Vines, try double that and still going. Seeds of Change heirloom spaghetti squash. I built a trellis and it’s outgrown that. I decided to allow (like I had a choice) the squash to climb all over my Mortgage Lifter tomato plant, itself about 6’. No fruit yet, but the male flowers are starting to bloom. See a few female buds, but no debut just yet.

Four to six meters.

I've had them sprawl over fencing and posts over the years, too. One of my favourite squashes when they are young and tender.

Growing Coastal wrote: ↑Wed Apr 22, 2020 12:46 pm I've had them sprawl over fencing and posts over the years, too. One of my favourite squashes when they are young and tender.

I didn’t realize that spaghetti squash are good before they mature? What size or stage do you pick them and how do you prepare the immature ones?

I’m only familiar with the mature stage and steaming them, then raking with a fork to make the “spaghetti”

Not the person you are asking but any time before the skin gets hard from baby with blossom on up.
Ya just have to experament.
Now for a story if you done mind.
I used to work up in Prudhoe bay Alaska and they cooked our food.
On the menu they had butternut squash.
It wasn't butternut squash it was barely steamed raw spaghetti squash.
This went on for years.
It was horribly cold and raw and no way could you get the stuff out of the inside I mean crunchy cold and raw.
Not good, not good at all but it probably continues to this day.
I even told them it wasn't butternut squash and even if it was it wasn't cooked.
They didn't care one bit., it was like trying to eat a rock.
You don't eat raw winter squash or at least I don't, it tasted like a raw crunchy pumpkin.
Then years ago my wife tried to replace 100% durum wheat spaghetti with spaghetti squash.
Went over like a lead balloon not gonna happen.
Don't get me wrong I like the things but they ain't no spaghetti pasta replacement.
As for how long the vines can get?
As long as the season, bugs and diseases will allow it and you keep picking it.
If you pick often it will keep growing just like okra.
But that isn't how you do winter squash for the most part.
Summer squash yes.

I like spaghetti squash steamed and then made into spaghetti with a little salt and butter.

Half the fun is watching these various plants grow. Been a revelation.

I'm glad you posted this. I have spaghetti squash seeds that I'm debating on growing or not. I'm afraid they'll take over and harm other things that I'd rather eat. I've never grown squash before.

If I put it on the side of my 2-foot tall (6-foot diameter) raised bed is it possible to train it to go over the side of the bed and across the ground? Or will it grow out in every direction and resist my attempts to make it grow in one direction?

I want to do something like I did for my first time growing sweet potatoes like in this photo. Will it work?

Spaghetti squash seems open to direction. I had some secondary stems growing into the garden and I was able to put them on the trellis. The stems are pretty stiff so I was kind of careful handling them. Their tendrils really grip. The vines have a odd habit of sending down new roots way down the stem. I had roots coming out 6’ in the air, but the roots didn’t get more than an inch or so before drying up.

My original plan was for them to spill out into the grass like in your photo above, but I decided I wanted to try the trellis at the last minute.

Most winter squash will get overgrown like that, unless they are the varieties that are bred to be smaller. My butternuts grow from one end of the garden to the other, with many off-shoots - and I just turn them back to the other direction! I wish I could grow spaghetti squash, but SQB will not allow it here.

Thank you, [mention]karstopography[/mention] and [mention]pepperhead212[/mention] for the great information!

I just did some Googling and found a cool, easy to build large arching trellis that I think I might try next year (when I can go to the store to buy the supplies). Scroll down to the big arching trellis photos. She says it's made with 4 pieces of PVC piping and wire fencing then spray painted to look like metal.

https://getbusygardening.com/trellising-squash/


We're adding to my garden this year so I'll have a place to put the arch from one bed to another bed and use it to grow different vining plants each year. But for this year, I'll try to train it to sprawl across the ground or maybe up a homemade tomato trellis, back down it and then across the ground. The bed in the front left of this photo is where the squash will go this year.

If the vines get too out of control you can always cut them off. It will not harm the rest of the vine.

[mention]WoodSprite[/mention] Where did you get those huge black plastic tubs? I've never seen anything that size! Are they for gardening, or are they repurposed from some industrial use?

[mention]ddsack[/mention] those tubs are sold at Tractor Supply as watering tubs for animals or for small ponds.

I grew spaghetti squash a few years ago. It escaped my garden, and took over my neighbour's pergola

brownrexx wrote: ↑Thu Apr 23, 2020 9:15 am @ddsack those tubs are sold at Tractor Supply as watering tubs for animals or for small ponds.

I've seen rubber/plastic stock tanks, but the ones I've seen look like they sit flat on the ground all the way around. They must be making them with those criss cross indentations now for hiding the drain or fastening onto timbers? Those do look like they would make nice lily ponds!

[mention]ddsack[/mention] There are 2 kinds of plastic and we bought the rubbery one because they can survive freezing by stretching. The cheaper ones will split if the water inside freezes. We have had one of these with water lilies at our cabin for 2 years. It gets the run off from the rainspout and is always full. I use mosquito dunks to keep if mosquito free.

I think that they are made by Rubbermaid.

I have some of the smaller tubs sunk in the ground with no drain holes for elephant ears.
They have been there for many years.
Toad frogs live around them.

There are 2 kinds of plastic and we bought the rubbery one because they can survive freezing by stretching. The cheaper ones will split if the water inside freezes. We have had one of these with water lilies at our cabin for 2 years. It gets the run off from the rainspout and is always full. I use mosquito dunks to keep if mosquito free.

[mention]brownrexx[/mention] Do you remove the lily roots for storage in the winter, or is your container buried in the ground and does not freeze?

[mention]ddsack[/mention] We actually have a lotus not a lily but since the container is above ground, we remove the lotus to a large plastic tub and keep it in the unheated garage for the winter. We also have canna lilies that live in pots hooked to the edge of the pond and we bring them indoors for the winter also. We just put those pots on a tray in the garage and let them dry out for the winter.

karstopography wrote: ↑Wed Apr 22, 2020 12:55 pm

Growing Coastal wrote: ↑Wed Apr 22, 2020 12:46 pm I've had them sprawl over fencing and posts over the years, too. One of my favourite squashes when they are young and tender.

I didn’t realize that spaghetti squash are good before they mature? What size or stage do you pick them and how do you prepare the immature ones?

I’m only familiar with the mature stage and steaming them, then raking with a fork to make the “spaghetti”

Yup. Steaming is good. I picked them when they reached some size but before the skin got hard. They are greener, less starchy and sweeter when young.