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growing 'Seminole' squash in trees
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Posted by Greenwitch Sz19 SoCal (My Page) on Fri, Jun 3, 05 at 15:53
| I've got two healthy plants I grew from seed bursting out of their quart pots and I'm planning to grow them into a mature apple tree. I'm wondering if the type of tree matters, something tells me I might thin the tree to let more sun in. Any advice or experience reports would be much appreciated. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: growing 'Seminole' squash in trees
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| I can tell you how the Native Americans here in Florida used to grow these squash. They would first girdle a large tree (Oak, etc.) to kill it and then plant the squash around it. These squash are pretty vigorous--I once had one plant that grew to be over 100 feet in length. My only concern is that these rapidly growing squash plants could do some damage to your apple trees especially after they started setting fruits, it can add up to be a lot of weight. I hope this helps. |
RE: growing 'Seminole' squash in trees
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Oh my God - KILL an oak tree. Well, now I know the rest of the story. I won't be trying on those moccasins, ok now I've got to figure our where to plant these seedlings so they don't take over the world. Are the squash really delicious, worth it right?
Thank you so much RipFL. |
RE: growing 'Seminole' squash in trees
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| Yes the squash (we call them pumpkins here)are absolutely worth it. They are resistant to mildew and squash borers, can keep up to a year if kept in a cool, dark place, have stingless flesh, and at least to me, are the absolute best for making pumpkin pies and fritters you'll ever run across. My family has grown them for years, often interplanted in a patch of corn so they can ramble without taking over too much. You can keep turning the ends of the vines back on themselves to keep them in a smaller spot. Just don't give them fertilizer high in nitrogen. I've used fertilizer with a 2-10-10 analysis with good results. Good luck and enjoy your Seminole pumpkins--er--squash. Whatever you call them, they're delicious. |
RE: growing 'Seminole' squash in trees
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| A lot of Asian and Mexican families in California grow chayote squash into their trees. Most of the time, they'll have some ornamental tree or eucalptus. But I've seen them grow on apple trees. They'll get rambling over 50' and more. The problem is, if the apple tree is infested with aphids, ants or other pest, these leaves provide an extra place for them to hide and multiply. I know one family that got over 60 squash in a season, but come the fall, their apple tree looked fairly sick. Few apples, they all had worms inside, the leaves looked like they had powdery mildew and other things. It doesn't sound like a good idea to me. |
RE: growing 'Seminole' squash in trees
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| Thanks for the warnings, I think I've bitten off more than I can chew with this one, mebbe better ask some local farmer if they will grow it out for me. Still, I'd love to experience the flavor of Seminole. |
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