As many gardeners know, warm weather can quickly turn a tidy garden bed into a sprawling tangle of vines.
Now, a video from expert gardener and author Charles Dowding (@charles_dowding) shows just how quickly a squash patch can go from manageable to unruly after England experienced a brutal heat wave.
What happened?
Dowding showed what his squash bed looked like just one month after transplanting the plants in a post shared on Instagram.
The squash had already sprawled across much of the soil, reaching into the leek bed and edging toward the potatoes.
In the video, Dowding explains squash "grows so fast when it's warm" while moving stems away from nearby crops so they do not get smothered.
In the process, he exposes another problem in the bed, bindweed. Dowding calls the weed "surprisingly persistent" and says the now-thinner stems are "a really good sign that the parent root is getting weaker."
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To get at a few "lovely no dig potatoes," including a salad variety called jazzy, Dowding temporarily pulls back the vines and then leaves the squash to "take over this bed as well."
One commenter added that they have the opposite problem, writing: "Conversely squash grow very slowly when it's cold! My courgettes planted out a month ago are still 10cm across because it's been so cold here!"
Why does it matter?
Fast-growing squash can help shade the ground, suppress some weeds, and make efficient use of space.
Growing your own food can help households save money on produce, especially when it comes to high-yield crops such as squash and potatoes. It can also mean fresher, better-tasting food, along with the physical activity and stress relief that come with spending time outdoors.
The post also shows an herbicide-free approach to maintenance. Instead of spraying, Dowding removes weeds by hand where he can and manually redirects the vines.
What are people saying?
Several people talked about their own experiences with growing squash in the comments.
"You're so far ahead of us, mine are just starting to take off now! It's amazing how much they change in one day," one person said.
Another wrote, "I've got some squash that are starting to pick up now. I am growing them over arches."
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