No Powdery Mildew on my Climbing Squash – Diary of a Rocket Gardener

I don’t think I’ve ever seen my squash plants quite so heavy with powdery mildew as I have this summer/autumn. They have been really badly affected with the warm, wet weather we’ve had here in Cornwall over the past few weeks. The fruits are still looking ok though so I’m not too worried.

However, I have been interested to see that the buttercup squash that has climbed its way up the old wrought iron fence has still got beautifully healthy green leaves. I don’t know if you can really see it clearly in this photo, but behind the fence are the squashes growing along the ground and there’s quite a marked difference.

The easy air circulation that the plant has when climbing has made all the difference, and it’s definitely got me thinking that next year I may just grow all my squashes vertically up the fence, and prune them quite heavily. As yet, there seems to be no problem at all for the plant to hold the weight of the squash, so it seems really easy. It looks so great too and would open up a whole lot more space for other crops. It’s definitely food for thought in case others were thinking of growing vertically next year too!