Root Spaces

[greenfingerrach]

hi everyone, in your experiences, how much root space would a butternut squash plant need?

i live in a rented house and we are fortunate to have a small private garden area, however, it has no soil, just stones over black lining so i have had to resort to troughs for my butternut squash. i have started them off inside, and giving them some time in my starter house outside but now the leaves are enourmous and i was wondering if their roots will have enough room to establish in the troughs? are these plants known to have large spreading roots?

thanks for any advice!

[Snadger]

Welcome to the vine greenfingerrach!

I dont think it's the size of the roots that are the problem, it's the surface area of the leaves!
The area of leaves that are exposed to the sun on a hot day will mean that through transpiration a lot of water will be lost through the leaves.
That water needs to be replaced and if you haven't a large enough pot/trough even watering two or three times a day will not be enough.

Either heavy mulches or water retaining granules may be the answer?

When planted in the ground cucurbits are usually panted in a 1 foot square hole filled twith well rotted manure. This retains the moisture and trickle feeds the plant!
Some cucurbits actually send down secondary roots where the stem touches the soil which further helps with replemishing used water.

[queen of the cobs]

I would generally agree with Snadger but would say I did manage to grow a butternut last year in a pot and got 4 fruits from it, yum. It was a big pot though, and I spent my summer watering it!

[zazen999]

Hi
I've grown lots of stuff in pots, esp in our first year of gardening. We grew both cukes and courgettes in pots that were shallow but wide.

I'd put the squash in the middle of the trough. Fill with soil and feed with tomato feed once a week.

You'll have to water on hot days at least twice a day, if you can't do that you might have to get a deep tray to put the trough on and top that up every day.

You've got nothing to lose by trying it and it sounds as if you are halfway there already.

[greenfingerrach]

thanks everyone, that it actually really helpful!