Squash

http://www.suttons.co.uk/Gardening/...table+Seeds/Squash+F1+Crown+Prince_178869.htm

Described as "trailing"?

 

Looks strong enough to take the weight of the fruit.

Lots of leaf on Squash, so the tripod will need to be arranged so that the laterals are North-South, rather than East-West (which would mean that the North facing side would be shaded by the plant on the South side). Might be better to just have a one-sided structure, and only train the plant up on the South-facing side?

 

Hi Freddy
If it helps I could cut you off some plastic trawl netting and post it on to you, you won't break that I was lucky last year with squash and had loads from 5 or 6 plants but I let mine trail on the ground and use tiles under the fruits, if you trail them up you will be exposing them to.cold winds perhaps .
Let me know if you want any strong netting

Dave

 

My brother is coming round this weekend to help me make the pyramid structure shown above. Am I to understand that squash are very susceptible to snail/slug attack?

 

I agree with David here, they need heat and sunshine to mature/ripen. Cold winds ripping through those structures might not help but it will be interesting to hear how you get on if you do experiment this year.

I had a smallish structure last year for some smaller summer squash (patty pan) to clamber over but they barely got out of the starting blocks in last years dire weather so definately did not climb or scramble...hence why this year I'm growing them under cover...protection from wind and warmer under the cover.

Steve...

 

The whole of my veg plot is an experiment, haha. Hoping I can pull off the structure idea too. Guessing I need to tie the stem to the structure every so often to force it to climb.

 

My squashes, courgettes, pumpkins and a few cucumbers will have a section of the allotment where they can do as they want, not a favourite of mine but I'll grow them on for the sake of the dogs and other family members, I hate the things personally!

 

Done it. Not as big as I thought it would be but we'll see how it goes I guess. I think I'll try to trail them over the small boundary walls also.

I'm sowing the seed indoors two to a pot of seedling compost, hopefully they'll take. Is it a good idea to soak them for 24 hours before sowing?

 

No need to soak, but sow them on edge because if they lay flat they could hold water on top and then rot. Once growing they grow quick so will very soon need a pot of their own.

Steve...

 

Thanks Steve, just what I needed to know.

 

Hello chums

My Squash are doing ok, and have a few 'females' showing. I assume that these will need to be pollinated by the 'male' flowers. Thing is, the female flowers seem to be taking an age to open. Is this normal?

 

The first female flowers are always a bit "reluctant" in all the Cucurbits family IME

 

Hello chums.

Just wondering, should I at some point take out the 'leader'? Or, do I just let it do it's own thing?

 

I would just let them do their own thing. I think once they have set enough fruit, per plant (not sure what that is - 4 fruit per plant perhaps?? - then you might want to stop the plants at, say, 2 leaves beyond the final fruit (on each tendril), but I have never bothered.