Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
srp123au

looking after zucchini in my garden

srp123au
10 years ago

Hi,
I am a very new gardener and my garden is growing nicely have pumpkin, rhubarb, cabbage, strawberries, tomatoes (Up the back), zucchini mayb beans and corn in the one garden bed.
I have recently noticed flowers appearing on the zucchini, tomatoes and pumpkin and there are many leaves. I believe that one zucchini species is zucchini tromboncini and it should be staked. How should I do this?
Please check out the picture and advise as you will.
Much appreciated. I will also post separately the rest of the garden bed. Its now grown more than shown.

This post was edited by srp123au on Mon, Dec 2, 13 at 5:12

Comments (11)

  • srp123au
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    corn, pumpkin.

  • srp123au
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    The garden now netted with stakes.

  • elisa_z5
    10 years ago

    Ah -- how nice to see greenery from the other side of the globe :)

    Someone else may have the info on how to stake -- my comment is simply that I have grown Trombocino for several years, and never staked it. If you pick it early, it's like zucchini, and if you leave it on the vine, it becomes like butternut -- so a late summer vacation works well in the equation.

  • srp123au
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    u say pick early? how do you know when early is? before theyre fully grown? Do you think there maybe cucumber as there seems to be two different leaves?

  • pnbrown
    10 years ago

    There are so many ways to trellis. An easy one that I use is to buy heavy-gage metal grid such as that typically sold at builders yards to reinforce concrete slabs and bend it into tubes of about a 3-foot diameter. Around here the metal is 5-feet wide so a 10-foot long piece makes one tube. The metal lasts a very long time, even outdoors year-round. I have some that are 10 years old and there is little corrosion, so it's a very good investment.

    I pop those over the young tomato or vining squash, Because of the broad base these often do not need anchoring, I only anchor the ones that carry pole beans because the beans are so thick the wind can knock it over.

  • ceth_k
    10 years ago

    Are those your corn plants among the zukes? If that is the case then the corns could grow very tall and throw your netting off balance.

  • ltilton
    10 years ago

    I don't know what you mean by staking the tromboncino. If you mean trellising, it would take an awfully large trellis. This vine can go a couple dozen feet. I don't know what your netting is for, but it will soon outgrow it.

    In general, these squashes like to run on the ground, where they root along their nodes.

    Different squashes have different shapes and patterns of leaves, that's not a problem. I pick tromboncino the day it flowers, but it's edible at all stages of growth. If it gets large, you may need to peel the skin.

  • lkzz
    10 years ago

    Australia! How cool is that?

    Using wire fencing for a trellis is useful...and provides protection if needed.

  • elisa_z5
    10 years ago

    Pick early: when it's about the size of zucchini (or somewhat bigger -- these squash get curly and big). Use in the kinds of recipes that call for zucchini.

    If you leave them and pick late, (just before frost) it turns orange inside, the skin gets hard (yes, you will need to peel) and it will store for months in a cool room. And by late, I mean they can grow to be the size (though not the shape) of a pumpkin. I use in the same kinds of recipes as I would butternut or pumpkin.

  • seysonn
    10 years ago

    You have a lot to learn.

    If you net your squash, you are not going to get any squash.. Unless the mesh is so big that the bees can go through them.'
    Same goes for cucumbers.

    It is ok to net peppers and tomatoes, eggplants , but not cucurbits while flowering.

  • ltilton
    10 years ago

    The netting in the photo looks to have mesh large enough for bees to pass through. And most pests, as well. I'm not sure what it's meant to be protecting from. That's the size netting I use to keep rabbits out, but I don't recall ever having trouble with rabbits and squash plants.