Zukes in a pot

General Gardening
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Two questions:

  1. If I were to try to grow zucchini in a container, how big of a container do I need?

  2. If I grow my zucchini on my deck, which is 1 story above ground level, in a soilless media, can I avoid the damn squash vine borers?

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  1. big the better. Half barrel
  2. probably not
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I think the best thing you can do for a zucchini in a container is start with the soil no more then 1/2 full. it makes it easier to cover and protect from SVB. Second after the plant starts to reach size you can fill the rest of the pot with soil and it will root from the covered stems

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SVB is so bad here. Even the first year I had cucurbits.

Squashes bear for about two weeks, and then die. It doesn’t seem to matter what I spray them with or anything.

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Borers are tough, and one of the pests that even crop rotation doesn’t really help with. They’ll fly in from quite a distance. I’ve never actually gotten around to doing this, but a succession planting is really the only way to keep up with them on bush type squash without a careful and calculated pesticide application. On the vining types, you can do surgery and remove the borers and they recover nicely. Bush types, not so much. Immature butternut squash makes a pretty nice zucchini, and they are highly resistant to borers, so that may be an alternative.

Edit: You can also use row cover to exclude them, but you have to open it up for pollinators and I’ve had a hard time keeping it truly sealed.

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Can you recommend some vining types of zucchini?

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I don’t know of any true vining types that are selected for summer squash use. Costata Romanesca rambles a bit, but it’s really more of a vigorous bush than a vine. Any squash can be eaten young as a zucchini/calabasitas, but quality varies a lot. I’ve heard Long Pie makes an OK zucchini. It may be worth experimenting with some winter squash or pumpkins that you already like to grow. All the moschata types are pretty much immune to borers. That includes zucchini rampicant aka tromboncino (I’ve heard extremely mixed reviews on its worthiness). I like young butternut and Seminole pumpkin, the latter is actually quite good at a half-ripe stage just before the shell starts to color, but it will absolutely take over your garden (vines to 30+ feet).

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The seeds are kind of expensive, but Centercut squash will have a place in my garden from now on. Last year was the first time I grew it. It’s a grower and produced until freeze. Just thought I’d chime in. :seedling:
Edit: it certainty didn’t take 70 days to produce in NE Ohio.

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If you are willing to use organic-approved sprays well-timed sprays of Bt + spinosad would probably work. This is a bit of a double-dip on ingredients though as both are effective moth poisons - the SVB being a clear-wing moth.

I grew pumpkins doing this and was around to see several visits of the dreaded squash vine borer - planting the pumpkin plants next to my kids swing really helped in monitoring, ha! I did not lose any vines to SVB. Of course, there was no risk of us eating sprayed pumpkins. You could probably avoid the risk by making targeted applications to the stems, however.

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I see spinosad is highly toxic to bees, how would you mitigate the harm to pollinators? Focus the spray on the stems?

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Spray it late in the day and try not to get it on flowers. Don’t squash flowers only open during the early day, also?
Toxicity of dried spinosad is low to bees.

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zucchini grow like weeds here and have no insect issues. we can get dozens of them from a few plants.

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Here they grow great and beer like crazy for 3 weeks. Then they die overnight from the SVB.

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14

stop showing off.

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my father used to have so many he used to trade them for other stuff. his zucchini ‘‘bushes’’ would grow 4’ft tall and wide. the fruits were huge. as kids we used to pretend they were clubs. my aunt used to make a stuffed zucchini dish with meatballs and sauce that was to die for. i also like to make fried breaded zucchini fries dipped in a horseradish sauce.

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16

This I need.

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@lordkiwi , me too!!
@moose71, please tell us you have your aunt’s recipe, and will share??

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@moose71
Honestly what I need is a good recipe for Meatballs I can get a good tomato sause but meatballs never come out right.

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I haven’t actually tried this recipe yet, but Serious Eats has yet to steer me wrong:

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I have several meatball recipes we love, so that’s not a problem. But getting my family fired up about zucchini in anything… well, they are skeptical. @moose71 Is the stuffed zucchini recipe something like “zucchini boats”? hollowing them out slightly to make a boat, and fill with meatballs and sauce?

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