[upthetump]

i have a persistently unruly patch of ground (weeds etc) and i have a surplus of runner beans (ones i lost last year and found last week at the back of the wrong seed cupboard  ) , sweetcorn and blacktail mountain watermelon. how difficult is to implement this method, would it strangle weed growth and would it be productive enough? be very interested to hear of anyones experiences. cheers

[3759allen]

i take it that the ground isn't under glass or polythene? i would have thought this would put the melons out of the question.

beans or sweetcorn should be ok, i would heavily mulch and cover with weed suppressant after planting (i would use carpet, but many others disagree)

[upthetump]

i take it that the ground isn't under glass or polythene? i would have thought this would put the melons out of the question.

beans or sweetcorn should be ok, i would heavily mulch and cover with weed suppressant after planting (i would use carpet, but many others disagree)

it is open ground where my greenhouse used to be, i thought it might be an good idea to use excess seed and try to suppress the weeds

[Totty]

You could do it with sweetcorn and have squash and pumpkins to ramble through.
That will suppress weeds to an extent. Wouldn't bother growing runners up the corn, neither will flourish, and watermelons are better grown in full sun, ideally in a polytunnel or greenhouse.

Totty

[upthetump]

ok thanks for that

[pigguns]

I covered a weedy/couch area with cardboard then a mound of compost/manure and grew sweetcorn in that through black weed supressant with a squash planted at the corner.  It worked fine, and that bed has come up lovely over the winter.

[3759allen]

I covered a weedy/couch area with cardboard then a mound of compost/manure and grew sweetcorn in that through black weed supressant with a squash planted at the corner.  It worked fine, and that bed has come up lovely over the winter.

this sounds like the best idea to me.

[diospyros]

I have tried this in the past and it sort of worked though the beans were not very happy.  I am going to have a proper go at it this year and found a planting/timing plan which has helped.  Can't remember where it was though.  But essentially it said let the sweetcorn get to a foot tall before you sow the beans and plant the squashes.  Also, the planting is to be arranged in clusters 75cm apart, of alternately four sweetcorn plants surrounded by four beans, with two pumpkins at each alternate station.  In the plan it said make a mound at each station, not sure how essential this is.

I am going to sow the corn in situ under plastic bottles, but start the squashes at home (with half a dozen corn plants for filling in gaps).

Someone said recently it is silly to try this with things you want to harvest fresh and frequent i.e. green beans and courgettes, better to grow beans for drying and storing squashes because it will be too lush to get in and pick regularly.

[mumofstig]

You'd have to pick the corn very carefully - It didn't work for me, with all 3.

2 sisters - sweetcorn with squash/small pumpkins planted around the outside works well though 

[sarajane]

I'd also stick with the 2 sisters like Mum and keep your runners  growing up canes.  You don't want to be standing on the squash stalks to get to the runners when they need picking on a daily basis.

[Eightball]

I was thinking of doing this as well minus the beans. My plan was to plant the sweetcorn about 40-45cm apart. 5 rows of 7 plants per row. In between each block of 4 plants I was thinking of planting a courgette/pumpkin/squash(all bush varieties). Something like this but on a bigger scale:

Would the spacing be too close? Maybe I could have one squash plant every 2 blocks instead? anyone have any input?

[diospyros]

Eightball - looks like you have it cracked already or was that someone else's plot?!

[mumofstig]

If you are planting the corn closer, I think it's better to plant the squash around the outside, rather than in the middle, so that they get maximum light - and the pumpkin/courgette leaves won't get in the way of pollination for the lower cobs. Even bushy varieties grow quite tall, I find 

[New shoot]

I stuck a couple of wigwams of canes in my 3 sisters patches last year.  They didn't really take up any extra room and it meant the sweetcorn was kept free of bean stalks.  I did sweetcorn in the middle and squash and bean wigwams at the edges as well 

I grew beans for drying and trailing squash for storing, so I wasn't in there every 10 minutes crushing stuff down.  The ground had had compost dug in and I chucked pelleted chicken manure in there every few weeks. 

They were pretty self sufficient patches and the weeds didn't really stand a chance.  The squash roamed around underneath, through the base of the wigwams and around the sweetcorn smothering everything in its path.  I got a good set of crops out of them 

Its a useful stategy if you have limited time and can't be at the plot as often as you like.  Given the weather and the fact I have done very little winter prep this year, I'm going for it again, along with growing through weed membrane and any other shortcut I can think of 

[mumofstig]

How big were the patches that you planted up this way NS ? 
and please can you give me some idea of spacing/number of plants? - cos I'm now tempted to try it on one of my 'extra' beds