Re: Tatume squash

[Pat Kiewicz]

>Can I remove a few leaves from squash vines (where they have run into my >bush beans and are shading them) without hurting the vines? How about >cutting the growing tips out of the vines where they have run 20 to 30 feet >and are about to grow into the lawn -- and my neighbors' lawns.

Loosing a few leaves shouldn't hurt. I never intentionally prune the tips of my running vines, but I do attempt to turn them and run them in directions that are safer or more convenient, or at least, slightly less inconvenient. Occasionally the tips do get pruned off by a badly placed foot. 8^)

[IC_Gardener]

I have removed many lower leaves from my pumpkin vines that I have climbing up a trellis. I worried that the hollow leaf stems would provide an entrance for insects and disease, but they all did fine. I would wait until the plant has some size, but that doesn't seem to be a problem in your case.

IC_gardener Iowa City, Iowa Zone 5a

[V_coerulea]

[zxcvbob]

The three vines have about 50 ends, and I'm having trouble keeping up with 'em. :-) I'm running out of places to turn them. It's like the Hydra. I picked my first 3 squash today, and should have another 20 by Sunday.

Bob

[zxcvbob]

It is a summer squash that grows on a vine that looks like a pumpkin vine. Like a trombone squash. The squash look like little light green pumpkins.

Hydra was a mythical serpent monster with lots of heads, and if I recall correctly when Hercules cut off a head, two immediately would grow back. I haven't cut any yet, but the vines are branching and rerooting at almost every node.

Bob

[Dwayne]

Bob, you should be able to cut part or all of a vine off the plant with out hurting the rest of it, as long as it is healthy. How do you kill a squash anyway? Are you raising winter or summer squash? I planted over 14 kinds last year, and 10 this year, but I have never heard of a Hydra. Always looking for a new one to try that tastes good.

Dwayne