Growing Kabocha pumpkin vine up a trellis

[HonoluluGirl]

Hi, I'm trying to grow a Kabocha pumpkin vine up a trellis. It's a premade plastic trellis that I bought from a local hardware store. It's made up of 3 vertical and multiple horizontal "sticks" fastened together in a square checkerboard pattern. The sqare openings are about 6-8 inches wide. I'm at work now so I don't have the exact measurement. The "sticks" are about 1/2 inch in diameter. The "sticks" are square, not rounded.

What I'm noticing is that the vines don't grab onto the trellis. They send out those long skinny "feelers" that should be grabbing onto the trellis. What's happening is the "feelers" do grab and wrap around the trellis, but then they change their minds and let go the next time I look at them. None of the "feelers" permanently grab the trellis. Is this because the trellis "sticks" are too wide (half inch in diameter)? Sometimes the "feelers" get a really good grip - they wrap around many times tightly. But they always let go later. Why?

[DoubleDogFarm]

Guessing on my part.

The plastic is to slippery, so the weight of the vine is unwinding the tendrils.

Kabocha are C. maxima
Pumpkin are C. pepo

It maybe a orange kabocha like "Sunshine" but it doesn't make it a pumpkin.

Eric

[HonoluluGirl]

Hi Eric,

You're right, Kabocha isn't a pumpkin. Huh. My family and friends have always called them pumpkins. They're actually a squash.
[img]https://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/r634/TemporaryPerson/Kabochapacket.jpg[/img]

Now that I'm home, here's a picture of my Kabocha plant. I'll try to tie strings between the plastic grids and hope the vine grips them better.
[img]https://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/r634/TemporaryPerson/001-1.jpg[/img]

Thanks,
Janice

[Northernfox]

it might be worth while attaching some vegetable netting to your trellis. I built my trellis out of electrical conduit and the netting. it will hold just about anything on it

if you watch the first bit of the video on my signature you can see how I did it.

[imafan26]

I know this is an old post, but to trellis any vine whether it is a squash, pumpkin, lilikoi, beans, or cucumber, it helps to tie it to the trellis. The tendrils will reach out and grab onto anything that is stable, but I also trellis vines that do not have tendrils (tomatoes ). The tendrils are blind and have to run into something to cling to. I have a lot of tendrils that like to hang out in the air and I have to redirect them back toward the trellis.

If the tendrils have started to curl they are easier to wrap around the trellis, but the weight may still be a problem so I tie the vine to the trellis too. For light vines I can use bamboo and commercial folding tomato cages, but for the heavier tomato and squashes, I use fence posts and CRW.

Fence posts and light string also work as long as it is strung tight and the posts are not too far apart. The vine's architecture will actually help to support it and at the end of the season it is easy just to cut the strings off. It is cheaper than garden netting. I just use rebar posts and nylon twine to hold up the fronds from the asparagus. PVC and aluminum tent poles cannot hold up a large pumpkin or squash vine without bending, so fence posts, rebar, conduit tubing and CRW are the best ways to go.