[shokkyy]

This year is the first time I've grown winter squash. I don't think I've ever seen anything grow so far, so fast. The Uchiki Kuri have gone the length of the bed (10 feet), up the chain link fence (4 feet) and are now happily wandering along the top of the fence around the bed. The Rolet Gem have also gone the length of the bed, up the pea frame (7 feet) and are happily climbing along the top of that, which does unfortunately mean I can't pull the pea plants out. The Crown Prince is relatively sedate, having just gone the length of the bed and just starting to go up the fence.

The Uchiki Kuri and Rolet Gem plants are all putting off a lot of fruit, but a lot of them are rotting and a lot are just not getting any bigger, about the size of a golf ball. But I have noticed that once the plants start climbing up and getting away from the ground, the fruit they're putting off are not rotting and do seem to be growing. I'd think that once they're up the fruit is not only staying drier but also getting more sun.

So if squash are happier climbing, why do most people grow them on the ground? Or is it not true that they're happier climbing and it's just coincidence that the fruit are doing better once airborn?

[Trillium]

I wonder if your ground is just more moist than other people's? Mine roam the ground and are perfectly fine, probably because we've had drought all summer.

If you get more success with letting them climb the fence, then let them. But do make sure you support the squashes themselves when they start to get larger or they'll simply tear off the vine and shatter on impact.

By this time of year there's little point letting more squashes develop since they'll never mature before cold weather sets in. So simply snip the vine after the last developing squash, repeat with all other vines.

[Quetzal]

The first year that we grew squash, we grew some of them up the back side of a munty-frame, and they were fine, but not obviously better or worse than the ones that grew over the floor. I do think that there's some benefit to having the fruit away from the ground, especially if it's weedy, like mine.

But yes, you have to support the squash - we used the outside nets from supermarket peach punnets, seemed to work ok. We now grow ones which are a bit on the big side i think, so let them go along the floor and support the fruit with bricks. I would worry about the crown prince in particular, since they can get pretty big.

Semi relatedly, there's a plot on our allotment which has a small shed, and a sort of pergola thing attached, which last year had a massive squash/marrow plant/plants growing all over it making a sort of canopy. It didn't obviously ever have any fruit on it. I'm not sure if it was grown for shade or for food.

[operabunny]

I've noticed my plot neighbour has a neat trick for letting squash climb without needing to go very high up (since they are heavy and block the light to everything else!)

She makes very sturdy small wigwams (approx 2ft/60cm tall) but fairly wide based and she encourages the squash to spiral around as it grows so it ends up looking like a squash mound. The fruits grow on the outside and some of the weight is supported by the wigwam. The squashes certainly look as though they're enjoying it!

Think I'll give it a go next year.

[radiohead]

If the fruits are rotting before they start swelling it's because they weren't pollinated. This often happens with the first fruits because of a lack of male flowers. Once they get going pollination is more reliable and the fruits set. It's more likely that than any problem caused by the fruits being on the ground.

[realfood]

If the plants are on the ground, they can grow more roots where their shoots touch the ground. It is important to put a slate or tile underneath the fruit to keep them dry underneath.

[shokkyy]

If the plants are on the ground, they can grow more roots where their shoots touch the ground. It is important to put a slate or tile underneath the fruit to keep them dry underneath.

Thanks, I'll have to start doing that. The trouble is they grew so fast and put off so many fruit so quickly that they kept catching me out. I don't have time to check them every day and I didn't even notice the Gem had gone to the pea frame until it was already at the top of it. I swear it grew 5 foot in a week

I was intending to try training them in a circle, to stop them straying beyond the bed, but again the speed of growth caught me out. Trouble is, once the stem is fairly thick it becomes quite brittle and I was worried about trying to bend them in case I damaged them. And all the info I saw on them seemed to suggest they'd grow to about 2 or 3 meters, but they're way bigger than that. Next year I think I'll train the ones with smaller fruit to grow up the perimeter fence, and the bigger ones I'll plant in pairs either end of the full bed, which gives them about 18 feet each. But even then they'll probably spread sideways.

[TerryB]

If the plants are on the ground, they can grow more roots where their shoots touch the ground. It is important to put a slate or tile underneath the fruit to keep them dry underneath.

I do this but you have to turn them a bit or the fruit gets a flat side from resting on the tile.

[shokkyy]

If the plants are on the ground, they can grow more roots where their shoots touch the ground. It is important to put a slate or tile underneath the fruit to keep them dry underneath.

I do this but you have to turn them a bit or the fruit gets a flat side from resting on the tile.

Blimey, there's no rest for the wicked, is there.