Looking for best squash support

[shortgrass]

I thought of something that I did this year that I call a "stupid" lol.... I planted my pickling cukes and my burpless right next to each other.

DON'T DO THAT.

I also planted them what I thought was far enough away from the tomatoes, but my "bio intensive" idea got away from me and I had to climb through the vines to find 2 tomato plants

Aside from the PM, I didn't lose a single cuke, even though it has been an ugly struggle. I had to pull 4 zucchini, all my summer squash, 4 early girls tomato plants, and all my peas. Horrible time with it this year The cukes were all the way on the other side of where the problem started, so I was able to doctor them better... But oh my, next year definitely doing it different if we get a wet spring again...


BTW, love the pumpkin tattooing idea; my girls fight over everything lol, that would stop the "my pumpkin" battle

 

[Sabz]

Oh Shortgrass, I have the perfect thing for your tomatoes next year Try to train them vertically. It's the best!!!
Basically it's just to have a wooden arch or structure above the tomatoes. Tie a string on the arch, bring the string down to the ground. Prune the tomato plant to a single steam and twist it around the string. They get more airflow that way and less diseases. I wasn't sure about that technique (afraid of the "only one stream" part, I thought it would lower the production) so I did only 8what plants. The rest of my tomatoes are in cages. Well, the cages tomatoes are all dead, I mean maybe 1-2 green leaves left on the plant. The vertical tomatoes THRIVE! They are super green, making new flowers and they don't look sick at all.

Something like this:
http://www.vegetablegardener.com/assets/uploads/posts/2777/kg09co1113-41.jpg

I too had problems with peas If not harvested fast enough, they would get mildew on them and I'd lose the peas.

Thanks for the info Guvnah. I was looking for Ameracaunas here in Quebec. I bought 2 that were supposed to be, but they are not. I get brown eggs from them lol. They were just super high price normal brown layers I've never seen a "real" blue or green egg, they look so nice.

 

[shortgrass]

Oh Shortgrass, I have the perfect thing for your tomatoes next year Try to train them vertically. It's the best!!!
Basically it's just to have a wooden arch or structure above the tomatoes. Tie a string on the arch, bring the string down to the ground. Prune the tomato plant to a single steam and twist it around the string. They get more airflow that way and less diseases. I wasn't sure about that technique (afraid of the "only one stream" part, I thought it would lower the production) so I did only 8what plants. The rest of my tomatoes are in cages. Well, the cages tomatoes are all dead, I mean maybe 1-2 green leaves left on the plant. The vertical tomatoes THRIVE! They are super green, making new flowers and they don't look sick at all.


Something like this:
http://www.vegetablegardener.com/assets/uploads/posts/2777/kg09co1113-41.jpg


I too had problems with peas If not harvested fast enough, they would get mildew on them and I'd lose the peas.


Thanks for the info Guvnah. I was looking for Ameracaunas here in Quebec. I bought 2 that were supposed to be, but they are not. I get brown eggs from them lol. They were just super high price normal brown layers   I've never seen a "real" blue or green egg, they look so nice.

Awesome idea! Lol you read my mind

I have ONE early girl left... Guess where she's at? 6' tall ladder, climbed to the top and is the only survivor... I was giving the ladder thing a try, and I do believe between the arch/string trick, and/or a ladder, the tomatoes will thrive next year...at least, that's the plan

It's kind of irritating lol, DH has Champions growing in the weeds against the fence, doesn't prune or feed, or even weed around them lol... Gorgeous plants. I could throttle him ha-ha

But if anything my PM problem this year knocked out some varieties that I won't be wasting time with again. No Big Beef and no Juliets, no Cherokee and definitely no Early Girl bush, those were the big losers... Going to save seed from my sole Early Girl survivor and see if her babies don't have some of her resistance

 

[Sabz]

Wow that is funny! You in Colorado, me in Quebec and I have banned Big beef also because they don't resist AT ALL. I guess it's just a variety not able to resist at all.

I've started to shop for squash seeds from PM resistant varieties but on the sites I usually use (let's not name Johnny's seeds lol) I can't search by "resistance" kind of.. so I have to click the varieties one by one.. little time consuming. I might do it differently instead, like Google it to find the proper varieties, then find a place that sells those.

In time, our gardens will be better! I try to select the best plants and varieties each year. I've kept some yellow cherry tomatoes for years. I find them resistant to mildew and the most prolific tomato plants I've ever seen. They are Honeybees. I gave some to my Mom, that lives 2 hours away and her plant is also growing and producing extremely well. I'm keeping this variety, it's a winner! I wonder if your babie will carry the resistance gene also. It's so fun to experiment

 

[lazy gardener]

Wow that is funny! You in Colorado, me in Quebec and I have banned Big beef also because they don't resist AT ALL. I guess it's just a variety not able to resist at all.

I've started to shop for squash seeds from PM resistant varieties but on the sites I usually use (let's not name Johnny's seeds lol) I can't search by "resistance" kind of.. so I have to click the varieties one by one.. little time consuming. I might do it differently instead, like Google it to find the proper varieties, then find a place that sells those.

In time, our gardens will be better! I try to select the best plants and varieties each year. I've kept some yellow cherry tomatoes for years. I find them resistant to mildew and the most prolific tomato plants I've ever seen. They are Honeybees. I gave some to my Mom, that lives 2 hours away and her plant is also growing and producing extremely well. I'm keeping this variety, it's a winner! I wonder if your babie will carry the resistance gene also. It's so fun to experiment

Are you a Johnny's fan? I love their catalog, but rarely order from them b/c of $. Have you tried Fedco seeds? They are much more reasonable cost, have a non GMO policy, and carry a lot of the same varieties. Local Maine company. They also carry trees, and other gardening supplies.

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Hello fellow gardeners!

In fall I am always looking to either make the garden better, cuter, amend the soil, correct problems I've encountered, etc..

This year I had a lot of mildew (tomatoes, squash) because we had a super rainy spring and warm temperatures.

I thought probably if my squash were off the ground, they would get less mildew.

I found a few types of support that I liked. Wondering if any of you did something like that for squashes?

This is my favorite. I would replace the plastic pots by a raised garden bed with lost of drainage:




There is also the square arch, but the "bottom" of the plant is still on the ground..




Of course the first setup is more work and would cost more.
The fact that the plant is off the ground would give them more chances to resist mildew, I think.
But at the same time, being in a garden "box" or raised garden would limit the space available for the roots and the soil would dry faster.

The second choice is easier, faster and cheaper to build. I am afraid that if the arch isn't large enough, there won't be a lot of air movement inside it and would probably increase chances of mildew. I'd have to thoroughly think of the size of it, some of my squash varieties have enormous leaves..
The plants would be in the ground so I wouldn't worry about space for roots, watering, soil nutriments, etc..


Any thoughts or different ideas?

Thanks

Wow! That's really neat. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Sabz]

Are you a Johnny's fan? I love their catalog, but rarely order from them b/c of $. Have you tried Fedco seeds? They are much more reasonable cost, have a non GMO policy, and carry a lot of the same varieties. Local Maine company. They also carry trees, and other gardening supplies.

I could say I am a fan! It's just that they carry a lot of winter varieties that I like because it's so cold here in Quebec.. Never heard of Fedco. I'll look it up for sure, I'm going to be making up my 2016 calendar soon, and I'll need to order some seeds. I love this part of the year hahah.


Yeah Bantam, I know Thanks - even though those aren't my pictures. My garden / lawn is full of different structures like that, garden patches, raised gardens.. haha I just can't have plain grass and one big garden. No, I have to have many different "stations" on my property, I like it that way! I think a squash arch would be a beautiful addition to any garden!

 

[lazy gardener]

I could say I am a fan! It's just that they carry a lot of winter varieties that I like because it's so cold here in Quebec.. Never heard of Fedco. I'll look it up for sure, I'm going to be making up my 2016 calendar soon, and I'll need to order some seeds. I love this part of the year hahah.


Yeah Bantam, I know Thanks - even though those aren't my pictures. My garden / lawn is full of different structures like that, garden patches, raised gardens.. haha I just can't have plain grass and one big garden. No, I have to have many different "stations" on my property, I like it that way! I think a squash arch would be a beautiful addition to any garden!

If you're looking to add some trees/shrubs to your property, check out St. Lawrence Nursery. They have lots of incredible varieties. Recent change in management, so only offered Apples this season, but they're bringing the other stuff back. Their stuff grows in cold weather, so is perfect for our climates. What zone are you? I'm 4.

 

[Mtn Laurel]

My preferred squash and cuke support is my chicken run. Hardware cloth on the bottom 4 feet prevents the girls from getting to the stems and leaves. The leaves shade the run during the summer. I share the harvest with the girls and they look forward to their afternoon snack.

Thought I had powdery mildew on my squash, too, but found the true culprit to be squash bugs. Hopefully the hens will get them out of the ground as they're a bear to get rid of. I understand they've been especially bad in my area this year.

 

[Guvnah]

....

Thought I had powdery mildew on my squash, too, but found the true culprit to be squash bugs. Hopefully the hens will get them out of the ground as they're a bear to get rid of. I understand they've been especially bad in my area this year.

Very true. When squash bugs get thick, the mildew multiplies.

When squash bugs are small, you can kill them with insecticidal soap. (And it doesn't have to be a commercial variety. Just some dishwashing liquid diluted in water.)

Water with just a tiny bit of soap will break the surface tension of water. Soft-bodied insects rely on that surface tension to keep water beaded up on their bodies to keep from drowning, but a little soap breaks that surface tension, and the water coats their bodies and drowns them. The bigger the insect, the less effective this gets, so get the squash bugs while they are still small nymphs.

Works great for aphids and whiteflies too.