Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: Mark's Sussex Allotment on August 05, 2013, 07:56
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I have 3 crown prince plants and they have covered about a third of my plot.
Should I be doing anything like cut off growing tips or anything?
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I dont fiddle with mine at all apart from lifting runners off the paths and back onto the beds.
Plants know what they do best. If you can let them be.
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I thought people said you end up with a load of little ones and then frost hits?
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I thought people said you end up with a load of little ones and then frost hits?
I have never had little ones or a problem with frost, if they are lingering on late in the season i ripen them at home.
You'll always get different advice as thats gardening but i have never had a problem here but that could be just luck ;)
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OK, thanks BQ, appreciated :)
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The last few years winter squashes have been a bit problematic for me given the weather, and I reckon to have done well to get 4 or 5 full-sized and ripened fruits from each plant before the first frosts threaten.
Hard to make the correct call because no-one knows what the rest of the summer weather will be like, nor when the first frosts will occur - my suggestion is that if you already have 4 or 5 well-developed fruit per plant you may as well let the plants keep going to see what else you get, but if they are still very small at this stage it may be better to "stop" the growing tips and let the plants put their energy into maturing those.
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I usually stop mine when I have the fruits I want. However, that's not happened yet and many of the fruits are still small despite all the sun and rain, so I am letting mine do what they do best but am trying to divert them back onto the beds and away from the paths. I'd hate to damage any at this stage in the game :)
My pumpkin patch is wonderful. It looks like a tropical jungle. I was trying to find the growing points I'd marked with canes but I couldn't see many of them as the foliage is so huge :D
If you don't want squashes covering your plot then don't plant too many :)
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If you don't want squashes covering your plot then don't plant too many :)
or ... make bigger squash beds :D I dedicate 2 "permanent" big beds just for squashes and let them wander.
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I'm with JayG in suggesting that you stop them some, but only because you may not value a glut....
Compostqueen's inclination to let them express themselves is one which I also share. Rampant growth is a Good Thing. So, er... I'm still not sure.
Tom
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Mine definitely need pinching back now because they're planning world domination. Plus, it's about 90 days away from first frosts and I doubt any new squashes forming now will size up much before they're hit.
As said, just how many squashes can you really use before they start to spoil in storage? Most of us lack ideal storage conditions so better to get a few big good ones rather than a load of small ones that will rot faster.
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I like this idea for squashes :)
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They won't stay on that for very long :nowink:
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That looks more like a cucumber than a squash. The average squash would cover that in about an hour :lol:
I grow far too many squashes but I love the things. I love the rampant, blousy, lush leaves. They make you feel like diving in head first :lol: Not that I would, of course, they are far too delicate :)
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I let my squashes crawl over the paths and watch where I stand this time of year! ;) :D
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They are actually courgettes but I like the idea still though granted you would need a frame ten times bigger....
Mine are just over my paths