[AmandaLouise]

Hi there

I am short of space and have about 1 metre by 1 metre space left in my strawberry bed.  Plants I have yet to put in the ground are pumpkin, butternut squash, leek and spring onion.  Will any of these be okay?  Or any other suggestions.  Onion, potato and legumes allocated.

Thanks
Amanda

[sunshineband]

Squashes and pumpkins will swamp your strawberries with their huge leaves. Leeks are well behaved and so are spring onions

[Yorkie]

I agree with sunny - the only way you might be able to fit in the squash or the pumpkin is if you plant it in the corner of the square, and the stem / leaves romp away in a different direction where there's nothing for them to shade.

[mattwragg94]

  i just put the exact thing as SB so yeh i personally would also go for the leeks and spring onions  

[AmandaLouise]

Hi thanks a lot.

That is great news.  Ill get them in there.  And rethink pumpkins.   I have only just realised how much space a pumpkin takes up and dont have anywhere to put these 3 plants, I have the root space, which I believe is about 30cm, however I had no idea how they travel the way they do.

just adding on from this with regards to pumpkins.  If I saved a space to put the plant in say a corner of a bed.  Can these leaves travel along the paths between my beds,  but then I guess the leaves would get stood on.  Shine a light!

[sunshineband]

They can travel along a path but they often have very prickly leaves and stems, so not only might you tread on them, in avoiding them you will get scratched too 

Have you got a compost heap or open topped bin you could plant a pumpkin in?

I have put six inches of well rotted compost over the top of my lareg pallet bin this year and will be planting some squashes in it -- seeds will be sown in pots indoors and then plants will go out (hardened off) around the end of this month

[AmandaLouise]

Okay didnt know that either.  Probably have to give my healthily looking plants away then  , as where I was thinking of is near the kids play area.  I dont have a large pallet bin. I was thinking of getting a large container though near the potato bed but the leaves will still shade that bed wont they.  I think this year I need to check out other growers and how the pumpkins grow as I got the plot in October, I remember seeing the odd pumpkin but wasnt looking closely at the actual leaves or stems, and put little thought into as was so busy staring at this jungle we were about to sign up for!! 

Thanks a lot sunshine and everyone else for their advice, much appreciated.

[sunshineband]

Summer before last we grew our butternuts on the edge of the maincrop potato bed and let them ramble through it. Got some decent fruits too.

Just needed some care when we dug up the potatoes, to ensure we didn't break the stems on squashes that were still ripening

Might be worth a though before you give your plants away, Amanda

[grendel]

I put mine along the edge of the sprouting broccoli - by the end of the season some of the butternut runners were 20 foot or more from the parent plant amongst the broccoli.
Grendel