Planting squash on a trellis

[chic rustler]

First time planting butternut. Open to any tips!

 

[Ridgerunner]

It's a little late for many tips since you've already done it but I'll pretend you haven't. I would not over-worry about some wood chips buried in there. Yes some nitrogen is tied up but probably not enough to hurt. Be careful adding fertilizer. Members of that family are fairly delicate and can be burned by over-fertilizing with nitrogen. Not sure what you plan to use. Compost tea might work fairly well.

When Dad planted squash he would dig a hole, put in some mostly old chicken manure, and build a hill on top of that. By the time the plant sent roots down it had a good supply of nutrients. Sort of like the Indians teaching the Pilgrims to bury a fish when planting corn.

I'd have planted the herbs first and let them come up before planting the squash. Once it starts that squash is going to grow fast, it might shade the herbs out.

I've never tried to trellis butternut squash but that should work but so will you. Expect it to be a pain to keep all of it on the trellis, it can really spread out. I think you planted it pretty close together too, you may need to thin it when it starts to rum. You probably won't have enough room on that trellis to hold all of it. I tear strips out of old T-shirts to train things to a trellis. You may find you need to prune back the plant to keep it from spreading all over the vicinity. Be flexible.

If I remember right butternut squash has a solid stem so the squash vine borer is not a problem. But watch out for squash bugs. I can't remember where you are located but the bugs are a huge issue here.

it's an experiment and you have a great helper. I expect you to get a lot of nice butternut squash. And next year you will be an expert on trellising butternut squash. Good luck!

 

[chic rustler]

Thanks! I definitely plan on thinning. For fertilizer i use a diluted rabbit manure tea and then later when the plants are bigger I side dress with rabbit manure.

It's a 16 foot trellis. I was thinking of growing 4-6 plants on it. Do you think that would be too many?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Should work though play it by ear. I grow tromboncini squash on a garden fence, it spreads as bad or worse than than butternut squash. Might be tight. and those panels are only 52" high, not a lot of surface area.

One advantage to using cow panels is that the holes are big enough that the squash will not cut itself in two when it grows in those holes. I forgot that as a tip.

 

[ninnymary]

Ridge, I'm planning on growing 1 Honeynut butternut squash plant to see how it does. Space is very limited. Once I see 3-4 squashes, can I keep the plant pruned quite sevierly?

About how many squashes does 1 plant produce?

Mary

 

[Ridgerunner]

I have not tried Honeynut so not sure. I imagine it can vary by plant anyway.

I prune Tromboncini squash but haven't tried pruning butternut. I think you'd be OK to prune.