Vining cucurbits in beds under about 2 m (6 to 8 ft) escape the bed.
Well established A person has checked it against its sources. If you skip this, you lose real yield. The planner warns you.
How it works
Vining squash and pumpkins run along the ground and take up a lot of space: the guides space large-vined ones in rows 6 to 8 feet (1.8 to 2.4 m) apart, so a narrower bed leaves them nowhere to go but out.
What to do about it
Specify bush habit for beds under 4 sq m, or accept sprawl.
The evidence
Evidence: checked against 2 sources in the research-based literature.
The 2 sources
Large-vined varieties should be planted 3 to 5 feet apart in rows that are 6 to 8 feet apart
Pumpkins and winter squash vines run, or grow along, the ground and take up a lot of space
How this rule has changed
Every change is dated, newest first. The full record, with each reason, is in the data download.
- Details updated
- A person read the sources and confirmed it
- Details updated
- Added to the rules
Cite this page
Milpa Gardens. "Vining cucurbits in beds under about 2 m (6 to 8 ft) escape the bed." Evidence grade: Well established. https://milpa.garden/rules/vining-cucurbits-beds-under-about-2-m/
A garden planner built on graded evidence. Every claim states its evidence grade and links its sources on the page. Cite it with the grade, and add the date you read it.
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How we grade evidence
- Well established
- The rule names its mechanism and is settled, by sources a person has read and checked or by plain arithmetic and geometry.
- Promising
- The mechanism is named and the literature backs it. A few questions are still open.
- A good hunch
- Plausible by its mechanism, but field studies are thin, so treat it as a lean.
- Contested
- The evidence points both ways, or no study has tested it, so the planner does not enforce it.
- Refuted
- The claim did not survive its sources. It is kept so the folklore can be answered.