kitchengardner...ok...let's go first things first....
I don't know anything about winter squash...have never grown it...don't really like to eat it....I fix some every now and then for my wife, but I just have to plead complete ignorance on that
NOW....as far a pot number one, with just two plants, absolutely I would plant more in there...if this were february instead of may, I would say, start off with some lovely spinach....but we are where we are...so, maybe a yellow squash or an eggplant....maybe even a cherry tomato
on pot number 2....if it were me, I would take the cuke off the trellis and just direct it's growth to the ground (or, in my case, bricks).....this will free up all kinds of room....with a 21 inch pot, you can put in a couple more tomatoes, or your peppers....basically, whatever you want (within reason....
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you're kind of stuck this year....next year, plan in advance....decide what you are going to do, and plant the plants reasonably close to the same time....your nutritional regimen seems good....I personally would add some calcium and magnesium and sulfur....all easily obtainable....epsom salts, eggshells etc...I use calcium nitrate, but it's up to you
however much fertilizer you think you need...use less....but water them every week with some tea...made from leaf compost, fish emulsion, manure, kelp...all the things you use
early in the season (and this will be heresy to the organic purists....but I can't help it), use a little peters triple 20 or equivalent....use the kind that contains trace elements, and use it VERY SPARINGLY!....if the directions call for one spoonful per gallon, I use maybe a tenth of that....and I don't use it all the time, just in the beginning to give my plants a little extra boost....growing boys and all that
I am an organic gardener, but not fanatic about it.....but I draw the line at any sort of bug or weed poison...don't use it....never use it....your want your soil to be alive and healthy...I know you probably already know this, but, just in case
I think you'll find this works out better than you imagined....one of the reasons they advise placing plants so far apart is that it makes working them easier for big spreads...I do not (and you will not) have that problem with containers....they are all easy to work with
as I said, I believe plants like to have buddies close by, and I have taken this to mean that they don't care what species....that's why I grow mixtures of plants in several of my containers
I did not grow any beans this year, but in past I have grown bush beans in my big containers, and I sowed them like grass....and they came up like grass....you almost could not see the ground in the containers...but, we had so many beans we couldn't eat them all....out of, essentially, nine or 10 square feet
be bold....nobody told me how to do it....next year, just buy some plants and crowd them together....you'll learn what works and what doesn't....but I bet it will be much more successful than the manuals say it will be
good luck!
/dave/
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