Kitchen Garden Forum

Having lost squash plants - to foxes I think as I had mixed in chicken manure when planting out- I sowed more seed but failed to keep a close enough eye. Now have elongated stem. Should I bury them deep when I plant them out?

I'm no expert but as a pumpkin is a trailing plant I would plant it as normal and leave it to trail along the ground.

I would agree with glallotments - I suspect that if you plant deeper the stem could rot. Plant "as are" and they should romp away.

The danger with leggy plants is cracking as they bend over or are caught by the wind. I suggest planting at an angle and laying the shoot along the ground, use some small sticks to stop the wind catching them and spinning them round and protect with slug pellets.

Hello JJB
I would plant deeper than normal, say 3 -4", but in a depression. I always plant into a 10" hole filled with old potting compost or similar to get mine off to a good start. As the plant becomes established you can then backfill to level off the soil. All these sorts of plants root very quickly from their stems. I would also pinch out the growing tip once you have about 4 leaves on the stem so that the plant is encouraged to branch.
Hopefully you will finish up with a sturdy plant and quite a few pumpkins.

John