Topic: Yet another squash question

[lottiedolly]

I was thinking about how thirsty squashes are and wonder if anyone has tried the following and does it work.

cutting the bottoms off 2lt water bottles and burying them halfway down next to the roots of the squash and then watering the squash via the bottle to ensure that the water goes to the root system.

Do not want to start colelcting the bottles instead of recycling if it does not work
 ???

[chriscross1966]

I had similar set up last year but didn't need it... Woven plastic weedmulch seems to be good, I'd use the 5 litres ones for pumpkins though, those things are thirsty....

chrisc

[lottiedolly]

I had similar set up last year but didn't need it... Woven plastic weedmulch seems to be good, I'd use the 5 litres ones for pumpkins though, those things are thirsty....

chrisc

ok being really blonde now, we have a weed suppressant fabric that is black, dies not feel very plasticky, is that what you mean?? if not what is it and where do you get it

regards

Kx

[1066]

Yup sounds like the stuff Chris is on about - black, sort of plasticy but has woven texture. I buy the really cheap stuff from shops like poundland, it comes in rolls of about 5m, it only lasts me a season but did do the trick - and the pumpkins seemed happy with it too  ;D

From another blonde!!!

[Wilder]

OK I don't even have a blond excuse?
Does Chris mean just laying that weed suppressant membrane around the squashes is enough (with regular watering)??

All my courgettes and pumpkins last year got mildew and I just managed to get them to the end of the season before it killed the plants, so watering I think is a big issue.

[Glen]

Hi,

Probably me just being dumb also - but how do you use black plastic instead of a water bottle to water the roots of the plant? Or are you just using it to cover the soil as a mulch to retain moisture?

Glen

[manicscousers]

we use 2 ltr bottles for all our squash, courgettes, tomatoes, and cucumbers, we feed into them, too  ;D

[lottiedolly]

we use 2 ltr bottles for all our squash, courgettes, tomatoes, and cucumbers, we feed into them, too  ;D

Thank you manic scouser, so, it looks like i am going to be really excessive and have 2lt bottles AND weed suppressant fabric.

never thought of the cues and the toms, brain going into overdrive now, trying to work out how many bottles required bearing in mind i drink 2lt per day.

brain cant take it......starting to explode........  ;D

[manicscousers]

oh, I forgot, melons get one, too  ;D

[lottiedolly]

oh, I forgot, melons get one, too  ;D

not funny anymore  :P

brain has gone into meltdown trying to compute number of bottles required  :'(

[Psi (Pronounced 'Si'!)]

yeah i used membrane as much, covered with wood chips and then 2 litle bottles.  In fact it stayed relatively moist all the time last year and didnt have to water half as much as I thought I might.  going to do exactly the same this year.  Good luck.

[allaboutliverpool]

Using containers to water plants is the traditional way to conserve water as it does not lie on the surface and evaporate, and gets the water down to the roots.

My father always used this method and I remember filling tin cans (with holes punched in the bottom) sunk in the ground next to his tomatoes and runner beans 60 years ago.

I seem to remember long hot dry summers in my childhood - is it that I do not remember the rain?

http://allaboutallotments.com/Butternutsquash.html

[nilly71]

I used plastic milk bottles without the lids on.



This year, i'm using them again but leaving the lids on with only slits down one side of the bottle(the side the plant is on) as I found the water drained away to quick with my clay soil. I've also been thinking of placing string in the slits going into the soil, so they act as a wick when the soil gets dry.

Neil

[cornykev]

I use these bottles as well, but I have dug 5 or 6 pits filled with shredded paper, council compost and rotted leaf mulch.  ;D ;D ;D

[1066]

Hows the brain Lottiedolly  ;D  ;D  ;D

You don't need to do both, it's just what I did last year and it did seem to help, my plot is clay and in summer the top couple of inches gets dried out pretty rapidly, and I think the combination of manure and weed suppressant worked well. They are still thirsty plants !

Just don't forget to put a marker by the plant - otherwise you will never know where to water   ;)

[chriscross1966]

Yeah... its sort of woven and plasticy at the same time... .I got mine from ebay in two 4.5m rolls about 14 metres long.... just made some planting     piles first by digging out a spit  and putting a couple of buckets of freshish horse manure and compost in the hole with some bonemeal, chicken poo and a tomato feed, then laid the sheet over weighted with pallets, punched holes through top the piles and put squashes in them ..... most  squash got set off the floor on pallets, and we hardly went three days without rain last summer until September,...... this year more of the same in a different bit of the plot.....  by stopping the evaporation (by keeping the wind off rather than by being impermeable) it doesn't just conserve water it keeps the soil warmer too. I put bottles in near some squash but never felt the need to water as a check on the soil always turned up good conditions....

chrisc

[lottiedolly]

thanks guys

Our soil is clay so maybe i will do slits in the bottles and i am surrounded by horses and farms so i think i shall go and get some horse manure, i was worried about using manure too fresh as i heard that it can be too strong and burn the plants, in what way i do not know, i thought i had to get ait and have it sitting there for a year to rot down

[chriscross1966]

Horse can be used pretty much straight out of the horse... cow needs to rot for for a while and pig for longer still......once a squash plant gets going there's little that will stop it.....

chrisc

[Digeroo]

Squashes like plenty of organic matter.  I use the green slime from the compost bin that my OH creates with the lawn clippings, they love it.

I water my squashes from above.  I love to watch them channelling the water down the leaves onto the stems and down onto the root, and then when they think they have had enough the leafs sag and the water drips off the ends away from the plant.  Brilliant.  Presume it makes them more prone to mildew.

[1066]

Oh Digerro, I love that idea, I'm going to have to try it and see for myself  :)