Planting squash/pumpkins in sweet corn rows?

[Fisch]

Has anyone ever tried to grow winter squash/pumpkins by planting in the same rows as sweet corn? My thoughts were to plant the corn, then transplant the squash into the same rows a few weeks later. I would then cultivate until the vines started to spread and fill in the rows, thereby creating making a living mulch within the corn and double cropping one area. The downside I see is the difficulty in harvesting the corn without stomping on the vines. I have heard that pumpkins and winter squash are raccoon deterrents and thought this might be worth a try to keep them at bay. Any thoughts or experience with this?

[Patrick]

You're about 1000 years too late. The native Americans did it, with beans too. They called them the three sisters. Sure, it'll work, and there are some practical benefits to it, but if it were still that efficient of a practice, everyone would still be doing it.

[Callieslamb]

It would work better with feed corn so you don't have to tromp the pumpkins to harvest the corn. I did this one year and it worked okay. Clover inbetween the corn rows worked much better.

[MichaelK!]

Do some research on growing the "three sisters", corn, squash, and beans.

This is a productive technique first developed by the American Indians. The corn gets planted first, then beans, then squash (I think). The corn acts as the trellis for the climbing beans, which adds nitrogen to the soil for the corn, and the squash acts as the mulch that keeps the soil weed-free, which keeps all three plants happy.

Problem with it is that it doesn't lend itself to mechanical harvesting as monoculture does, but if you're willing to trip over the vines, I suppose you might be able to grow a lot of food.

Good luck!

[Faith]

I grew my cucumbers up my corn stalks one year. It worked really well. I did have to train them up though. It was really easy picking.

[Faith]

Wow. I want to try the three sisters method. I love this site!

[pancho]

I am planning on doing some 3 sister planting this year.
Mine will be in raised beds. Just have to decide which corn, squash, and beans to use.

[lemonthyme7]

I planted winter squash in with my corn 2 years ago. My corn was not sweet corn though - it was a dent type corn I was growing for cornmeal so I didn't have to harvest it until the end of the season. It worked pretty good, although I didn't plant directly in the corn row. I planted the corn and planted the squash in the space between the rows of corn (where you would walk). I do think if I was harvesting sweetcorn it would have been a challenge because the vines got pretty thick but I could probably have done it if I was careful. The only problem I had was that the squash in the thickest shade of the corn did not produce as well as the squash towards the outer edges and ends. This might be because I planted pretty intensively and would probably have worked better if my rows were a little further apart. All in all it worked pretty good for me and I got a decent crop of both corn and squash.

[Faith]

Oh! I never though of doing it in my raised beds. What a great Idea.

[geo in mi]

On family farms, a lot of pumpkins were planted on the ends of the south facing fields, where the corn in the turn rows were mashed down by the tractor in the early cultivating process. One could plant the pumpkins in the last part of the rows just where the tractor started making its turn and mashing down the stalks. By the end of the cultivating period, the pumpkins could then spread out and fill up the space where there was good sunlight and only a few cornstalks left--but still fertilized from the planter.....Most corn was not picked or shucked until after frost, so the pumpkin harvest came first, then the corn. It was a good way to utilize otherwise wasted space and fertilizer--made some pretty good animal fodder, too

The Three Sisters method was used throughout the Americas--the most commonly known--and most useful for today's gardeners is that of planting in three to five foot, flat topped mounds that are fairly permanent and very fertile, and used continuously for a number of years. These permanent plots were made as continuous compost heaps, where all the crop residues, plus fish wastes, other cooking wastes, and perhaps human wastes, were incorporated back into the mounds.

If you are looking at the Three Sisters method, you need to keep in mind, then, that it is not just a one year shot, but a process that lasts over several seasons as you build up your soil for continuous cropping. You must realize a couple of other things: Corn and squash are nitrogen hungry--their roots will compete with each other to get it....., and beans do not supply nitrogen during their first year(a bean plant develops nodules to capture nitrogen for its own use first, then it dies, microbes eat the vegetation and then they die, thus finally releasing the nitrogen). Only by returning all the dead vegetation back to the mound--plus adding nutrients to replace those which left in the food you ate--will you be able to sustain the system.

geo

[FarmboyBill]

Always soak your seed in a slurry, with that nitrogen powder.

[hintonlady]

I planted a three sisters garden next to a conventional garden. I had great results. The corn provided something for the pole beans to grip and grow on. The squash spread out between the corn and the shade the leaves provided helped keep weeds down. My three sisters grew much nicer than the rest of the garden and was almost weed free when the rest of the garden was a weedy disaster.

I have also read that one of the plants puts nitrogen in the soil that another one of them needs to grow well. not sure how it works exactly, been awhile.

[Home Harvest]

I feel obligated to provide a less glowing result.

If you plant as the native americans did, in hills, and grow dent type corn, this is probably an acceptible method.

Planted in rows of sweet corn (as in my trial) was a disaster. Not only did the squash vines make it hard to harvest the corn, but the beans also tended to jump from row to row, forming a barrier to access. I also found it difficult to harvest the beans (these were green snap beans [Blue lake I believe], not dry beans) as the corn was not tall enough, and the beans turned back down the corn stalks.

I admit, I have not tried to repeat the trial planting in hills. Since I don't grow dent corn, or dry pole beans, I don't see any advantage for my use. My bean poles are 8 feet tall, and my beans easily reach the top. I can walk under the poles and harvest beans hanging under the leaves. My sweet corn is harvested by the end of august and tilled for a fall crop of greens. The squash would still be growing at that point. I hill my rows of sweet corn, due to wind, and this would be impossible with squash growing there.

Again, all of my objections are based on what I grow, and how I grow it. If I were willing to use the seed types and growing methods of the native americans, I'm sure the 3 sisters would have merit.

[Marilyn]

I altered the Three Sisters to fit my needs. The plot was circular, I grew sweet corn, planted pole beans near it after the corn reached about 6 inches, then planted four varieties of squash and pumpkins in quarters all around the perimeter. I trained the squash vines to maintain a dense perimeter and it did an amazing job of keeping the little 4-legged bandits out of the sweet corn.

I plan to try it again this year, but use the plan accurately as this year I will grown dent corn and beans to dry in that circular garden.

I like to plant in freshly tilled earth barefooted, and I cannot begin to tell you the thoughts that went through my mind whenever I was in that garden. I could not help but think of all those that had gone before me in this exact spot. It was quite a religious experience.

I hope you try it Fisch - and be sure to let us know what you think.

[honeyrobber]

It works great with vine type squash and pumpkins but does not work well here with bush type squash as they get powdery mildew without a good air flow. The next problem is harvesting. I do things on a larger scale for farmers markets. So it is not like there is only 2-3 rows of corn. My smallest block is 7 rows wide and 200 feet long. To pick sweet corn you are stepping on the vines and killing them and then your ground is tied up for short season fall crops. I prefer growing these monoculture

[Maura]

Keep in mind that the Indians also tossed a fish in the mix to act as fertilizer. They grew in patches or hills, the Europeans didn't even recognize the gardens as gardens.

[ronbre]

well doing permaculture there are very few things i put in rows but sweet corn is one of them..as sweet corn is wind pollinated I plant it in blocks..not exactly rows..but yes..absolutely plant your squash in the sweet corn patch..it is great for the corn and the squash and the coons don't like the prickly squash vines..

[Fisch]

I am thinking that maybe the best option is to plant the corn, interplant with red clover after a few cultivations, and surround the corn with pumpkins and squash, with pumpkins around the later plantings, squash around the earlier. That will make the most efficient use of the space I think.

[Old Swampgirl]

I grew baby butternut squash b/t sweet corn. After harvesting the corn, I cut off the stalks to give the squash more sun. Both did well.

[NickieL]

I've done it with great success!!