Winter Squash Needs Full Sun - Or Does It?
This spring was cold and wet and very, very long.
The only two things I wanted to plant this year were a few tomato vines and some winter squash, but the ground was so cold and wet I couldn't plant them until the middle of July.
Now, with Labor day just one week away, my very first tomato is starting to turn pink.
The squash plants are setting fruit, and a few of them are even reaching a reasonable size, but they won't have time to get ripe this year.
Actually, I knew they wouldn't ripen, but I like the look of the vines winding their way around the yard, so I planted them anyway.
It was this haphazard, "I know this won't really work" attitude that let me see that I've probably been raising squash the wrong way for years.
We've all heard about the "three sisters" -- the mainstays of the Native American's garden: corn, beans and squash.
And we've all seen the reasons for growing these three plants in the same bed: the corn gives the beans something to climb on and shades the squash, while the beans provide additional nitrogen to the soil.
So why, then, does every seed packet of winter squash, regardless of variety, say they need full sun? And why have I planted every winter squash seed just the way I've been instructed to by the packets, until this year? This year, I grew the vines just for ornamental purposes, so I wasn't picky about where the seeds were planted.
I also didn't jump to water the plants at the first sign of wilting leaves, either, like I'd always done before.
My "experiment" wasn't done on purpose, and it was far from scientific -- the three hills of squash are three different varieties, and the fertility of the soil is probably different in all three places because they're so far apart, although they all got a generous bucket of worm compost at the beginning of the season.
One group of squash plants is in full sun, the second one receives shade from the garage in the afternoon, and the third group is behind a spring-flowering butterfly bush that grew a lot more this spring than I expected it to.
For that reason, the third group of squash, winding through the flowers behind the bush, receives light shade all day long.
Here in the inter-mountain west, the sun can be brutal and the air temperature stays above 80F or 90F for many weeks at a time.
Almost every day since the weather warmed up, the leaves on the squash plants in full sun have wilted by 10am.
The plants that receive afternoon sun wilt in the morning, but quickly perk back up in the afternoon.
And the plants that spend their entire day under light, dappled shade have never wilted at all, in spite of receiving less water than the other two.
The air temperature also seems to have a big effect on the leaves, because the wilted leaves on the plants in full sun will perk back up within minutes if they're simply given a light misting of water.
In our dry country, a fine mist will lower the air temperature almost immediately by 10 degrees or more.
I tried this originally on a day when the squash insisted on wilting just a few hours after it had been deeply watered.
Water in our town is expensive, so this is a trick I'll be remembering for next year's garden.
So, until I learn differently, at least some of my winter squash will, in the future, be planted the way the Native American's taught us - in light shade.
The only two things I wanted to plant this year were a few tomato vines and some winter squash, but the ground was so cold and wet I couldn't plant them until the middle of July.
Now, with Labor day just one week away, my very first tomato is starting to turn pink.
The squash plants are setting fruit, and a few of them are even reaching a reasonable size, but they won't have time to get ripe this year.
Actually, I knew they wouldn't ripen, but I like the look of the vines winding their way around the yard, so I planted them anyway.
It was this haphazard, "I know this won't really work" attitude that let me see that I've probably been raising squash the wrong way for years.
We've all heard about the "three sisters" -- the mainstays of the Native American's garden: corn, beans and squash.
And we've all seen the reasons for growing these three plants in the same bed: the corn gives the beans something to climb on and shades the squash, while the beans provide additional nitrogen to the soil.
So why, then, does every seed packet of winter squash, regardless of variety, say they need full sun? And why have I planted every winter squash seed just the way I've been instructed to by the packets, until this year? This year, I grew the vines just for ornamental purposes, so I wasn't picky about where the seeds were planted.
I also didn't jump to water the plants at the first sign of wilting leaves, either, like I'd always done before.
My "experiment" wasn't done on purpose, and it was far from scientific -- the three hills of squash are three different varieties, and the fertility of the soil is probably different in all three places because they're so far apart, although they all got a generous bucket of worm compost at the beginning of the season.
One group of squash plants is in full sun, the second one receives shade from the garage in the afternoon, and the third group is behind a spring-flowering butterfly bush that grew a lot more this spring than I expected it to.
For that reason, the third group of squash, winding through the flowers behind the bush, receives light shade all day long.
Here in the inter-mountain west, the sun can be brutal and the air temperature stays above 80F or 90F for many weeks at a time.
Almost every day since the weather warmed up, the leaves on the squash plants in full sun have wilted by 10am.
The plants that receive afternoon sun wilt in the morning, but quickly perk back up in the afternoon.
And the plants that spend their entire day under light, dappled shade have never wilted at all, in spite of receiving less water than the other two.
The air temperature also seems to have a big effect on the leaves, because the wilted leaves on the plants in full sun will perk back up within minutes if they're simply given a light misting of water.
In our dry country, a fine mist will lower the air temperature almost immediately by 10 degrees or more.
I tried this originally on a day when the squash insisted on wilting just a few hours after it had been deeply watered.
Water in our town is expensive, so this is a trick I'll be remembering for next year's garden.
So, until I learn differently, at least some of my winter squash will, in the future, be planted the way the Native American's taught us - in light shade.
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