Winter squash grow like weeds in Iowa. Around here, VINES AND FRUIT CAN BE ENORMOUS! They seem to outperform melons and cucumbers and so forth. THE QUAD-CITY AND EXTENDED AREA ARE THE REALM OF GIANTS FOR THESE THINGS! They also seem to overcome weeds and long grass easily. Yields are almost always very abundant. I encourage planting early. Often one can even harvest a few after a frost or freeze, depending on condition. They do very well with early and direct ground planting, fairly midwest cold hardy. So, a long growing and harvesting season. They can ripen inside some and have an incredibly, incredibly long storage life, particularly in a basement. Please refer to general commentary page regarding more details on growing. Yes, I encourage the April 1st, April Fool’s Day, planting plan! Later, REPLANT as needed. One may need to wait a while for seedlings to appear, like a month. I often give up on these seeds, but when weather warms, they almost always come up. With melons and even cucumbers, I do not have this good of luck, sometimes they do not come up period. The “BRAIN” in the seed picks the right time, and the seed knows best, right?
These general guidelines also apply to organically growing other squash, gourds, and pumpkins in the Quad-Cities area, specifically Davenport, Iowa. Typically the vines I have grown have taken up a very large amount of space, the most being taken by pumpkins and a bit less by squash and gourds. As an example, I have often had winter squash vines extend OVER 30 FEET from the planting site! I had one winter squash vine grow up a tree, it was 20 FEET HIGH WITH A 10 POUND SQUASH AT THE TOP! Based on my experiences vines are large and leaves big, and they can easily cover grass and other plants. I have also had some success growing pumpkins and squash in buckets or other containers, as protection from pests and mild frosts. One most be sure to keep the bucket or container bottoms dry. The Quad-Cities area also includes a lot of Illinois, including cities such as Rock Island and Moline. For better detail review general commentary page.
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