Growing squash in a grow bag
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Primrose
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Has anybody ever successfully grown winter squash in a Growbag? I have a limited veggie growing area and as these monsters take up so much space I'm wondering whether to experiment with Crown Prince or Sweet Dumpling in a Growbag and letting it climb up some kind of pyramid structure.
Hello Primrose
I don't think that it would ever work. Squashes like loads of room for their roots and confining a plant to a growbag would probably lead to trouble.
Your best bet is to plant in the ground and grow them up some sort of treliss or a wigwan so that they can't spread everywhere. Most winter squash are of the trailing vine type but those with 'Table' in the name, eg 'Table Gold' or 'Table Ace' are fairly compact and might suit you better. Also you don't have to let them roam and take over the place - I grow mine with a bit of pinching out which helps a lot to keep them in check.
John
I don't think that it would ever work. Squashes like loads of room for their roots and confining a plant to a growbag would probably lead to trouble.
Your best bet is to plant in the ground and grow them up some sort of treliss or a wigwan so that they can't spread everywhere. Most winter squash are of the trailing vine type but those with 'Table' in the name, eg 'Table Gold' or 'Table Ace' are fairly compact and might suit you better. Also you don't have to let them roam and take over the place - I grow mine with a bit of pinching out which helps a lot to keep them in check.
John
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What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning Werner Heisenberg
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What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning Werner Heisenberg
I am a man and the world is my urinal
I meant to follow a tip this year that I read in a book called Small Scale Gardening, which was to curl the squash round every day as it was growing, so that it curled round on itself and didn't sprawl everywhere. However, I was busy and didn't do it! I did try for the first couple of weeks, but once it has started growing it goes so fast that it does need daily attention, or else the growing stalk quickly gets too tough to move round. You could also do this so that it made a close spiral up a teepee of bamboos.
I know that Table Gold, which is reliable, is a bush one, rather like a courgette in growing habit, but I do prefer the deep orange-fleshed ones, which have a much stronger flavour than the gold ones, IMHO, and I haven't found a bush variety yet with deep orange flesh so I am stuck with coping with sprawlers. Does anyone know of one?
So I have grown them on compost heaps - you have to put the seedling plant in a scooped-out hole filled up with earth, but after that the roots spread happily through the rotting compost. Or under sweetcorn, though again, they need fairly constant checking to make sure their stems are staying there! But you can weave them in and out the plants.
Alison.
I know that Table Gold, which is reliable, is a bush one, rather like a courgette in growing habit, but I do prefer the deep orange-fleshed ones, which have a much stronger flavour than the gold ones, IMHO, and I haven't found a bush variety yet with deep orange flesh so I am stuck with coping with sprawlers. Does anyone know of one?
So I have grown them on compost heaps - you have to put the seedling plant in a scooped-out hole filled up with earth, but after that the roots spread happily through the rotting compost. Or under sweetcorn, though again, they need fairly constant checking to make sure their stems are staying there! But you can weave them in and out the plants.
Alison.
Hi Primrose!
I grew Sweet Dumpling two years ago, and you'd be well advised to grow that variety in a confined space. It is SO well-behaved, and would be perfectly at home growing up a wigwam/tepee/archway.
I grew it up trellis, and in my notebook I wrote:"would be excellent candidate for arch: tidy"
I only wish my mind fitted into that category !
I do agree with John though entirely, in that they'd be far happier in the ground. Lots of goo and lots of water/liquid feed.
Excellent variety, and going to grow it again this year for dead cert.
Kindest regards to you,
Wellie
I grew Sweet Dumpling two years ago, and you'd be well advised to grow that variety in a confined space. It is SO well-behaved, and would be perfectly at home growing up a wigwam/tepee/archway.
I grew it up trellis, and in my notebook I wrote:"would be excellent candidate for arch: tidy"
I only wish my mind fitted into that category !
I do agree with John though entirely, in that they'd be far happier in the ground. Lots of goo and lots of water/liquid feed.
Excellent variety, and going to grow it again this year for dead cert.
Kindest regards to you,
Wellie
What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. The good they do is inconceivable....
Hello Primrose
Following on from the knowledgeable advice you've received, I wouldn't try this with method with Crown Prince for two reasons. 1) each vine can extend up to 4-6 metres and with several vines produced from each plant this means not just in any one direction. Yes, they can be directed and coiled, but still a lot of mass to deal with. More importantly... 2) The vines don't just lie unattached on the ground. They put down roots at intervals all along the vine to feed the fruits along their length, so really need to be in contact with the soil. We guide the vines early on, then just leave them to it.
Following on from the knowledgeable advice you've received, I wouldn't try this with method with Crown Prince for two reasons. 1) each vine can extend up to 4-6 metres and with several vines produced from each plant this means not just in any one direction. Yes, they can be directed and coiled, but still a lot of mass to deal with. More importantly... 2) The vines don't just lie unattached on the ground. They put down roots at intervals all along the vine to feed the fruits along their length, so really need to be in contact with the soil. We guide the vines early on, then just leave them to it.
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One end is moo, the other, milk.
Hi Primrose,
I found one variety which did well for me in builders buckets, one plant per bucket, and fed weekly, watered copiously every day. It was called "Northern Bush" and was quite compact, although I only got two fruits per plant. However, it was very early, the pumpkins reaching football size and turning orange by the beginning of September, whilst other varieties were still at the small green stage. I got the seeds last year from The Real Seed Catalogue, and although they don't seem to have them in the current catalogue, it may be worth contacting them to see if they have any small stock left over, or to find out the source of the seed. www.realseeds.co.uk
Regards, Lyn
I found one variety which did well for me in builders buckets, one plant per bucket, and fed weekly, watered copiously every day. It was called "Northern Bush" and was quite compact, although I only got two fruits per plant. However, it was very early, the pumpkins reaching football size and turning orange by the beginning of September, whilst other varieties were still at the small green stage. I got the seeds last year from The Real Seed Catalogue, and although they don't seem to have them in the current catalogue, it may be worth contacting them to see if they have any small stock left over, or to find out the source of the seed. www.realseeds.co.uk
Regards, Lyn
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Primrose
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Thanks for your various responses. Looks as if I might have to think again on this one although the Northern Bush sounds a possibility if it has a decent flavour. Just how big is a builder's bucket Lyn? It's not one of those giant plastic/nylon collapsable square containers which builders deliver sand and gravel in, is it? (Forgive my ignorance).
Hi Primrose,
What I know as "builders buckets" are the sort which you can get from B&Q, bright orange or black rigid plastic, (more often bright orange) and which measure approximately fourteen inches high and the same across the top. They only cost about 98p each. I just remove the metal handle and drill some holes in the bottom to make a large pot, and grow lots of different stuff in them, including courgettes and potatoes. They do need to be kept watered, though.
Regards, Lyn.
What I know as "builders buckets" are the sort which you can get from B&Q, bright orange or black rigid plastic, (more often bright orange) and which measure approximately fourteen inches high and the same across the top. They only cost about 98p each. I just remove the metal handle and drill some holes in the bottom to make a large pot, and grow lots of different stuff in them, including courgettes and potatoes. They do need to be kept watered, though.
Regards, Lyn.
Hi -
Thinking about what I said, it has occurred to me that it might be the fact that the plants were confined which caused them to grow so compactly. As the pots were standing on a grassy area, some of their roots grew through the drainage holes into the soil below which could have helped the development of the pumpkins.
Lyn
Thinking about what I said, it has occurred to me that it might be the fact that the plants were confined which caused them to grow so compactly. As the pots were standing on a grassy area, some of their roots grew through the drainage holes into the soil below which could have helped the development of the pumpkins.
Lyn