Questions about Earth Boxes and Growing Squash in the Tropics

15 years ago

Has anyone ordered Earth boxes? What do you think of them? We have a smallish yard (which has become the dog's bathroom) so it seems like a good alternative to try to grow eating food...Have tomatoes in one and yellow squash in another, which leads me to my next question:

The squash is growing like crazy and our dream has been to have some fried yellow squash one day, but .. it flowers like crazy and then the blooms drop off ...

A friend of mine told me that they will never fruit because the nights here just don't get cold enough .. and they need cool nights ... is that true? Will I ever eat homegrown yellow squash again?

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Comments (11)

christie_sw_mo
15 years ago
Maybe there's some other type of squash that you can grow there. Is there a marketplace where they sell fresh fruits and vegetables that are locally grown? You should be able to save seeds from squash that you buy I think.
gldno1
15 years ago
I don't think that is true about summer squashes. Here we certainly have warm nights when they are producing. What stops them immediately cold weather. I am referring to Yellow Crookneck summer squash. I wouldn't give up trying them. Usually the blooms drop because they aren't being pollinated by insects. Do you have lots of little flying critters and do you see them on the blooms?
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I actually have 6 holes in my earth boxes I made and have filled them up. What you must remember is it is not so much the finite amount of space or dirt, but the finite amount of nutrients for your plants. Feeding them is necessary when you increase the amount of plants with the obvious of watering. You live in a hot zone which will wick water on some days as fast as boiling it on a stove. That is the problem with earth boxes. Feeding is simply either manure tea of horses, pigs or cattle or various emulsions one can purchase, but do not use fish emulsion as a commercial house was using that and lost their entire crop near here as the tomatoes took on a fish taste. Earth box originals note to feed with fertilizer before one plants. With massive growth feeding the baby elephant now visiting the neighbors is a good idea to keep production up. That is what greenhouses do. For your specific location the plants could roam as far as they like, but someplace like Minnesota those plants will only reach 6 feet in a good year. So weigh production you want and balance it with nutrients and your time invested, because earth boxes can be in some locations like infants needing to be fed all the time. Two plants though are not extreme. God bless.
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christie_sw_mo
15 years ago
My neighbor is using a dog pen, not for his dog but for his veggies, I think to keep the deer away. It's a small garden but it's protected.
Macmex
15 years ago
I've seen zucchini grown in tropical conditions. It sets fruit well, though, when we lived in Mexico, for some reason, I could hardly get a yellow summer squash to produce. Green zucchini produces well. Local vining squash, usually from the the same family as butternuts, did much better.

Most often, when I hear of squash plants thriving, but fruit not being set, it's because of a lack of pollination.

Missfourseasons, where are you at?

George
Tahlequah, OK
jspeachyn5
15 years ago
Oh george you should not ask that at this time of year.
At least not if you really love the warm weather as compared to the burr cold we are all "enjoying" right now. lol
I'm just teasing.
She knows how I feel about her local.
Bonnie
missfourseasons
Original Author
15 years ago
So sorry to have posted a question and then be distracted... :)

When Christie mentioned the flying little critters, it did strike me that there are not so many here. But then the squash plants did start to produce some little squash! Only problem is they would get so big and then that was it...they'd drop off.

George: Thanks for the comments. I'm living in Guam now. I really think you and Christie must have hit it on the head with the lack of pollination. I think I'm going to have to go to the Farmer's market and try to get a new idea for something else to grow and harvest...but we do really, really miss fried yellow squash! Fried green squash is just not the same thing ... Darn!!

Thanks all!
christie_sw_mo
15 years ago
You're making me feel smart but it wasn't me. It was gld. lol
If you still have blooms, maybe you could trying hand pollinating them with a q-tip.
sweetwm007
15 years ago
maybe an electric toothbrush?! i agree with the pollination issue.
william
missfourseasons
Original Author
15 years ago
I guess it was gladno 1, wasn't it? I'm sorry! I really am overdue for new reading glasses :)

But I was thinking about trying to do it myself with a q-tip, so you are still as smart as gladno, Christie :) I'm going to try that tomorrow. The plants themselves are so crazy healthy! If the q-tip thing doesn't work, then I'm going to buy some concrete and start making concrete leaves out of the leaves. They are just gorgeous!
helenh
15 years ago
Have you solved your problem?

Here is a link that might be useful: squash video
missfourseasons
Original Author
15 years ago
Helen: Thank you for the link to the squash video. Unfortunately, we yanked said squash plants out of the earth box already (actually, DH did it) ... and now I will be off to the local Farmers' Market to see what kind of vegie alternatives I have to choose from...sigh! Guess I'll have to wait til we get back to MO to eat fried yellow squash again ...

Questions about Earth Boxes and Growing Squash in the Tropics

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Questions about Earth Boxes and Growing Squash in the Tropics

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