DIY Network

Secrets to a Healthy Crop Secrets to a Healthy Crop From "Fresh from the Garden" episode DFFG-201

Once you've finished building a place for the squash to climb and grow, it's time to turn your attention to creating the correct environment for a healthy crop. Joe gets the garden prepared for planting by adding compost and a leaf mold to the beds, so now they're ready for the seeds. He plants two types of spaghetti squash and three different types of gourds in the garden; one of the gourds that he plants is the luffa, which is what bath sponges (also known as loofahs) are made from. He marks the beds so he knows which plants are in which place.

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	Figure A
	When you add amendments to the soil, be sure to work them in thoroughly.
	Figure B
	Figure C

1. All plants like healthy fertile soil, and squash and gourds are no different. Add a deep layer, about "-6", of compost and leaf mold to the soil in the bed (figure A). These plants will be in the ground for three to six months, and any amendments have to go in at the beginning. Once the vines start growing it'll be hard to work on the beds. This will provide lots of nutrition and keep the soil moist when the garden heats up.

2. Once the amendments are mixed in, use a hard metal rake to smooth the dirt back out. Mound up the dirt in the center of the bed, along the bottom of the trellis, so that you have deep soil in the middle of the bed. This will give the seeds plenty of room to put out roots. Deeply mounded beds help keep moisture in the soil when it's dry so that your plants won't dehydrate. On the flip side, mounded beds shed excess water because of their rounded shape.

3. A tip for getting seeds to germinate more quickly: soak them overnight in a bag with wet paper towels. The seeds have hard shells, and the water helps soften them so they sprout quicker. You can soak them for as little as four hours and up to a full day -- any longer and the seeds could start to rot.

4. Plant the spaghetti squash seeds along the top of the mound under the trellis wires. The seed pack recommends putting two to three seeds every foot or so. Make a small hole with your finger, 1" deep, for each seed (figure B). When the plants get larger, you can thin them down to one squash every 1'-2'. Any more than that, and the plants will be fighting for room and nutrients. Overcrowded plants are less healthy, and the cramped space may encourage diseases.

5. Growing gourds is easy. Gourds grow the same way spaghetti squash do, on trellises for the whole season. Soak the gourd seeds just like you did with the spaghetti squash seeds.

6. Plant the gourds under the trellis wires, just like you did with the squash seeds. They will sprout in a few weeks and be ready to thin a few weeks after that. Gourds have become a popular supply for crafters because they're so versatile. They can be cut and painted to make vases, bowls and a variety of other decorative accessories (figure C).