[doubledug]

has anyone had any success with this method of growing courgette sweet corn and beans together i tried it last year and it was a dismal failure on all counts. 

[JayG]

There is a very similar topic currently already running doubledug:

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=58889.msg689493#msg689493

For what it's worth though, I've tried sweetcorn and squashes together and even that didn't work.

Bearing in mind the practice originated in Mexico I think in my garden the sandy soil is too poor and the recent summers too, well, British (!) for it to work well.

Richer soil, further South, a good summer; who knows?

[mumofstig]

I only seem to get one successful cob per corn plant, so think that interplanting in that area would stand no chance 

I do, however plant my pumpkin/squash at one end of the sweetcorn bed and let their long growth wander through the corn stems so the pumkins take up only the smallest amount of space for themselves....works for me

[CHICKENGIRL]

i`m growing sweetcorn and courgettes for the first time this year and have put them both in the same bed.  like mumofstig i have put my courgettes at the end of the bed rather than inbetween my sweetcorn.  i`ll let you know how they get on. 

[theakston_uk]

I've planted about 40 sweetcorn and 10 courgettes in between the sweetcorn, hopefully it will work. I've also heard of planting sweetcorn, beans and cucumbers in the same bed, the cucumbers sprawl across the floor and obviously the beans climb up the corn

[Zippy]

Definitely works down here in Cornwall, but i guess i get a somewhat longer summer.

As mumofstig says, the squash doesn't really grow on-site - it is planted just outside and is allowed to wander through the sweetcorn block. This helps to keep the sweetcorn weed free and mulched.

I get the sweetcorn on the way first and get peas growing up sticks in between the sweetcorn - that way the peas do not weigh or pull down the sweetcorn as only pea laterals are clinging to the sweetcorn stalks.

By the time the Butternut Squash (my choice in the three sisters as it is slower growing) reaches the sweetcorn block, both sweetcorn and peas have grown tall enough to show through the Squash leaves.

If you are short of space, this is the way to go.

I like the cucumbers idea though we don't eat that many cucumbers and we prefer the locked up sunshine of Butternut squashes when it comes to winter soups and stews.

[Lulu]

Last year because of not having as much space as I have got now, I planted my Hooligan squashes in between the blocks of sweetcorn and it worked really well.  The squash even climbed up some of the sweetcorn.  I'm doing it again this year, and I have put Summer squash around my wigwam of beans.  They are all  in raised beds and the trailing leaves of the squashes did wonders to keep the weeds down on my paths.  My courgettes get their own little bed.  Personally I think the 3 Sisters method is a good use of space but I don't think I'm up to doing all of the 3 Sisters - I'll just stick to the 2.  If someone has managed to do it properly - pictures would be good.

[zazen999]

It doesn't work here because the beans squash and corn that they grow in the three sisters method in the states usually are left on there to ripen - the beans are used hard, the squash is left until the rind is hard and the corn is used for flour. When we do 3 sisters we try to pick the beans green, and can't get at them due to the squash leaves, and then go for the corn which again is hard to get at and can damage the bean stems when trying to get hold of them.....

All in all it works but only when you think of it as a storage as well as growing area.