planting out squash

[staris]

i'm growing some winter squash (Musquee de Provence) which i started off in pots in the polytunnel and they are ready to be planted out but the plants are quite tall and not showing any signs of starting to lie down.
i'm worried that when i plant them they will snap off ,should i plant them at an angle in the ground ?  :)

[staris]

[green lily]

Well my courgettes and squash are still in the poly because of the wind. I've even had to repot and some have buds. Hopefuly if the wind drops a bit they'll go out on Thursday but at the moment they'll be torn to shreds. So if you have space to keep them in shelter I would. Plant them properly and they'll do their own thing ok ;)But are they like butternuts that want to climb a wigwam?

[realfood]

They will be better on the ground as the fruits are very heavy. Yes, plant them at an angle when the wind dies down. Another day of gales here, so still inside.

[pigeonseed]

It's always gales here  ::) so I've been slowly planting all mine out after hardening off outside the house. I was going to grow them under cloches till June, but the weather in April was so scorching they'd have fried under a plastic cloche. Of course the weather has gone downhill since then  :( But they're very sturdy, thanks to all that April sun, and have been okay so far.

In answer to your question about the angle of the squash, staris  :) I think you could grow it up a support of somekind, and then hang the fruit on little hammocks. It's a fuss but saves space and keeps them out of the way of slugs when they're small and tender. I've made the hammocks out of bits of netting, old tights, old off-cuts of material... 

Or if you don't want to do that and are worried about it snapping, I guess planting it in a bit of a crater, and at an angle would probably help.  :-\

[staris]

well i've planted them out at an angle to try and get them lying as flat as possible ,windy here today as well but if i wait for a spell with no wind i'll be waiting for ever  ;D

[tomatoada]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but I think we are having another windy spell at the end of this week or next.  Has anyone else seen this forcast?

[Bugloss2009]

it's the stems snapping off in the wind that's the problem with newly planted squash. If they're not too big can you make

windbreaks round them, like with collars cut from plastic bottles?

[Kleftiwallah]

You can hold them down and pin them to the ground with a 'u' shaped 'bit o' stick'.  :D Cheers,   Tony.

[manicscousers]

ours are going in tuesday/wednesday, they'll be hardened off by then, supposed to be warming up  :)

[PeterVV]

I have planted out winter squash, butternuts , pumpkin and courgettes. I put something around them to protect from the wind but a few have yellowing leaves, so not sure if they are in trouble.?