ground with weed mulch, cut holes through to the mounds, plant squash in the mounds) as it's enormous foliage and rampant growth habits will generally do for most weeds. Given how much space it takes up it's almost worth treating it as an extra unit in the rotation, possibly  combine it up with something like sweetcorn and put it in before potatoes....

Rotation would then be:
Squash/sweetcorn (manure)
Potatoes (more manure)
Brassicas (lime)
Beans and peas (compost if you can)
Roots/onions (BFB)
If you have enough "misc and salads" to make up a seperate rotation then put them in next otherwise I'd sort of parcvel them out amongst they other thigns.

chrisc

[manicscousers]

ours rotate and some go in after the early potatoes  :)

[grawrc]

I follow Joy Larkcom's advice on this and rotate every 3 years with globe artichokes. I've just prepared the squash bed - 15 barrow loads of manure heaped up and covered over.
And yes it does grow up north, but some seasons are better than others and a judicious use of fleece is recommended.

[Deb P]

Agree with squash being greedy feeders, I do rotate mine in my 'others' group, which includes anything that doesn't fit into my other 4 rotation groups of potatoes, alliums, brassicas and roots and legumes! But as they are tender plants, I also use them as a follow on crop in gaps when things such as early potatoes and onions are harvested in June as the Manics suggest. You can also grow them successfully on top of your compost heap, I put two courgette plants on top of mine this year and they produced the best crop! ;D

[gwynnethmary]

Chriscross, sorry to be an ignoramus, but what does BFB mean?

Thanks for all the great advice- I can see that that would work well as I have (Well, may have soon!) a huge plot with nothing in it except weeds, a few leeks and some gone-over sprouts.

[1066]

BFB = Blood Fish and Bone  :)

Also another vote for loads of manure and covering with black weed suppressant (I picked it up cheap in Lidl's in spring) and doing planting holes. I looked at the ground where I'd been growing my pumpkins and hardly any weeds (including couch grass) have survived, so a bonus for me. Part of this area will be used for growing spuds in next year

1066

[chriscross1966]

Chriscross, sorry to be an ignoramus, but what does BFB mean?

Thanks for all the great advice- I can see that that would work well as I have (Well, may have soon!) a huge plot with nothing in it except weeds, a few leeks and some gone-over sprouts.

Blood Fish and Bone meal, organic fertiliser mostly nitrogen plus some phosphorous....

[gwynnethmary]

I like the sound of the weed-clearing sideline!
Am I right in thinking that each plant needs about 1 square metre of ground, or would they take up more space than that, and would cardboard work work as a weed suppresant?  (I'm thinking of the recycling aspect)

[thifasmom]

I like the sound of the weed-clearing sideline!
Am I right in thinking that each plant needs about 1 square metre of ground, or would they take up more space than that, and would cardboard work work as a weed suppresant?  (I'm thinking of the recycling aspect)

cardboard worked fine for me this year. i had a space measuring approx 13ft by 18ft and planted each plant 3ft away from each other and the rows were all 3ft from their boundaries. most of the plants behaved fairly well with the odd turning of the vines back to the growing space provided but the sharkfin squash was a real thug. i grew ten squash plants (1 per variety) and four pumpkins 2 per variety).