Grow Squash like THIS not like THAT! 🌱☀️

hi everyone today i'm going to share with you  how and why you should grow your bush squash   vertically like this which takes up a lot less  space in the garden helps you control powdery   mildew rather than all sprawled out like this  which takes up a much larger footprint in the   garden and doesn't allow for near as much  air flow to help control powdery mildew   there's several reasons why i like to  grow my squash up not out the biggest one   being a space saver so here i have a zucchini  squash growing up through a tomato cage and you   can plant them a lot closer together this way  about one foot apart rather than about two to   three feet apart so that's a huge huge benefit  especially if you're growing in a small space   now one of the other reasons why i like to grow  them up not out is because it allows a lot more   light to get to the plant so i can grow a lot more  squash now i can see the squash it's a lot easier   to harvest so it avoids those big baseball  bat sized zucchinis that we've all grown got   a couple growing here i think i'm going to leave  this one on just a couple more days let it get a   little bit bigger and we've got another one right  under here that looks like it's growing very well   and there's also a lot more baby squash coming on  a lot of blossoms coming on and one of the biggest   reasons for sure is to avoid powdery mildew now  squash are especially prone to powdery mildew   which if you've ever had it you know it's little  white spots that show up on the leaves of your   squash generally happens when your leaves get  wet stay wet either from watering or from rain   or if you live in a high humidity area so airflow  is really key to avoiding powdery mildew helps   the leaves dry out and you can see growing them  up not out allows a lot more room for air flow   for the plant so it can stay a lot healthier so  let's jump in and i'll show you exactly how to do   this growing your squash vertically is very easy  what you want to do is when you plant your seeds   in the ground or when you pop a transplant  in the ground just put a tomato cage right   over your plant you want to do it at the time of  planting so you don't disturb the roots later on   if you install it later and this is a large tomato  cage about three to four feet tall you can pick it   up at your local garden center or if you want to  you can also use some type of a steak you want to   use a good sturdy steak this one happens to have  a pointed end that way you can drive it into the   ground easier it's probably about an inch or  two in diameter and you want to get one that's   about three to four feet tall that way it can  accommodate the squash as it grows but i like   to keep it simple with a tomato cage and that  way i don't have to tie anything up and i can   just kind of weave the stems up the tomato cage  as it grows now squash grow from one main stem and   they only need the leaves above it to produce  the fruit so key to growing squash vertically   is to prune your stems not only will that give  you tons more energy to send into growing squash   but again it keeps the airflow going on down  here which helps avoid powdery mildew so any   stems that are growing beneath the first squash  here or the first blossoms the squash doesn't   need it you can take them off so what you're going  to need to do this is a nice sharp pair of pruners   i like these because they're nice and pointed  they allow for a lot more precise trimming you   want to wear a pair of gloves because squash can  be very prickly here's my other glove here it is and then what you want to do is prune as  close to the main stem as possible so let   me bring in just a little bit closer  and show you why this is so important   what a lot of people do when they prune their  squash is they come in here with their pruners   and just clip the squash leaf right up here and  there's a lot more of the stem left and what   the problem with that is is that squash stems are  hollow and because squash is so prone to disease   when you leave this hollow stem on here it leaves  a lot more space for water to splash in there for   pests to climb up in there a lot more space  for your squash not to be a healthy plant   but what you want to do is trim it as close to  the main stem as possible because at the main stem   the stem itself whoops i'm going to trim this one  to get it out of the way so you guys can see here   at the main stem this little branch here becomes  solid i didn't quite get it close enough so let me   get in there and trim just a little bit tighter  can you see how there's this hollow space right   here so get your nice sharp precision pruners  in there being careful not to cut the main stem   and you can see right here that this  is solid which doesn't allow any   space for the pest to climb in there a  lot of people have squash vine borers   other kinds of pests that might climb  in and chew the stems of your plant   so get in here trim up all these leaves  which the squash plant doesn't need anyway give your plant more air flow helps manage the  space and helps you grow your squash up not out   and gets rid of all those unneeded stems see how that solid right there so let's get the rest of this plant trimmed  up and we'll see how much better it looks now here i've got a male flower   so i'm just going to take the stem off that's  right below that male flower because when that   male flower opens up it's going to pollinate the  female which will help me grow a lot more squash and you always want to be careful not to cut  the main stem so it's well worth moving around   the plant to make sure you get as close to  the main stem as possible without cutting it so you can see i took off quite a few leaves  here and i like to put these leaves in the green   waste bin rather than the compost pile because  sometimes they do have diseases on them   i don't want that spreading through to my garden  through the compost so a lot more room for air   flow here a lot more light is let in and what i  do now is as the leaves grow and they grow very   fast you do want to come out and check these every  couple of days is all you have to do is just push   the stems up through the cage as it grows so  don't let it get too out of control and flopping   over too much or it's going to be hard to put  it back into the cage without the stem breaking   and if you're growing in a steak on a steak what  you'll do is just tie up this main stem here   with a piece of twine or sturdy  string to the steak as it grows   well that's all there is to it guys it's very easy  to grow your squash vertically like this to save   yourself space save yourself losing your squash  to powdery mildew help you grow a lot more squash   and it's just a really fun way and visually  appealing way to grow squash as well well   let me know if you're growing squash  like this browse and sprawl that in   your garden and make sure you head over to  calikimgardenhome.com check out my seed shop   and subscribe for a lot more garden videos thanks  so much for watching we'll see on the next video

Channel: CaliKim29 Garden & Home DIY

Views: 99,222

Keywords: squash, zucchini how to grow, vertical garden, vertical garden ideas, how to grow squash vertically, how to grow summer squash vertically, powdery mildew on squash, grow acorn squash on trellis, grow squash on trellis, vertical gardening, vertical garden plants, growing squash, vertical gardening ideas, diy vertical garden, vertical gardens, grow squash vertically, summer squash, trellis, how to grow squash, vertical garden vegetables, how to grow squash on trellises

Id: I2MR4XPoGxs

Length: 7min 48sec (468 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 02 2021