[dmg]

Hi everyone,
I am putting the squash 'bed' plan together and need help.
I have the following and was looking to do it in this layout
Black futsu            Thelma sanders
Crown prince          Sweet dumpling
Queensland blue     Kabocha
Pumpkin rocket       Pumpkin rocket

There will be at least 4ft either way between plants
Is this the best layout in terms of each varieties growth habit, also what sort of yield should I expect from each plant.
I also have the saved f1 honey bear squash from the seed circle and jack be little pumpkins in other parts of the plot, should these be substituted for any of the above and what is their yield also.

Many Thanks
Dmg

[sunshineband]

To be honest they all jumble in together with their long growths. You have left them plenty of space between their respective root balls.

The only suggestion I would make is that you mark where those root balls are as it is not always easy to tell when the whole ground is covered in huge leaves. It'll make watering and feeding much easier 

[dmg]

Thanks sunshineband,
My intention is to cover the whole area with weed membrane and plant each into a cut off florist pot. I aim to pick up some pipe to sink beside them to give it about 18in above ground for easy watering.

Dmg

[surbie100]

I'd group them by family type, though I don't suppose it matters terribly - thelma, rocket and sweet dumpling are pepo, same as courgettes - and same as Jack Be Little. They will pollinate each other happily. Crown Prince, Q Blue and kabocha are maxima and again will cross pollinate happily. The black futsu is a moschata, which is the same family as butternuts. If anyone is growing butternuts on your site the bees will help cross pollinate, just in case the flowers don't come out at the same time on the futsu plant.

Last year I had 5 thelma sanders off the plant and would have had the same from one of the black futsus but slugs ate 3 of the baby squashes. I only had one of the Queensland Blues, but he was a whopper. The other 2 fruits were forming when it was really hot and dry - they didn't like it and fell off.

Would echo Sunny's suggestion - by August you'll have a huge heap of leaves.

[yorkiegal]

be prepared to go away for a few days and return to find your squash escaping onto next door plots. Those blighters spread like wildfire. They took up a quarter of my plot last year and I thought I was going to have a lovely crop of butternuts, but ended up with just one. The others fell off stalks or rotted despite having a nice bed of straw. Think I'll limit myself to courgettes this year.

[pigguns]

I generally get 2 or 3 Queensland blues off a plant- they are generally bigguns, but I pinch them out after 3 decent ones are set.  Mine get everywhere, down edges of the paths is the most efficient use of space I find.  Lots of manure 

[Markw]

I grew Queensland and New Zealand blues last year, as pigguns has said 2 or 3 is a good number and pinch them out after they have set.
They completely took over my plot last year and before  you know it they will be looking at moving onto an adjacent plot.

[andysmum]

I grew one butternut squash plant in a large tub in the greenhouse last summer and had eight successful fruits, I hope to do the same again but I will try to pollinate by hand as I think there weren't enough insects in there

[New shoot]

I've grown Crown Prince and that is another where you get 2 to 3 fruits per plant, but they are whoppers.  They also store very well.

As others have said, you can pinch out wandering shoots once the fruits have set.  They just keep making more and more greenery if you don't and I think this does reduce yield.

The weed membrane and pipe system sounds good, but watch for slugs lurking under the membrane.  If you just sunk the pipes in and gave the plants plenty of water and feed, they would cover the ground with leaves and starve the weeds out 

The other thing I have found really helps with productivity is to make sure you dig lots of compost (or manure)  into the soil.  I've even done a rolling strip like a giant bean trench in early spring before now, where you fill in the soil over the veg waste while digging out the next line of trench.  I used a combination of raw kitchen waste and the semi rotted stuff from a compost heap I was emptying.  That worked well 

[Flowertot]

I grew Queensland and New Zealand blues last year, as pigguns has said 2 or 3 is a good number and pinch them out after they have set.
They completely took over my plot last year and before  you know it they will be looking at moving onto an adjacent plot.

I agree with Markw and Pigguns. I pinch out Qld Blues after 3 fruits have set and they generally grow into whoppers. 

[Ema]

Hi DMG
I can't guarantee what the saved honey bears will be like. They were a very good plant for me compact with lots of melon sized fruits. you only need to space them about 2ft apart so you will get a good crop for the space.

I've never had problems growing any of the squash/pumpkin varieties so I'm sure yours will all grow just fine. I would try to sow something else in the gaps while the plants are still small, lettuce, radish and spring onions work well for me.