Good Squash for Height Growth

Advantages to Trellising

• Trellising vining varieties of squash requires training the squash plant up a trellis or other support as it grows. One advantage to vining squash varieties is their increased fruit production. When you grow your vining squash on a trellis or fence, the growing squash do not come into contact with the soil, which can lead to rot in ground-growing squash. Trellising also allows you to grow squash, which typically take up a lot of space, in a more compact area.

Summer or Winter

• When growing squash, you have the option of summer varieties, which are harvested in an immature state when the shell is still soft and edible, or winter squash, which are also known as hard shell. There are vining types in both categories. "Tatume" squash (Cucurbita pepo) is one of the few vining varieties of summer squash, but if left on the vine to further mature, the fruit can be picked as a hard shell winter squash that resembles an orange soccer ball. "Trombetta" (Cucurbita moschata) is another variety of vining summer squash. Most other summer squash are bush type squashes, and many winter squashes are vining like acorn (Cucurbita pepo) and butternut (Cucurbita moschata).

Bush or Vine

• Not all squash send out long vines. Most summer squash are the bush type, including zucchini (Cucurbita pepo) and crookneck squash (Cucurbita pepo), and do not have the vining habit to go up a support structure, but there are some exceptions to this rule, like "Climbing Trombocino" (Cucurbita pepo). This vining squash sends out vines up to 72 inches long, which allows for its growth up a 5-foot tall trellis. Most winter squash are vining, but "Burpee Butterbush" and "Table King" are bush types. Vining types of winter squash send out vines at least 6 feet, and if trained onto a trellis, you can get at least 5 feet of visual height from these and other vining types of squash. Otherwise, the height of the squash will only be up to 3 feet tall.

Supporting the Squash

• One of the problems you will encounter when growing winter squash on a trellis is that the squash fruits can weigh down the vines. Cut-off pieces of women's hose, plastic mesh or cheesecloth tied to the trellis make perfect slings to hold up the developing pumpkins or other large winter squash. The material you use should breathe and dry quickly to prevent mold and rotting on the fruit.