Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
greenacresgirl_gw

Planting 3 summer squash seeds per hole?

greenacresgirl
15 years ago

I saw a gardening show a while ago where they advised that you should plant 3 seeds together and NOT thin them. Instead you should let the, grow into one stronger plant.

Anyone have an opinion on this? Would it apply to cukes as well?

Thanks

Michelle

Comments (16)

  • digdirt2
    15 years ago

    Far as I know that has been the standard recommendation for as long as I can remember for vining varieties - it's on most seed packets - and works for all members of that family as well as for melons. But the exception is if they are bush varieties or vining varieties.

    Dave

  • granite
    15 years ago

    I've always planted squash 3-4 seeds to a hill with the hills 3-4 feet apart. The plants grow in separate directions down the hill. Its easy to harvest from this plan in the beginning, it gets more difficult as the plants get larger and I do trim select leaves or vines to be able to maintain a walk area. I plant my cukes single seeds 6" apart and grow them up a fence.

  • alicate
    15 years ago

    You mean you DON'T thin the three into one? Maybe that's why my melons and cucs are so pitiful! Thanks!

  • digdirt2
    15 years ago

    You mean you DON'T thin the three into one?

    Not if they are vining types. If bush types then yes, you may need to thin to 1 per hill because of the way the bush varieties grow.

  • ccecilm
    15 years ago

    I have always planted and grown 3 per hill with my bush type also. Never had a problem (other than space during peak growing season) and have always had plenty of squash. As mentioned above, I also do some selective pruning so I can walk around easily.

  • cyumickey
    15 years ago

    I wouldn't advise it for bush types. It's difficult to get in the plant to pick once they get huge.

  • rdback
    15 years ago

    Hi Michelle

    You said: "...you should plant 3 seeds together and NOT thin them. Instead you should let the, grow into one stronger plant."

    You really didn't mean three seeds in one HOLE did you LOL? It kinda sounds like it. I don't think if you plant three seeds in one hole they'll form ONE stronger plant. As everybody else has said, two or three seeds per hill (with spacing between each seed) is the general recommendation.

  • Mokinu
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    I used to think you were supposed to grow one seed per hole for cucumbers, and all cucurbits. However, I planted a whole bunch of cucumber seeds (a variety I believe is Bushy and one I know is Jolly Green) in several holes (to make sure I got a live one growing in each hole). However, they almost all germinated, awesomely. So, I transplanted lots of them to get more plants going with more space (leaving one per hole where I originally planted). But, I left a few holes with lots of cucumbers growing in them, since they looked so nice and happy, and since I wanted to see what would happen. Here are the results:

    It got too hot for all the cucumbers. So, none of them did particularly well, I believe because they weren't heat-tolerant varieties like Beit Alpha and Suyo Long are supposed to be (and the soil may have been too compact, salty or nitrogen/phosphorus deficient, also, but I'm not sure). However, guess what? The ones I didn't thin grew larger and faster (and more healthily) and were the only ones to grow any fruit. Jolly Green did significantly better than Bushy. I was amazed, and quite glad to see it. There were probably more like 9-25 plants per hole, in my scenario (as opposed to 3).

    9-25 per hole seems better than 1 for cucumbers, but I wonder if 3 is better than 9-25. I mean, if they can handle 3 better than 1, why would more than 3 hurt?

    So, yes, greenacresgirl, I'm pretty sure this applies to cucumbers, too.

  • tcstoehr
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    I've read several recommendations of a single vining squash per hill. I began to practice that myself and wouldn't change because of the results. Very fast growing and healthy plants that are very productive. For example this year I grew 3 Crown Prince and 1 Winter Sweet in a 16'x22' bed, which of course they overflowed on every side. The Winter Sweet yielded 22 proper squashes and the Crown Princes 35 (2X larger). The seed vendor (Johnny's) says you'll get 3-4 per Winter Sweet plant. What are they thinking? I'm guessing that may be true if you plant 3 to a hill. I'd rather have one massively healthy and productive plant than 3 fighting with each other. Same sort of deal with Delicatas. Spread them out and they are healthier and more productive in my experience.

    However, I'm referring to winter squashes unlike the OP's original question.

    Here's everything curing in the autumn sun. The Crown Princes are the back 3 rows and the Winter Sweets are the two rows in front of those. Tomorrow is bleach-dipping day, I'm not looking forward to it but I've been told it will extend keeping time. I won't know unless I try.

  • Mokinu
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    But do they fight with each other, is the question. It's possible they may act a lot like one plant. It's also possible you would have had the same or better results with three to a hill. Tomatoes do seem to fight each other, but from what I saw of those cucumbers (9-25 plants per hole), they helped each other significantly. The holes with only one plant didn't do so well. It may depend on your soil and conditions, though, as digdirt2 suggested, as well as the variety.

  • elisa_z5
    8 years ago

    Shule, squash family plants don't transplant well, so that may be part of why your undisturbed plants did better.

  • digdirt2
    8 years ago

    <but from what I saw of those cucumbers (9-25 plants per hole), they helped each other significantly.>

    Helped each other how?

    One of the reason for the recommendation for 3 per hill is it increases the odds of successful insect pollination since many more blooms of the same sex will be open at the same time in a small area. It assumes adequate space for spreading, adequate nutrients and water to insure those 3 plants have all they need to remain healthy and don't have to "rob" each other.

    So if you planted 9 seeds per hill the same principles would apply in terms of blooms and pollination BUT substantially more nutrients and water would be required or the plant's roots would compete with each other for nutrients and water.

    Then there is the issue of shading each other for enough sun exposure. The issue of access for harvesting and the issue of plant support (when it is cukes). 9 plants just sounds way over-crowded. 25 in the same place sounds like a jungle.

    Dave

  • tcstoehr
    8 years ago

    <But do they fight with each other, is the question.>

    "Fight" might be the wrong word, perhaps "compete" would be more accurate. As soon as the roots of one plant begin to spread they will run into the roots of the other plant. Competition then begins for whatever available resources are there. Same above ground, there's only so much sunlight available. There's not doubt that a single plant will grow better than either of the two in a single planting space. The hope is that two "stunted" plants combined will yield more than one lone plant. And if one dies due to unforeseen circumstances, you have a backup.

    In my 16'x22' squash bed I've been planting 6 or 7 plants and getting altogether too many squashes for me to eat. That's one reason I'm trying to prolong the storage time. So this year I scaled back to 4 plants and I got just as much. I'm going to try just three next year and I suspect I'll get just as much. If so I'll try just two the next year. Keep in mind I'm talking about Maximas here which are monstrously growing, branch at every opportunity, have huge wandering root systems, blanket the earth with an impenetrable leaf canopy, and sink down new roots at every leaf node. I'm wondering if in this garden bed a single plant can by spreading, branching and rooting actually yield 300+ pounds of good eating squashes. I'm guessing it can. I would be a bit worried to do that however since occasionally a plant may die or have a fruiting anomaly.

  • wayne_5 zone 6a Central Indiana
    8 years ago

    I think that 3 in one hole and 1 in one hole or 2 spaced 8 inches apart, all can work well.

  • Mokinu
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    digdirt2 To answer your question, the clusters of cucumbers grew faster, larger and healthier, and they actually produced fruit, too. They also needed watering less, it seemed, probably because of increased ground cover. Being later in the season now, the one-plant holes have much bigger plants by comparison than before, of the variety Bushy. Jolly Green died off (but it produced more in its life, and did look healthier in its life).

    elisa_z5, I made careful efforts not to disturb the roots, but I admit it's possible that they were disturbed. Whatever the case, we can figure this out very easily with future experimentation.

    tcstoehr, I already understood fight and compete to be synonymous in this context, and I was aware of the general concept of nutrient competition. However, I'm not utterly convinced it applies to clustered cucumbers, at this point. (One large plant, for instance, doesn't compete with itself. Maybe cucumbers know how to cooperate similarly.) I'm not convinced that it doesn't, either. I said earlier, I thought the soil might be salty (too many nutrients), and this *might* be why the clustered plants did better (because there were more plants to use the potentially toxic levels of nutrients that would cause issues with one plant). This saltiness hypothesis does not take away from the general assumption that one plant per hill is generally better.