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Cornucopia - Australia

growing pumpkins on a trellis

18 years ago

Is this a dumb idea? Or just not possible?

I was thinking of trying it with a smaller pumpkin like golden nuggget, as my back yard is not really big enough to accomodate a couple of full sized pumpkin vines... not if I want to grow something else as well.

Comments (11)

greenfingers_ni
18 years ago
I think it's definitely worth a try, I've often thought about it as like you I don't have the space for sprawling things. You might need to support even the smallest of pumpkin varieties though - maybe sling them using netting or old stockings as support?

Regards,
GF
mistymorn
18 years ago
When I lived in Melbourne I had butternuts planted right at the end of the garden on the Chook Yard fence where they proceded to grow up and over all the chicken wire and settle on the Chook House Roof.

But I do remember that the pumpkins hung from the wire as well and we had a bumper crop too, thanks to the chooks, but they had something solid to grow on. So go for it and good luck I am just getting ready to plant mine now but have heaps of room for them to sit on the mulch under the trees out of the way, and at $3:98 a kg last week I will be planting lots of seeds...Cheers..MM.
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EC, One foot... this is good.. I'll be able to grow both... or at least try ;-) I've been lurking over at the SFG forum for about a month now and getting lots of good info. My one raised bed is a converted flower bed (not raised at the time) that was not doing very well. now it's 9ft long by 3ft wide and 8 inches deep with about another 3 to 4 inches of good soil under it, anything below that is clay. I have another bed.. not raised... it's 6ft by 4ft and good soil down about 12 to 14 inch.. below that again clay... this is another flower bed that is now going to be a veggie bed. This will be my first season growing tomatoes in the ground and not in containers.. same for the cucumbers. So far I have come up with the following list... all things we like to eat...... Small bed: Tomatoes Peppers Basil Carrots Cilantro Bigger bed Corn (I know not a great idea for a small area but DH really wants me to try and grow it) Cucumbers Baby Water Melons Bush Beans Celery ( already in and over wintering. Seems to be doing well) Baby Butterhead Lettuce (full size will be about 5 to 6 inches round) Strawberries The pumpkins will be in a large container and trellised on the patio as well as potatoes in a deep container. I will have to take photos once I get the yard all setup. Right now I have a small green house (cold frame) 4x4x5 setup for my banana and another green house (cold frame)6x6x6 setup for my seed starting.. heated pads and lights. That takes up most of the patio space. Thanks again for all your input. Liisa
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Squash and pumpkin seeds are normally good at room temperature for about 10 years. We live in a hot climate and often refrain from running AC, for economic reasons. Yet I have germinated squash seeds as old as 15 years. At that point I see a notable drop in germination percentage. But those clearance sale pumpkin seeds are practically as good as what will cost a lot more, come next spring. As gardengal13 mentioned, if you store them in an airtight container in the freezer you can pass them on to your grandkids to grow! Here's a true story. In 1984 I was given a ripe squash by a customer at the store where I worked, It was really really good, so I saved seed, passing some on to a friend in Tulsa, OK. I grew it in 1985. In 1985 I named it Warsaw Buff Pie Pumpkin and hand pollinated for pure seed, passing on some seed to a friend of mine. I also started, probably in 1986, to distribute it through the Seed Savers Exchange. In 2004 I was going through some old correspondence and came across my Tulsa friend's address. I wrote him, asking if he still had tomato seed, of a variety I had shared with him. He responded that he did, and that he also believed he had seed of Warsaw Buff Pie Pumpkin in his deep freeze. He found it and sent me some. It was from his 1985 grow out. I planted this seed in 2006 and had nearly 100% germination! Now, growing on a Northern exposure, that might be a problem. Squash and pumpkins require a minimum of 6 hours direct sunlight. You might try checking on that before next spring. The days are shortening now. But you could get a good idea of whether or not you receive enough sunlight in that location. George Tahlequah, OK
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greenfingers_ni
18 years ago
$3.98/kg!!!!!! At that price I'd expect them to have gold seeds inside! I take back all my complaining about $1.99/kg.
paradisi
18 years ago
It does work - or at least growing them up trees and fences works. I grow queensland blue and Jap pumpkins along fences and up some of the trees in the neighbours down the back. They are a climbing vine and will take to a trellis with relish
goldhills
18 years ago
A few months ago I came across a site about growing them on a trellis. I can't remember where it was but try googling "growing plants vertically" or similar. The people had a trellis made of galvanised pipe and where the pumpkin was growing they would support it with a metal plate or something. It seemed to be a good idea but was a large construction. You could probably adapt a similar idea. I'll have a look and see if I can find the site again.
adamus
18 years ago
I saw some growing like crazy at Sarah's last year. They're really strong and even quite big ones can be put to a trellis.
It works fine.
jampolk
Original Author
18 years ago
ALRIGHTY!!
I'll be giving it a whirl right away.
I probably need better trellis stuff than that plastic green stuff.
I'll let you know how it goes.
jp
adamus
18 years ago
She(sarah) had wire on her fence. Worked a treat. We're doing cukes and melons and butternuts on trellis this year. Good luck.
ozmantis
18 years ago
The buggers will climb anything in their path. In short, go for it. Butternuts get a lot longer hanging from something rather than growing on the ground. I found this out last year, by mistake. Must be a gravity thing eh.
Got my Hercules in and up. Sarah, have you sown them yet?
Mantis
sarah_may
18 years ago
No I'm saving the hercules for next year in my new garden. I'm just putting in quick growing stuff & some tommies & chillies in pots this year :-(
As Adam said my pumpkins grow happily up & over things, I had them under my fruit trees & as well as climbing the fence they scrambled through the trees. They do get pretty rampant so growing them up a fence is a good way to save space, but yes, they do need fairly substantial support!
albinus_optusnet_com_au
16 years ago
All varieties of pumpkin will grow on a trellis - but be warned if you get a good pollination rate on the larger varieties (e.g. Queensland Blue) then you're likely to lose the trellis under the weight of the fruit! My latest Blue vine is snaking around the garden, in between the tomatoes, onions and what's left of the broccoli. Unfortunately despite hand pollination the female flowers died before opening, so only one pumpkin this time around.

The other curcubits I have (choko and squash) seem to be doing just fine!

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