Hi slowjane - I don't think they would break growing down 18 inches. Yes you can use stakes just to be sure, in my opinion. Good luck. Here is a video link growing zucchini in containers (not raised beds) but with some tips/advice. Its in Zone 9B so very close to the climate you have.

Here is a link that might be useful: How to grow Zucchini

I have had zucchini trail out 4 feet or more.

Interesting. Okay - I was testing out moving that branch but I'm not sure I can even get it to go down per se - thinking driving a t post into the ground outside the bed and growing it up that, outside the bed. See pic for laughs.

Why not just let it spill out over the side? Trellising upward is just going to shade your tomatoes.

Edited: Sorry, just saw your original question. Yes, I would let the whole plant drape over the side. No, I don't believe 18" is too high, but if you wanted to lean a board against your bed and give them something to slide down, it's not going to hurt anything.

It is my standard practice to plant zucchini on the outskirts of my raised beds with the intent they will spill over the side and do most of their growing on the surrounding rock.

This post was edited by loribee2 on Thu, Jun 19, 14 at 15:42

Your plant looks like "Bush" type. In that case it should have very short stems, less than a foot.

Hmm you may very well be right seysonn. I think I got myself confused because I read a lot about growing Black Beauty zucchini vertically - which some folks swear is possible. And there seems to be disagreement over whether it is vine or bush - though most of what I just looked at said bush. So....

I know that it has 3 stems - each about a foot long - so as it grows won't it keep adding onto those stems making them longer? Or will it produce fruit on older parts of the stems?

If that were my zucchini, I would stack a couple cinder blocks under where it's starting to come out. Then since it's hot where you are, hand check the temperature when the suns on it, just to check it's not pre-grilling the zuks. :) A pad of straw would solve that potential problem.

see, the cinder blocks are right there..just to the left

I have no idea what kind of zucchinis I've grown over the years. All the same to me. But I keep looking at this thread on my breaks today to see ideas, and every-time I keep wanting to reach over and prop up that plant. It feels like a bit more weight, and the poor things going to snap.

My zucchinis have been like drunks leaning on the bar. If the bars wobbly, the drunk and the bar are going to topple down. Hope you prop it up..it's bugging me now. LOL

This post was edited by plaidbird on Thu, Jun 19, 14 at 21:41

haha thanks plaidbird - love your analogy - and yes, the cinder blocks are indeed right there waiting for a purpose (occasions like this justify my inability to get rid of anything lol)

the latest thing is that tonight i noticed powdery mildew breaking out all over the leaves - ack! so i've trimmed off those affected leaves, and will encourage that stem on the left to come out of its box onto some stair stepped cinderblocks....

i sprayed the plant down with a milk mixture (1:3 milk:water plus a little yogurt for probiotics/snake oil lol) and hoping that opening it up with also help - haven't busted out the neem etc yet cuz i like all my pollinators doing their good work but we shall see if we can avoid it....

thanks for your thoughts everyone! am still hopeful that i can get some sun to the eggplant you can hardly see between the zuke and the tomatoes....

Oh, thank you for propping the little guy up. I will sleep easier tonight. ( oddly I was compelled to check back again to make sure he was going to be okay ) Yeah, another plant saved by GW. You could still adjust once you see how it grows. But safe from the Humpty Dumpty problem.

Yeah, cucumbers and zucchini plants seem to be born with mildews. It's just one of those things. I have a Star of India clematis that is well known for powdery mildew, after the blooms get going, and before it's over for the year. It's so pretty and so big, I hate the moment in time when it gets going. I've found with the clematis if I catch it at the very first sign, and spray with baking soda ( a teaspoon or a table spoon..forget which), a drop of dish soap, and water ( 4 1/2 quarts is my sprayer... recipe on the internet ) I can most often stop it. Depends on how well I do at remembering, and the weather.

Powdery mildew happens with warm dry weather or with dry soil and humid conditions.

Downy mildew likes cool, wet conditions.

Both thrive with lack of ventilation.

So, not too dry, not too wet, not too warm, and not too cool. LOL Hey.. it's going to happen. Don't sweat the small stuff. I do remember last summer I used the same clematis technique on my zucchinis and they eventually came out of it and grew on with new leaves and new flowers. The older parts looked neckid, but that how it rolls sometimes. I've learned if I can find room I plant two zucchinis or two cucumbers just because of this. Generally they act up separately and one will be worse than the other, so I can yank one completely out if needed and all is well.

Honestly, this time of year zucchini is super cheap at the market. And if you have a local farmers market, all the better. It's a chance to wander around and see what folks around you are growing now, pick up something yummy. Plus meet really nice people.

I don't remember ever spraying for bugs the last 40 years in this garden, though I probably did back when I first started. I'm just about to go to war and actually use a spray for the first time this year. Leaf miners have crossed the line ( yes, it seems there was a "line" I wasn't aware of ). They are mowing down the north east corner..many hostas and my two favorite clematises. Hundreds of dollars. :(

After this last clematis ( Clematis 'Yukikomachi') finishes blooming I'll start, since then there will be no flowers in the area to attract pollinators, thus lessen my odds of causing damage to my little bee friends. Weighed dumping the plants , but I'm just not ready to go there yet.

So here my beautiful clematis this afternoon ... see ? The leaves are not clematis leaves.. I've picked those off for now. That's worth a war at least for now I've decided. But I sort of want to cry. How dare they !

Just saw this followup plaid bird - sorry for missing it. I might try baking soda next. The milk seemed to work actually pretty well, and I'm thinking of alternating the two techniques - keep that mildew guessing! ;)

Also, I just moved the zuke branch out of the bed onto a cinderblock - the stem is intense and not sure how I'm going to get it to drape - I may just keep adding surface at the same level (maybe a shelf on two cinderblocks?) It's definitely vining - but very stiff and hard to train.

There's a farmer's market a couple blocks away every Sunday - I haven't been going as much but should pop by and see what is in season....