Hi Gang I have a crazy question I've never grown squash or cucumbers before do I need to keep them of the ground or is it ok for them to lay on the ground ? I thought they may rot or something,It is suppose to be a cucumber bush so I thought maybe it wouldn't need anything. Thank you ahead of time Margie Have a great day , It is 12:30 in the afternoon here and its already 91 degrees,Its hard to enjoy gardening when its this hot. Oh well I still have to dig in today, Happy Gardening.
As far as I know, cucumbers and squash take up a lot of space by crawling along the bare earth. Whenever one of our baby squash or cucumber starts to grow, I slide a small board under it so the fruit does not touch the soil. The board helps prevent rot and keeps away any bugs that live in the soil. I do prefer growing cucumbers on a trellis tho. This year, I decided to try growing bush cucumbers in containers. After a deluge of heavy rain, they all rotted except for one container I had in the greenhouse. It looks good! bush cucumber ( photo / image / picture from Canadian Chelsea's Garden )
I'm growing my cucumbers on a fence this year but other years I've grown them on the ground with no problems. My squash are the bush type but some lay on the ground with no problems. I do have mulch down under the bushes though. When I left my melons on the ground, the bugs and ants ate them from the bottom. dooley
I have squash and cucumbers on the ground. So far so good. I will give some thought to growing them on trellis in the future though. It's space-saving.
I let my cukes travel up a trellis..and I have seen people trellis their squash as well. I guess it depends on how wet the ground is..
Years ago when I grew veggies I grew cukes both ways -- on the ground and climbing up a fence. This year, I guess I gave them a choice! There is a wire structure behind them and some are climbing while some are sprawling. I hope they do OK -- they are in the part of the yard that has been flooded several times this Spring. They look a little worn, but have lots of flowers so they seem pretty resilient. Interesting question.
Well Margie, I don't know if there is a wrong or right way to grow them...but I will tell you how I grow mine. The Cues: I always choose a climbing variety and let them climb up a rack. The Courgettes: I let them sprawl and try and pick them on time. There are always the inevitable loss of one now and then. I do two things to avoid this-- (1) When the flower has finished blooming, I give it a very gentle tug each day until it lets loose. One can get a yellowing and softening where the flower attaches to the fruit as a result of it's decomposing presence. (2) I sink a small flower pot into the ground aiming down towards the roots (like I do with toms). I give water only in these watering pots and never over the ground because if the tip of the courgette points it's end down and comes in contact with wet soil it can begin to go yellow and soft and will indeed rot and turn brown if left un-checked. Putting something under the fruit to keep it off the ground like CC said is a good idea. It is my experience that fruit and veg that has direct contact with the soil more often than not will rot. I pick my courgettes so often that they do not usually get the chance to start this rotting process. I just want to say one further thing about growing Courgettes/squashes: Although I grow 3-4 different types of courgettes each year, I always grow at least one type that climbs. It is called, "Black Forest". I wrote a posting last year about them showing pics that shows their 3 meter length. The climbing habitus also means that the fruits are off the ground, so all I have to do is remove the blossoms on time....and Bob's yer uncle! The flavour of this type is quite good.
This is the set-up I have for my cukes this year, they seem to be happy... Cucumbers ( photo / image / picture from riragirl's Garden )
I am growing my zucchinis up a trellis along the fence. Never done it before but will post it's progress.
Our cucs have always done better climbing. we're going to be climbing our acorn squash and even try pumpkins too.
My cucumbers this year have been a little ... lethargic. They are starting to grow up the wire fence I constructed for them. Leaves kind of pale looking. I just fed them some fish emulsion this evening (WOW, that is stinky stuff ) hoping that it will perk them up. Lots of flowers though, so I take that as a good sign. I'll keep them off the ground when they put out fruit.
