Dianne, I don't have a lot of room either, so I give the vines something to climb up. Then, when the squash is about baseball size, I tie a sling under it so the vine doesn't break. Works great if you find the squash before it gets too big. Have a few broken vines.
I finally have some small squash on my Delicata plant...looks like 3 so far. Still a long way off from harvest, though. Our unusally cool summer is having me worried these may not mature in time before the end of our growing season.
The vines for Mrs aquillard's squash are now 30' long. They only grow towards the sun. No vines grow north. Not cucumbers either. I'll have to remember that next year when I plant. I have a 6' bare area on the northern side of my garden cage.
My favorite squash variety is called Kabocha Squash. It's from Asia and is like a buttercup only it's sweeter, dryer and stores longer. I've grown it myself with great success. It makes lovely squash to eat and best of all, great pies. I've given a link so that you can see some varieties and their descriptions. I don't know if you can find them in grocery stores, but they might be found at farmer's markets.
I posted earlier but I have more info about Tromboncino squash...it is a vining moschata I believe, but it can be harvested when green and eaten as a summer squash. Then some squash can be left to mature and tin orange and it is a tasty winter squash. Very hardy, I have harvested bushels of giant squashes to eat as summer squash, had one that was midway between summer and winter and it was delicious and still tender. When the orange ones are a little more mature I can harvest and tell you how it tastes in its winter squash form. In any event, it is a fun plant...grows to a huge size and gets a lot of attention. Plus the sheer volume of vegetables it produces makes it well worth the huge vine.
@texaskitty111
Thank you for that tidbit about vines growing south, I never noticed but it is so true. This will help me site my squash...even the zucchini stems travel south and sometimes they get a couple feet long so it will really help, with howi plant that in the future. How funny that the plants grow so orderly in their chaos and it was plain to see but I just never put two and two together.
That vines growing South must be a Southern thing, they grow equally in all four directions here. That includes pumpkins, winter squash, cantalope and watermelon.
Politicians are like diapers, they need to be changed often, and for the same reason.
Those of you that grow delicata, do you mean honey boat delicata:
Or the skinnier delicata?
And, if you are what you eat, should we only eat skinny veggies? I'm only buying long beans (skinny) for next year. No plump beans allowed in my garden!
Name: cheshirekat New Mexico, USA Zone 8 (Zone 8a)
Those are yummy to look at. Never tasted them. I should probably try more squash. But I don't know if it is worth it for next year unless I get them growing better vertically and my garden defends itself better from the squash bugs. I haven't had the energy with my sore back to go squash bug hunting for a few days.
"A garden is a friend you can visit any time." - Anonymous
I had some squash bugs on summer squash. Neem oil helps. I have 0 squash bugs on my winter squash. Something though causes a few of the squash to turn black and rot before they are baseball size. I'm assuming its a bug until someone corrects me. I like winter squash better than summer. Easier to grow, and there's not the daily stress of picking them and doing SOMETHING with them.
Mine have looked more like your first photo, although I see some of the other type at the farmers market. I think they both taste great and will happily eat either one.
