help with winter squash and melons!

I'm a little confused as to how many squash plants to grow per square foot. I found these planting guidelines for SFG w/growing squash:

Cantaloupe 2
Pumpkins 2
Summer squash 1 or 9
Tomatoes, determinate 4
Tomatoes, indeterminate 1 or 4 or 9

1 or 4 or 9
Watermelon 2
Winter Squash 2
Zucchini 1 or 9

Unfortunately what confuses me is this. It gives the number but what does this number represent? Are the numbers referring to how man you grow per square foot, or how many of the squares you use to grow one plant?

Here is an example to clarify.....

With cantaloupe it says '2'. Does that mean you can grow 2 cantaloupe plants per square foot, or that you need 2 square feet (2 of the boxes) to grow one cantaloupe plant?

It gets even more confusing with something like this.....

Tomatoes, indeterminate 1 or 4 or 9

Zucchini 1 or 9

The reason it's MORE confusing with this is you have two numbers. Example is for zucchini; says '1' and '9'. Which number do I use, and WHAT is it referring to? Unfortunately the stupid site doesn't really specify, it just gives the numbers as a general guideline.

I'm going to assume if you do vertical gardening (that is you have a trellis so the vines have something to climb) you can grow more of the squash and melon plants per SFG square?

Last but not least, I'd like to know this. How many melon and squash plants can you grow per SFG square using vertical gardening, and how many per SFG box without using vertical gardening technique?

Feistywidget wrote:I'm a little confused as to how many squash plants to grow per square foot. I found these planting guidelines for SFG w/growing squash:

Cantaloupe 2
Pumpkins 2
Summer squash 1 or 9
Tomatoes, determinate 4
Tomatoes, indeterminate 1 or 4 or 9

1 or 4 or 9
Watermelon 2
Winter Squash 2
Zucchini 1 or 9

Unfortunately what confuses me is this. It gives the number but what does this number represent? Are the numbers referring to how man you grow per square foot, or how many of the squares you use to grow one plant?

Here is an example to clarify.....

With cantaloupe it says '2'. Does that mean you can grow 2 cantaloupe plants per square foot, or that you need 2 square feet (2 of the boxes) to grow one cantaloupe plant?

It gets even more confusing with something like this.....

Tomatoes, indeterminate 1 or 4 or 9

Zucchini 1 or 9

The reason it's MORE confusing with this is you have two numbers. Example is for zucchini; says '1' and '9'. Which number do I use, and WHAT is it referring to? Unfortunately the stupid site doesn't really specify, it just gives the numbers as a general guideline.

I'm going to assume if you do vertical gardening (that is you have a trellis so the vines have something to climb) you can grow more of the squash and melon plants per SFG square?

Last but not least, I'd like to know this. How many melon and squash plants can you grow per SFG square using vertical gardening, and how many per SFG box without using vertical gardening technique?

This looks like the numbers are how many squares it takes for each plant. Zucchini, for instance, has some varieties (rare) that are vining, and therefore you can trellis it and use only 1 square. However, most Zucchini are bush-type and are BIG space hogs (altho' there is a thread that talks about pruning your bush zukes to control their space to 1 or 2 squares). Indeterminate tomatoes can be trellised and take up only 1 square. However, if you choose not to trellis, they will sprawl and will take up the 4 to 9 squares, depending on the variety (some are relatively small for a vine, and some can grow 10+ ft up a trellis, so if sprawling, BEWARE!). The cantaloupe and watermelon definitely take up 2 squares for each plant, even if trellised. I had 2 cukes on a 4' wide trellis (2 squares per plant) and they STILL managed to take it over, as well as the rest of the box, and the walkway, and the next tomato trellis across the walkway, etc.

Just remember to check your seed packets - bush will take up the larger number of squares, vining can use the smaller number if grown vertically (trellised). Vining will need more squares if you do not trellis, unless you have it on the outside edge and train it into your walkway, lawn, driveway, anywhere but the rest of your precious SFG space!

GG

GG