Can I grow zuchinni on the top of compost?

[Joyfirst]

I have a tiny community garden plot, but I do have two open top compost bins. One is almost full and I always do cold compost(no turning), so I am thinking, maybe I could put some soil on top and grow zuchinni on top to save some space. What do you think?

[cynthia_h]

I think you'll have an ecstatically happy zucchini plant. Don't know if it will bother to set fruit for you, but it will grow like crazy! It might be so busy growing that it just "forgets" about the fruit...but what a terrific experiment.

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

[Joyfirst]

But why? I always grow things in almost pure compost in my raised beds(square foot gardening) and they do have nice leaves and also nice fruit.

[cynthia_h]

That was my experience in Berkeley; I filled a large terra-cotta pot with 100% compost. The pot is (I still have it) about 18" across at the top and maybe 12" across at the bottom. I planted zukes. I got lots of vines, but only 2 actual squash. Maybe there was too much nitrogen in the compost, and it encouraged more growth than fruiting (phosphorus and potassium are needed for flowers and fruits). These are the "NPK" of traditional salt-based fertilizers, but compost provides the whole spectrum of nutrients. I just think my batch, new out of the BioStack, may have been nitrogen-rich.

The next season I mixed some potting mix in with the now-seasoned compost and planted something else in the pot. I can't remember now; I lived in Berkeley during the '80s and '90s, until 1997.

Cynthia

[Joyfirst]

Hmmm. I guess, then I will experiment with that zuchinni and plant another one just in case.Thank you, Cynthia.

[Joyfirst]

Okey, so here are results so far - zuchinni is growing and producing fruit pretty well. I just got one problem-as compost is sinking down, my zuchinni is getting less and less sun-I might have to take the sides down.[img]https://farm5.static.flickr.com/4066/4686625957_93f968e8f1.jpg[/img]
[img]https://farm2.static.flickr.com/1274/4686626825_7e4d10c6c1.jpg[/img]

[Gary350]

I have a volunteer squash plant growing on top of my compost and it is doing fine.

[vermontkingdom]

I had several hot pepper plants and one winter squash left over from planting the major garden and couldn't stand the thought of throwing them away. So, I planted them on top of one of my compost piles. That was was several weeks ago. My goodness, those plants are growing like gang busters. I don't have any squash flowers yet but I do have lots of small peppers. Considering the fact I planted 32 different varieties of hot peppers in the large garden the last thing I need is more peppers but still, it's nice to know this works as well.

[garden5]

I grew several on it last year, but I must confess that my compost is more dirt rather than pure organic matter. They did well, nonetheless.

Yours looks great !

[buddy110]

I grow my tomatoes in pure compost. This year they're almost 6' tall