Apr. 26 Column: Grow Cucurbit Family Crops
Do you grow Cucurbit family crops? I’m talking about cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, and summer or winter squash. They really are one of the workhorses of the garden and are the focus of this week’s column: Warm season crops as cool as a cucumber. (or you can read my column lower in this post)
I love all of these crops, from the fresh taste of cucumbers, the succulence of homegrown melons and the abundant zucchinis to the winter-time staples of pumpkins and winter squash. All are quite easy to grow as you’ll find out in my column.
Last year, Bill and I made an arbor in our garden from livestock panels. We grew cucumbers, melons and small winter squash on it last summer. Although, to be honest, it wasn’t a roaring success because we were having problems with tree roots infiltrating all of our southernmost raised beds. But we’re giving it a go again this year and I can’t wait to see how they do!
If you’re wondering what’s in the photos above: at the very top is ‘Tuscan Napoli’ cantaloupe. It is to die for! The seeds came from Renee’s Garden Seeds. The above left photo is of light-skinned ‘Clarimore’ zucchini, another fabulous cultivar. The seeds also came from Renee’s, although it is available at additional online sources. Of course, it’s always important to check your local garden centers first!
For this week’s Everyone Can Grow a Garden video, I decided to do a late April update. The garden is really starting to come together. Take a look:
Garden column about how to grow Cucurbit family crops:
by Susan Mulvihill
With the month of May just around the corner, it’s time to think about growing warm-season crops in the garden. In the Inland Northwest, it’s usually safe to plant them after May 15 although one should always keep a close eye on the weather forecasts.
There are quite a few crops that don’t tolerate frost at all, so it’s important to be patient. Of course, this advice is coming from the person who always loves to push the envelope by using a couple of sneaky ways to get around that. More on that in a moment.
Examples of warm-season crops include beans, corn, cucurbits (cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, summer and winter squash), and members of the nightshade family (eggplants, peppers, potatoes, tomatillos and tomatoes).
Cucurbit family crops:
Cucurbits are great fun to grow and so rewarding. My current favorite cultivars (varieties) are Straight 8 and Lunchbox cucumber, Tuscan Napoli cantaloupe, Ha Ogen honeydew melon, New England Pie pumpkin, Clarimore and trombone zucchini, and Butternut, Cushaw and Delicata winter squash. Due to a heightened interest in vegetable gardening, some garden centers and online sources might not have those cultivars available but there are plenty of others to try.
While you can plant seeds for all types of cucurbits directly in the garden, I plant mine indoors two weeks before moving them out to their summer home. The controlled indoor conditions enable better germination rates and give the seedlings a great start.
How to plant Cucurbit family crops:
About a week before planting them in the garden, I cover their beds with a layer of plastic sheet mulch to warm up the soil. If there’s a factor that improves your chances for success with these crops, warm soil is right at the top of the list.
On planting day, I cut an “x” in the mulch where I want to put each seedling, dig a little hole, insert the plant and press the soil around its roots to eliminate air pockets. I water them in well and move on to the next level of pampering.
Supports for Cucurbit family crops
This involves placing hoops or another support structure over each bed and laying a sheet of floating row cover on them. This will keep the air around the young plants a little warmer, which makes a big difference. Floating row cover is a lightweight fabric that lets in light and moisture, and gives plants a few degrees of frost protection or added warmth. It can also be used as a barrier to keep insect pests away from vegetable crops that don’t require pollination.
Cucurbits need to be pollinated in order to produce fruits so I only leave the row cover in place for a couple of weeks, then remove it once the plants start blooming. That way, the pollinators can access them and work their magic. You will be amazed at how much the plants will have grown while under the cover.
I make sure they get plenty of water and feed them with a bit of fish fertilizer every other week for the first month. Then it’s time to stand back and watch them grow.
You can grow most cucurbits on vertical supports to save space as well as to give them plenty of light and good air circulation. I’ve grown cucumbers, melons, trombone zucchini and small winter squash or pumpkins on trellises or an arch made from livestock panels. Growing big winter squash such as Hubbard or champion pumpkins vertically is not an option because the fruits will be too heavy and challenging to support.