I have never done it with squash, but I put tomato cages around my
cantaloupe to keep out the critters one year. later found one growing from
the side of the cage about 16 inches from the ground. When I found it, it
was too big to do anything with so I left it alone. I watched it grow and
mature until it was ripe. One day I went out and found that it had
"slipped" off the vine and fallen to the ground. One of the critters had
been watching it also because it had been carried off to be eaten. I
couldn't find anything to indicate it had ever been there (seeds, peel,
moisture, etc.).

Try it next year and let us know how it worked. You may be inventing a way
to keep squash vines from taking over your garden.

Dwayne


"greenfoot" wrote in message
oups.com...
Is there any limit to what vines can be effectively trellised, short of
watermellons? I planted two butternut squash seedlings this year. Of
course, they have run the whole length of my 12x24 ft garden. What is
interesting is that they have climbed up my 6 foot tomato cages, across
the top and back down before moving further out.

I was amazed to find two full sized butternut squashes hanging from the
vines a few feet above ground in the midst of my tomato plants. They
are as big as any I've seen at the grocery store. The vine stem was
noticably thicker and stronger on these ones, and there was no problem
supporting the weight. I usually trellis cucumbers, which works quite
well, but I had no idea a squash that size would work so well. The
only problem is that I would need a 30 foot trellis for these!

Anyone trellis anything bigger? I'll post pictures to the .binaries
group if anyone is interested.
GF