How to Grow Squash Vertically...EVEN ZUCCHINI! Small Space Gardening.

I grow as many of my plants as I can vertical I use a green velcro tape to hold the stems to everything in the area. My kids have been asking me to grow pumpkins and watermelon but dread the space they take up so this year when I grow them I thought about using 3 wooden stakes in a triangle shape and making hammocks to help hold them up. Will let you know how I make out. Only going to be my 2nd yr gardening and have learned a lot from your videos and I owe you a huge Thank You for teaching me everything. My 1st garden last year was out of control. I had so many different plants growing and everything put out such a high yield of crops I actually had several life long gardeners tell me they all had a bad year and asked me how the heck I managed to get such a high yield.They all wanted to know my secrets. I started everything from seeds which they couldn't believe and everything I grew organicly using only organic everything. I still had tomatoes and peppers producing right up till October and I live in zone 6b so once again I thank you for everything. This year I'm doubling my crops so I can donate even more to. Our Senior Center and local food pantry like I did last year. So young man, give yourself a pat on the back for making dozens of happy people last year

At my old house, I had a jungle gym that rusted through at the ground. My boys carried it over to my garden and "planted" it next to my squash bed. I grew butternut squash up one ladder and acrossthee top, and watermelon up the opposite ladder and across the top. The fruit hung down from the top rungs, supported by old stockings. I also turned a children's climbing dome into a support for peas and beans. My youngest son liked to crawl inside with his friends. I have also used the side railings from an old crib as a ladder for vines to climb (I think that one was for the cucumbers). My latest idea is to use an extra chain link gate for my kiwi to climb. I haven't set it up yet, though, because I can't carry it alone. My boys will all be home in a couple of weeks, so I will have them help me get it secured in the garden. Last year, I used the chain link fence that surrounds the garden for my peas, but the elk kept eating them. So this year, I am using a pet exercise pen for my peas to climb. I have one supporting my asparagus as well. As you can see, I like to give old, out-of-need items a new job, preferably in my garden.

A few years back I used an old 8' patio umbrella (without the cloth) as a cucumber trellis. I staked twine at each plant then tied the other end to each of the 8 ribs. It was one of my favorite upcycle projects. Now I have cattle panels for all of my raised beds. My garden is tiny by many standards but with my nesting blue birds, grand daughters' mud kitchen, and many whimsical ornaments, it is the happiest place on Earth.

What I was little, my mom had a compost pile in the backyard. There were large bushes next to it. I remember going out there one day and being surprised to find pumpkins hanging from the bushes. A pumpkin seed had sprouted in the compost pile and grew up through the bushes, leaving beautiful little pumpkins hanging like Christmas tree ornaments.

Several years ago a blue hubbard squash decided to spread beyond my garden. The vine found a pear tree 20 feet away and climbed on its own before it bore fruit. That fall I harvested a 25 pound squash that found its own support in a crotch of the tree.

Here is another option. An old ladder is a good climb for plants, such as the squashes and melons. Place the veggies on the rungs, and all is good. Additionally, the ladder may be used as a decorative item. Stick in some flags or small flower containers and you have a party.

I cut a plastic grocery bag (one of those thin flimsy ones) into fat strips to tie up tomatoes, etc. They are strong, last the season & don't damage the stems as they grow.

If you have a small yard and you want a big garden, don't forget about about the roof! The first time I planted pumpkins in my tiny yard, they took over the whole place, even climbing the trees. Lightbulb moment...I built a really sturdy frame out of 2x4s and wire fencing material between the ground and first story roof. Now I plant about 20 vines in a 3'x10' space, and let them run all over the roof. I get about 200+ pounds of squash out of 30 square feet of dirt. This trick works with any full-vine variety of winter squash. But stick to winter squash, because you don't want to be making a lot of trips up onto your roof to be monitoring and picking immature fruit (like melons). With winter squash you can just wait until the vines start to die and pick them in one or two sessions. Pro tip: don't let the vines set fruit in your gutter, you will regret that later.

I used pipe cleaners to tie up my zucchini. It worked well and was easy to use.

If you go to home depot, they usually have 'scrap' wood like the ones used for the summer squash for up to 80% off. You can ask any employee about discounted wood and they'll take you right to it.

I repurposed old wooden clothes drying racks for my cukes and squash

Another alternative to cattle panels in Europe might be concrete reinforcing mesh. It comes in various sizes of hole, but I have seen it looking pretty much like the cattle panels in the video. Find it in builders merchants.

Great tips, I’m going to try them! Everybody, please avoid using zip ties and any plastic as much as possible. It ends up in the ocean or in the soil and it’s killing a lot of innocent wildlife. (And us) If you’re into gardening I’m sure you want to do it as impact-free as possible and avoiding plastic is is a big help.

I took your tips and support literally. After negotiating my neibours fence and reaching their washing line, I liberated several bras, great support for melons

Haha, yes I found a video on growing zucchini vertically and I did that. As Solomon said in the Bible, there is really nothing new under the sun 😊. Good tips. Thank-you!

I"m growing in 15-gallon storage containers, using a combination of 6' bamboo poles and 16 gauge wire fencing that comes in a roll. I have watermelon, cantaloupe, and miniature butternut squash. So far everything is doing extremely well

I really like the idea of staking summer squashes. The only downfall would be if you got an infestation of squash borers. If the plant stalk still has access to the ground, you can put soil farther up from the infestation and it will root again so the plant can continue producing fruits and not relying on the main compromised root system.

A good cheap alternative to cattle panels is concrete reinforcement mesh. It's like a bunch of narrow gauge rebar welded together in a square grid.

Trying to grow my zucchini using 4' wooden stakes this year in my raised beds. So far so good! They are training well and I love that the leaves, flowers and fruit are off the ground! Sure saves space! Last year grew my baby butternut squash utilizing a cattle panel and it worked really great with lots of great squash. Love em!

I'm new to gardening and after looking a lot of video on Youtube, I decided to use the square foot gardening ( 3 raise bed 8X4). Oh boy even going vertically, it's not easy to keep squash within one sqare foot.