Allotments 4 All
Produce => Edible Plants => Topic started by: George the Pigman on June 02, 2022, 11:13:27
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Any advice on planting pumpkins, squashes and courgettes in raised beds? I'm new to the raised bed system after growing plants in an open system for 30 years and have plants grown and ready to go in.
I have lots of 4ft by 8ft beds available but using the traditional planting distances quoted for open areas (about 2.5ft-4ft depending on type) would be lucky to get more than four plants in a bed and would start to run out of beds for my other plants.
Suggestions welcome!
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Are you growing your squashes vertically?
If you are, spacing is not as critical as it is with the others, because when they are fully grown there is a good chance all your plants will be intertwined unless you train them to grow as cordons.
Say 3-4 ft apart
Courgettes, I would say 2-3 ft apart.
Pumpkins like squash will send out runners, and they generally crawl across the top of the bed, so 2-3 ft apart should be fine, more so if you train the runners to go where you want them to go.
So in a 8x4 bed I would say
Squash X-X-X
X-X-X
Courgettes; X-X-X-X
X-X-X-X
Pumpkins;X-X-X-X
X-X-X-X
Hope this helps!
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I grow all my squash vertically apart from letting a couple of plants roam freely around my sweetcorn.
Courgettes go into 1m square cubes ( see my gallery for pics) and as they fruit I remove the lower leaves and train the plants up a stake which makes picking easier.
Other squash are trained up a small polytunnel frame and hang down like Christmas decorations! I’ve grown Sharks fin squash up trees before and they were the size odd basketballs! I wish I had taken a photo!
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I too tend to allow 1 square metre per plant and try and get the ones that spread themselves to do it vertically. Builders' rusty mesh for reinforcing concrete is good as it can take the weight.
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Thanks to you all.
I have never grown them vertically before just let them sprawl as I have been growing them on open ground.
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If you have the space that's fine but getting them up a support keeps the slugs off the developing fruits and also gets them up in teh sunshine so they ripen better. The added bonus is having more space to grow other stuff and not tripping over them when they invade pathways.
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What support do you use? The Pumpkins and Squashes must weigh a lot.
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There are 3 methods here for squash https://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Content/S/Squash/Squash.htm (https://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Content/S/Squash/Squash.htm) and look in C and P on my home page for courgettes and pumpkins
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Just let them sprawl naturally. Because of dietary needs I now mainly grow squash instead of potatoes, so I need plenty. The last couple of years I have just plonked them in about 2 feet apart, but I alternate the butternuts as they tend to keep growing until I turn them back at the edge of the plot. Great crops, and grown in succession on well manured ground. After cropping I dig the plants back in the ground. This year it is patty pan, courgettes, butternuts, mash potato, spaggetti and a few different acorn types, didn't bothered with pumpkins, I just buy the cheapies from the shops after halloween. Fresh new seed every year as they are bound to get up to nookie at night being that crowded. Plus I like the toasted seeds.
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I am the same as Ace, I just let them wander and tuck them back in when they stray. I have 8'x4' beds and plant 6 in a bed having incorporated some well rotted manure to make sure they are well fed and inverted bottles for watering. I love the surprise of how many squashes I get at the end but do sometimes stop them if I can see there are several squashes on one branch.
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Good point Tulipa, I make sure to mark the planting points with a cane with an inverted pop bottle buried when planting so you know where to water and feed directly to the roots.
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Snap!