I have a volnteer squash in my garden. I'm guessing it may be a buttercup cause its in the same spot they were last year and i remember a tiny squash that was never picked. Any-hoo, the vine is as happy as can be and making a b-line right through my tomato patch. Can I prune off some of the leaves so the toms get sun or will that kill the vine? Same ? with pumpkins. They're on the far side of the toms but with my limited space i inevitably always plant things too close.
I have some pumpkin vines heading through the pumpkins and in the past I have cut off leaves and it didn't seem to harm the plant at all.
I always hack pieces off the squash plants when they start to head in the wrong direction. I often loose leaves to allow better air circulation around the fruits, plus sometimes the leaves are so big and mean I can't get to the fruits! They never seem to mind, and we are currently in the midst of a glut picking around 8 courgettes every 3rd day!
I do just like EJ--hack off leaves from time to time, cos I'm afraid that I will get mildew on them. I personally find that the more aircirculation, the better with plants in general, and the curcubit family in particular. Have you seen the pics of the climbing courgettes that I have shown? I lop off a leaf regularly and as you can see, they do not suffer at all.
Thanks everyone! I did see your climbing courgettes Sjoerd. Mine is some sort of winter squash. It'll be a surprise.
