Which vegetables need stem support?

[paulnjgarden]

Again, I'm a newbie, so this question will be pretty elementary:

I've got a bunch of summer squash that are growing huge leaves (and looking great quite frankly) but the stems are a bit flexible so they're bowing over. I'd say they're less than a foot tall at this point (6" maybe); I'm using skewer sticks to support them but is this necessary if they're supposed to 'sprawl?'

Also radishes (picture below) - the leaves look healthy but the stem is laying down on the dirt. Is this common?



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[jal_ut]

The radishes are fine. You do not need to support the squash vines unless you plan to trellis them. Just let them do their thing.

[rainbowgardener]

Yes, squash are vines, they sprawl and creep and crawl across the ground. That's what they do and it is ok...

[applestar]

The black plastic is going to prevent the squash from setting down roots as they sprawl. i've found that those secondary root systems are invaluable in keeping the squash plants alive even a little while longer if the SVB gets to them.

[paulnjgarden]

Hey thanks for all the replies!

It's actually not plastic, it's porous landscape fabric. Where do the secondary roots come from? I can make sure the fabric is cut through in those places if so.

[Gary350]

The black plastic will also keep rain from watering your plants.

Been there done that.