Topic: Squash question

[lottiedolly]

Hi all

This is my first post so be gentle with me.

I have become fascinated by bothe winter and summer squash and am looking to plant a selection on my lottie, trouble is part of the ground is under shade of fully grown trees, can squash be grown in shade or do they need sunlight.

HELP...advice needed

[manicscousers]

Hiya, lottiedolly, welcome to a4a  ;D
lots of squash experts on here, they'll be along soon  :)

[Digeroo]

Hi lottiedolly welcome to the forum.

You say part of your site is shaded, what about the other part?  Squashes do like as much sun as possible.   There are some courgettes that are not quite so fussy.  There is one called Sylvana which is more tolerant of less sun shine.  I grow good courgettes in my garden which only has good sun for part of the day.  But winter squash is another thing, very noticeable how much better they are in my very sunny allotment. 

If you are short of sunny space suggest climbing ones which take up less ground space.

[saddad]

Sound advice Digeroo... and welcome to A4A lottiedolly...  :)

[Digeroo]

Actually have grown excellent winter squash up the sunny side of an apple tree.

[1066]

Welcome to A4A lottiedolly  :)

I accidently, (read as - was having a major blonde moment) planted some of my squash where there was some shade in the afternoon, and the crop I got from that patch wasn't as good, but I still got a crop  ;D

1066 (a non expert pumpkin grower !)

[lottiedolly]

The problem we have is that it is only a small allotment and the beans, corn (i grew some turks turban last year and let them grow rampant through the corn patch it ended up a total nightmare) tomatoes and cues have to be in the sun as well as trying to rotate the crops and the patch i was thinking of could let the squash go as rampant as it wants

[Deb P]

Most squashes are pretty vigorous, the Sharks Fin type I grew last year climbed and fruited all over a beech tree! ::)

[Jeannine]

Hi and welcome..

Most squash will tolerate a little shade although you will get better results the more sun you give them, mostly they need room to grow and will suffer very badly if they are cramped. You will also find that they will probably mildew quicker without the full sun, however I would go for it.

May I gently suggest that you pick your types carefully, it won't make much difference wether summer or winter other than the winter need longer growing times so in a poor summer you will find it harder.

Squash are my passion and I would have to find a way!!!

 If you have limited room I would be selective as to variety, Turks Turban is very pretty but not very good to eat so you may want to find one that does both purposes, there are hundreds to choose from, the other point is to avoid   the winter ones that have a very long growing season as they not mature as well.

 XX Jeannine

[chriscross1966]

Hi LD... I'd echo Jeannine (and others) that you'll need to chose varieties with care. Butternut (both the open pollinated Waltham and the F1 Hunter) really don't like significant shade, Festival planted next to the Butternuts produced really well indeed, instead of one or two very small squash I had half a dozen sensible sized ones. Also of all the squash I grew this year, Festival seems to grow mostly bushlike, some of them can be rampant ground vines, though some have sigificant climbing ability.... Bon-Bon is a rampaging thug of a plant in my view but it's capable of setting fruit as a climber, the fruit is  a bit bigger than I woudl usually want for my own purposes though.
There's a book called "Compleate Squash" by Amy Johnson that is great for advice, but I'd be more tempted to talk to the A4A members that are really into squiash (Squash64 adn Jeannine leap to mind) as Amy's book is American (not a bad thing but we can't get half the varieties she's talking about) and her growing conditions are not really the same as ours....

I can let you have a few seeds oif different varieties if you're willing to spend a eyar finding out what does adn doesn't work......

chrisc
chrisc

[lottiedolly]

Chris thank you for the offer, that would be lovely, am i allowed to accept seeds from you as i have not been posting a long time? I do not want to be kicked off the site for abusing peoples good nature.

Kindest regards

K

[Duke Ellington]

Lottidolly

I wish to inform you that chriscross1966 has been struck off A4A for offering seeds!! :P

Duke  ;D

[1066]

LottieDolly - just watch out if he offers you any Egyptian Onion seeds - he's after world domination  ;)  :o  ;D

[chriscross1966]

Chris thank you for the offer, that would be lovely, am i allowed to accept seeds from you as i have not been posting a long time? I do not want to be kicked off the site for abusing peoples good nature.

Kindest regards

K

I don't have a good nature....... 8)

[Duke Ellington]

I don't have a good nature....... 8)

Hes bad and hes proud :P

Duke

[lottiedolly]

you lot are rotten  ;D

It is only that i do not know the rules and do not like to abuse, but i will say, yes Chris i would like to try some seeds, what do i need to do (no rude remarks please!!!!!)

kind regards

K

[chriscross1966]

you lot are rotten  ;D

It is only that i do not know the rules and do not like to abuse, but i will say, yes Chris i would like to try some seeds, what do i need to do (no rude remarks please!!!!!)

kind regards

K

PM (personal message.... click on my name and you'll go to my profile and there's a button for "Send personal message")me your address and I'll stick a few seeds in a pack for you..,. probably be Winter festival (bombproof) Delicata (great taste) and Hunter Butternut (probably the best chance of a butternut in the UK)

chrisc

[manicscousers]

or the little green 'scroll' under chris' post :)

[lottiedolly]

Thank you guys i appreciate the advice and Chris i have PM'd you

 ;D

[chriscross1966]

Thank you guys i appreciate the advice and Chris i have PM'd you

 ;D

Hi LD,

I've stuck four of each Delicata and Butternut Hunter and five Winter Festival (in seperate laberlled bags) in an envelope. You should get them by the weekend....

Basic growing tips....

Sow individually in a 3” pot mid-April..
Water in with Cheshunt Compound mixed at one flat teaspoon to the pint of water.
Cover, either in a propagator or put a bag/clingfilm over top of  pot. 
Put somewhere warm and check daily if that place is dark (like an airing cupboard)
As soon as it hatches (4-5 days in an airing cupboard generally) then uncover it and get it somewhere sunny and not too cold (south facing window sill, greenhouse etc)
As soon as the roots are showing at the bottom of the pot transplant into a 6” pot.
Repeat with an 8”-10” pot if needed.
Towards the end of May harden off. Start by leaving it outside during the day (as long as not really cold/blowing a gale/chucking down), move onto to only taking it in if nightime temps are predicted lower than 8-10 degrees, then hopefully towards the end of May/early June you will have been able to leave it out for a week without bringing it in.

Plant out in/on a slight mound formed by digging a hole a foot or so cubed, pour in aa bag of manure. Top off with the earth from the hole. Sprinkle and mix in a couple of heaped tablespoons BFB, and a handful of chicken manure pellets if you’ve got them. Weedmulch around the plants is a good idea., as is sticking in a 2 or 5litre bottle with the bottom cut off upside down (pinhole in the cap) next to it.Water if it goes a week without raining.
Control mildew by spraying with 1 part milk mixed with 10 parts water. The odd slubpellet early on wouldn’t go amiss ….
Hand pollinate inside varieties if at all possible.

S