[Griffo]

A near neighbour has suggested that you can successfully grow squashes up a wigwam-type structure (hazel poles etc). I wonder if anyone has ever tried this with butternut squashes?

If the plants can support the load (which I doubt), there would be obvious benefits of space saving, lack of slug damage, wet rot etc.

Any thoughts please?

[jessegee]

Sounds interesting,  I've never tried training the straight stems upwards like that, I'm not sure of they would behave properly hehe

I have grown them along a strong raised vertical net bed, suspended by posts
with beans above, and above fast herbs and lettuce etc below
They turned out ok I guess
 
The key was to plant them at each end and grow them towards the centre gradually raising the height

jessegee

[Stripey_cat]

You can grow trailing courgettes and small winter squash like that - I think you'd need melon nets for larger squash like butternuts or hubbards.

[Griffo]

Do you think it might be feasible with 'melon nets' then? My main problem with butternut squashes (and we luv them) is that, in 4ft wide raised beds, they take a massive amount of room for the yield - hence my question.

[mumofstig]

They grew some quite large pumpkin over a rose arbour one year on gardener's world

[loubylou29]

I gre butternut squashes last year up the kids swing frame. it worked well, but I think I would need to work on better sooprt, maybe using a trellis too, I just tied the plant to the frame and the string made it too weak in places, I also just had the plant in a growbag, so maybe not as much rootspace as it might have liked.

that said, i did get 2 reasonable squashes off it.
i will grow cucumbers up it this year.#

[cAnAry53]

I plan to grow mine up poles for the same reasons,just may need to support fruits with wifes old stockings (tights),possibly while shes still wearing them (living scarecrow).

[Noah'strolly]

last year I planted butter nut squash in my compost bin and it found the ajacent climbing french bean frame and took over!

[Griffo]

You folks are really tempting me to try it this year! I might try a couple of verticals and the rest 'conventional' - will let you know how it goes.

[janeheritage]

Last year in our garden my handy husband Steve made a sort of hazel dome for the squashes to keep them off the ground and taking up less room. On the allotment we grew the squashes on the ground in the usual way. They rambled very happily over the supports and had pretty good fruit given that it was a rubbish year. These were Winter Festival squish, which are bigger and heavier than butternuts. Their stems are really strong.

This year we are going to give the 3 sisters a try! Beans, corn and squash all together. Wha hey!

[sunshineband]

This is where Learner's tights come inot their own. No seriously, you can support the developing squashes with old tights, in the same way as melons

[Paul Plots]

A near neighbour has suggested that you can successfully grow squashes up a wigwam-type structure (hazel poles etc). I wonder if anyone has ever tried this with butternut squashes?

If the plants can support the load (which I doubt), there would be obvious benefits of space saving, lack of slug damage, wet rot etc.

Any thoughts please?

I grow butternut squash with runner-beans - they share the frame... worked well for the last three years. 

I tie the fruit in with thin strips from old (washed) tights .... hadn't thought of suspending them actually in tights though... Butternut seem to have tough stalks so can bear the weight of their own fruit. The ties are just to keep them in place and encourage them up into the bean-frame rather than trailing all over other crops. 

[sunshineband]

I plan to grow mine up poles for the same reasons,just may need to support fruits with wifes old stockings (tights),possibly while shes still wearing them (living scarecrow).

Please post photos