HUGE and productive squash plants this year

linuxmoose · June 17, 2014

I plant white scallop (patty pan) squash every year, and they always do well. This year, instead of just planting them, thinning to four per spot, in rows, I made big mounds and planted them in hills. I tilled a double row, raked the soil into mounds, then dug out the middle and filled it with Black Kow composted cow manure. I used one bag for seven mounds. I thinned to four per-mound, and put a little 8-8-8 around them right before blooms started to form. I put one spraying of Malathion when the tiny squash started to form.
These have done better than any squash I've ever grown. The plants are about 3.5 ft high above the mounds, and with 7 mounds evenly spaced down a 40 ft row, the leaves are almost touching each other from mound to mound. I'm getting a plastic grocery bag per-day of squash, and the plants have actually started putting out runners like winter squash or pumpkins, and I've had to turn those back down the row of mounds to keep them from invading the rest of the garden. The only thing I did differently was planting in the mounds with the cow manure this year. I think I've found my new method for growing squash!

Allen B.

peppero · June 17, 2014

Sounds great to me. I have had a production problem for some time maybe I have been under fertilizing. I have some monster plants this year and production is just starting. Maybe, just maybe ......

jon

LMinAL · June 17, 2014

Awesome! I've had great luck so far with squash myself. Instead of buying starts I planted from seed. What a difference! I got squash 3 weeks earlier than last year. Patty pan for me as well, in addition to crookneck and cocozelle. Even if they go down to SVB, we have gotten enough production to consider this year a success.

June 17, 2014	#1
linuxmoose Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Northport, Alabama Posts: 25	HUGE and productive squash plants this year I plant white scallop (patty pan) squash every year, and they always do well. This year, instead of just planting them, thinning to four per spot, in rows, I made big mounds and planted them in hills. I tilled a double row, raked the soil into mounds, then dug out the middle and filled it with Black Kow composted cow manure. I used one bag for seven mounds. I thinned to four per-mound, and put a little 8-8-8 around them right before blooms started to form. I put one spraying of Malathion when the tiny squash started to form. These have done better than any squash I've ever grown. The plants are about 3.5 ft high above the mounds, and with 7 mounds evenly spaced down a 40 ft row, the leaves are almost touching each other from mound to mound. I'm getting a plastic grocery bag per-day of squash, and the plants have actually started putting out runners like winter squash or pumpkins, and I've had to turn those back down the row of mounds to keep them from invading the rest of the garden. The only thing I did differently was planting in the mounds with the cow manure this year. I think I've found my new method for growing squash! Allen B.

June 17, 2014	#2
peppero Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: selmer, tn Posts: 2,944	Sounds great to me. I have had a production problem for some time maybe I have been under fertilizing. I have some monster plants this year and production is just starting. Maybe, just maybe ...... jon

June 17, 2014	#3
LMinAL Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Alabama Posts: 46	Awesome! I've had great luck so far with squash myself. Instead of buying starts I planted from seed. What a difference! I got squash 3 weeks earlier than last year. Patty pan for me as well, in addition to crookneck and cocozelle. Even if they go down to SVB, we have gotten enough production to consider this year a success.