Here are a few ideas for those of you who don’t have space for pumpkins and squash to sprawl all over the ground…
- Let them climb: The trailing varieties of our squash and pumpkin varieties will naturally climb, making them perfect for growing vertically up against a trellis or sturdy fence. Tie them in initially, and then they will get the message easily enough!
- Plant them between taller plants, like sweetcorn: this is a good way of getting more into a small space – the squash plants will sprawl out in between the sweetcorn and provide ground cover.
- Plant bush varieties in pots: Honey Bear and Cornells Bush Delicata are compact plants that will do well in deep containers.
- Prune trailing varieties to three fruits: This is a good tip if you’d like to grow a trailing variety in containers. Once the plants start to flower, wait until you see the first three fruits forming, and then keep pruning back new vines. This will keep the plant smaller, whilst giving you (hopefully) three good fruits per plant.