Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Squash in bloom

Invariably when I mention to someone that I have a greenhouse the next question is what kind of food plants I grow. People are always surprised to find that I grow tropical plants (mostly orchids and aroids) in my greenhouse.

summer squash flowers
summer squash blooms

I have tried growing a few fruits and vegetables in the past, with limited success:
  • key lime - few fruits before the tree succumbed.
  • broccoli - my favorite vegetable, plants were destroyed by caterpillars before they flowered.
  • tomatoes - limited success.
  • squash - plants were either eaten by insects or withered in the sun before they flowered.
  • potatoes - actually a decent little harvest, especially considering the spot I picked was shadier than is ideal.
Much of our yard is shaded, which we love during the hot summer months, but there's not a great place to put in a garden. This year I decided to try some squash seeds in a planter box that I can move around to get the right level of sun. Also I figured the planter box is pretty similar to the raised beds that everyone is planting these days. Another change from my unsuccessful attempt with squash seeds last year: I decided to plant the seeds directly in the planter box, rather than starting them in a seed tray and then transplanting them. I started with two different varieties of yellow summer squash - the kind we really like to eat over the summer. I planted more seeds than recommended for the space, but figured I could thin them out if they got too crowded.

summer squash flowers
summer squash blooms

summer squash flowers
summer squash blooms
Things are going really well! The plants have been getting big and produced a bunch of buds over the last two weeks. The flowers just started opening over the weekend and I'm hopeful we'll have a bunch of squash a few weeks from now. I've been monitoring the plants closely for squash bugs and haven't seen one yet.

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