Butternut squash in containers?

[razyrsharpe]

can this vining winter squash be grown successfully in containers? I have several plants in the ground with many more seedlings to plant and I want to experiment with containers this year. has anyone ever tried this? what were your results? thanks!

[razyrsharpe]

looks like no one wants to weigh in on this issue. so yesterday I bit the bullet and filled two five-gallon pots with 1/3 each peat moss, mushroom compost and manure and planted three 6" seedlings in each pot. we will see how they do, and report it back here.

[opabinia51]

Oh, I wish I'd seen this one before.


A few points on peat moss:

The harvesting of peat from peat bogs is a bit of an environmental nightmare as the peat bogs are being stripped of their biodiversity, furthermore they are a carbon sink and the locked up carbon is being exposed to the atmoshpere.

Furthermore, peat has little to no available nutrients for plants and it is very hard to wet properly. Even if the top and bottom is wet, the center may still be bone dry.

Some alternatives are Cocoa bean hulls, coconut hulls, potting soil, leaf mold and so on.

Leaf mold is great because you can make it yourself for free and it is loaded with micro and macronutrients.

Your squash should do fine in pots, just make sure you use larger pots and realize that sqaush take up a lot of room.

[razyrsharpe]

an update...
squash is living and healthy....but growing VERY slowly. this is a vinining plant and I literally have seedlings still in seedling trays that are bigger. will give a shot of fertilizer tomorrow and cross my fingers.