Pumpkins

[Peggy Sue]

I can't remember where I read you can grow squash as weed suppressant around other stuff. Mine around fruit bushes so thought it was a good move, but having ahd a look under the leaves I find bind weed has popped up and wound itself round the vives, couples with the tendrils from the pumpkin winding itself around the bindweed, and being so deleicate its amlost impossible to release the plant.

I spent about 3 hours this weekend painstakingly trying and have a funny feeling I'll be back to square one very shortly

I reckon they don't suppress weeds, just hide them

On to the pea patch next to play much the same game!!

[Millymollymandy]

I agree with you Peggy Sue - a bit of shade isn't going to supress bind weed (or any of the other weeds that grow in my veg patch!). I pull out what weeds I can see but in the end once the pumpkins have got going I can't get in there very easily so just leave them to it. I suppose those tendrils are meant to grab a hold of something and at least it anchors them to the ground if they're grabbing hold of bindweed.

[Peggy Sue]

They don't get strangles to death then? Mind you I suppose they are 'pretty substantial' now so maybe not!

[Millymollymandy]

No I don't think they'd get strangled to death, mind you if I saw a load of bindweed that'd got that bad I'd just tip toe in and pull the bindweed up by the roots!

[sleepyowl]

I have found that so far my pumpkins are the only veg that has not been affected by slugs, I lost a few tomato plants half of my beans all of my salad crop & all of my carrots, peppers & chillis. The pumpkins have taken over the garden but I don't mind as it doesn't make my garden look so bare. I think it is because they were strting to be prickly before they were planted. But there are plenty of fruits & flowers & should be some for our Samhain gathering.

[telipogon]

My pumpkins are only now starting to produce female flowers, im rather scared im not going to get any fruit. Am i right ?

[Peggy Sue]

OO I have football sized pumpkins already!

[MrsD'ville mkII]

So do I, but I stupidly went and cut one off from its stalk by mistake I was cutting off manky leaves and just cut the wrong thing. There another three but even so, what a nitwit!

[Peggy Sue]

Oh I nearly did that ripping out bind weed, unwinding the rapant stuff from round those tendrils

I've planted some vegetable spaghetti & butternut too- I'm new to both and rather stupidly can't remeber exactly which plant is which....does anyone one know what veg spag actaully looks like and when it matures? I understand butternuts are stripy til they are ripe, are Veg spag?

[Cheezy]

I've grown butternut squashes trained in an upward spiral on a heavy duty wigwam. Would have worked if the summer hadn't been a wash out.

Currently got a 3 sister bed on th ego with sweet corn,climbing french beans corgette and a pumpkin. courgette and pumpkin are next to each other in the centre and I'm trying to send the pumpkin away (kind of working.) Ony problem I had was a moment of madness, and cut off the pumpkin in mistake of one of my courgettes (I'm growing the yellow one ball variety, which looks idential to a small pumpkin )

OK as I now have two more on it, I'll probably now limit to these two. The courgettes are good as well, I thought they might be slower to turn to marrows than the normal, but you have to crop them to stop you getting football sized yellow "marrows". So the three plants I've got planted are certainly keeping the two of us over supplied!, had courgette based tea's for the last 3 nights!. Courgette carbonara tonight

[Millymollymandy]

Peggy Sue I suggest you google them as I've no idea what they look like! Or have you got a picture on the seed packet?

[sleepyowl]

My pumprows or markins are doing well I do have some sizeable fruit on them

[JR]

Our atlantic giant is 25inches across at present, only one on two plants though. Squashes are going mad as well with lots of fruit.

[adekun]

I grew a mini variety having been warned the vines run rampant. Hopefully next year will get better than a mini harvest.

[sleepyowl]

I've got one twice the size of my head I'm not sure what to do with it