The Squash Experiment

May 13, 2010 at 7:04 am (frost protection, Gardening Experiments, Square Foot Gardening)
Tags: frost protection of tender vegetables, growing squash

I’ve been neglecting the blog recently, but I’ve been taking good care of the plants.  Here’s a quick update on the squash planted the day before a predicted frost :

4-24-10:

5-07:

Here’s a close-up.  Baby squash!!   I used the male flower from the squash plant that’ s growing in a yogurt container in the house to hand pollinate the flower since this group of plants didn’t have any open male flowers.

5-12:  The squash is a little bigger and hasn’t fallen off.  Hopefully the hand pollinating took.

I’ve been putting two gallon bottles of warm water into the cold frame most nights and then covering the window of the frame with an exercise mat to keep in the warmth.  It’s the perfect size to cover the window and because it’s padded it’s got great insulation.   When it’s really cold like it’s been for the past week with overnight lows in the 30s and 40s I’ll still throw the frost blanket over the bed and/or pull the plastic covering over it. 

The only problem I’ve had so far is that there are so many pill bugs in the frame.  But they’re not bothering the plants, so I guess it’s okay.   I sure hope the weather warms up and stays warm because the next problem I’ll have is the squash growing to big to close the cold frame window.   The experiment so far is going well.

Happy Gardening!!