I am growing zuchini in containers and they are doing just fine. I planted 4 in half gallon flower pots and transplanted the best one into a ten gallon container (rubbermaid with holes drilled in the bottom) then did not feel like ripping the other three out and had no where to transplant them and did not really need 4 zuchini so I left them in the half gallon pots. They produced zuchini-and are still producing zuchini-the one I put in the ten gallon container is much bigger but has yet to produce a zuchini. My point is that not all plants need "ideal" growing conditions. You may do very well with one plant in a 15 gallon container. You may find you need to water more frequenly in container then in the ground but if you don't mind getting 13 squash instead of 15 just work with what you have. I feed my container squash frequently-weekly-and I actually have to water the ones in the tiny containers twice per day.

Thanks to all who answered. I now live in TN and this is my first year gardening. My soil is zero and instead I have chert and shale. I grew some squash for the squash bugs (hundreds) and some in a bag of topsoil. As this plant grew it dipped into a bucket of water nearby and I let it. This variety grows to 15 -30 lbs.each squash. I have one round green striped squash on this plant. Another plant wandered under and around my deck, It has three squash on it. One is about 18 inches long, one 12 and one about eight inches. The trouble is the vines are starting to die. I will try the paper towel and foil method and let you know how it turns out. Soup sounds yummy. Thanks PS I was a master gardener in GA and had gardens in other states.

Mary When the squash is ready, it will break off the vine easily. I grew Seminole pumpkins last year, and this year I am growing Delicata squash. Winter squash and sweet potatoes need time to cure for at least a few days. They become sweeter this way. Otherwise they have a more starchy flavor. Some people prefer them this way. You could do the test yourself. Eat one just picked, and other after 7 days of picking. I did that last year with the Seminole and I could taste the difference. Silvia

I don't know how long it takes but it should be on the seed package or a seed site online. I leave them in the field until after the first light frost, oh yeah, you're in Florida! ( sorry, I forgot. lol!) You'll have to go by the number of days. The little curly thing near the fruit should be dead when it's ready, or you can thump it to see if it sounds hollow. (I have never been able to get that, myself. ) When I lived in Ontario I kept my squash in a damp stone root cellar under the very old house spread out on wooden pallets. Many didn't last very long, occasionally one would keep into Jan and the mice nibbled on them, even with two cats. Here in BC, I live on the top floor of a house, our office is on the ground floor and there's a large basement under that. I kept the squash in the office, closed in the wintertime, on an open wire shelf unit with the heat set at 10c to keep the pipes from freezing. It's much drier here than in Ontario also. They all kept much longer. We cooked the last one last week and it was still hard! Last year I left them out in the garden to harden in the sun for a few weeks after cutting off the vine, rolling them every few days or so then brought them in. I didn't do that in Ontario because of the fall rain and the damage from deer running over them, which happened a lot. I'm doing it again this year. I'm impressed with how long they lasted here last winter! I have read that they keep well at a cool room temp so if you have a cool room in your house, I would look at storing them there, someplace with good air circulation and spread out so not to touch each other. They're space hogs.