As a first time gardener, I’m pretty sure I have underestimated the size of zucchini plants haha
As a first time gardener, I’m pretty sure I have underestimated the size of zucchini plants haha
by high_priestess444
43 Comments
nasaruinz
Zucchini grow to be huge! It might run out of room in that container, mine tend to take up a 3ft by 3ft square
green_tree
Lol, my zucchini plant last year was 8’x4’. I planted it later and started chopping off leaves otherwise it may have gotten bigger.
Apprehensive_Pop2416
Oh boy just you wait
TheWoman2
I’ve grown zucchini many, many times and I still always underestimate the size of zucchini plants.
HopefulLawStudent1
A classic (and rookie) mistake! Mis-sizing plants to container size is a rite of passage.
You are right – squash plants can grow very large and subsequently, need a large space. I’ve grown them with moderate success in 5-gallon containers but it was definitely underutilizing their potential. Yours might be 1) too small of a container altogether; 2) sharing space with other heavy-feeding plants (i.e. what seems like two peppers at the very least); and 3) is in a squarish space that isn’t conducive the the plants’ roots – the squash plant is effectively only able to use a part of the already-too small space.
Yes you have. This is a bush variety – the fence is 3.5 ft tall. This wasn’t even its biggest.
Senior-Ease-5508
Yes, I have done this with pumpkins before ! fun stuff.
Rainsoaked_2000
Oh you sweet summer child. Good luck
emb8n00
DapperKitchen420
I would stake this one and grow it vertically if I were you… That pepper plant is probably going to have to learn to live in half shade.
Edit: or whatever plant that is to the right. Haha good luck
ElectroConvert
You ain’t seen nothin yet
Other_Recognition269
Greatly
HikingFun4
This plant is still pretty small. Just wait. I like to call mine the “Jolly Green Giants” (usually plant 3).
herstoryteller
they’re spikey too :(((
Unable-Ad-4019
FYI….. After it gets settled in it’s new digs and starts producing, you can remove any leaf below the lowest fruit. Make sure you stake it, but be careful of those roots when you do.
jumpin4frogz
The pepper plant is like
aReelProblem
My squash plants are about two and half months old and already pushing 4ft tall. I’m training them to a single main leader though with a heavy duty garden stake. I’m not gonna be surprised if they get taller than me at the rate they’re growing and the squash they’re making are pretty damn impressive. I know now I don’t need more than two plants for my household and I have 4 this year. Everyone gets squashes now as gifts lol.
onepanto
Congratulations. Your plant has reached 1% of it’s eventual size.
CrankyCycle
You’ve also underestimated the size of pepper plants 🙂 (but not by as much)
Paul__miner
I underestimated the size of zucchinis. As I later found out, their full name is *zucchini squash*. I was used to the zucchini I saw at the grocery store, like skinny cucumbers. I was rather surprised by the massive squash I ended up with.
gigiboyc
I had that same planter box and did the same thing with my first year gardening. Seeing this made me so happy. My hs teacher gave me plants almost ten years ago this really brought me back thanks!
Interesting_Case6737
I have a raised bed on wheels and I’m realizing the same thing with my first zucchini plant =( Yours looks incredibly healthy! Best of luck
SeahorseCollector
Squash and zucchini plants can get really big.
AccountantSilent733
Oh dear 😂 just give it a week and you’ll see lol.
I use as a rule of thumb, for each zucchini plant to.leave enough room for a big pallet. The UK sized ones. You don’t know how much each plant will grow and you will eat them for ages 😂. Time to move it!
Minflick
MANY have underestimated the size of zucchini over the years…. If you have a bush type, it won’t be as bad. The standard type, on the other hand…..
Different-Pop2780
Okay, same, but it can be legit difficult to find out what plants look like as full plants. We see images of plant starts a lot, but rarely something full pumping. It also varies by yard and region.
npj1564
Yes this is a common problem. My wife and I have moved out of our house to make room for the zucchini and are planning to return sometime in the fall. We could have saved on hotel reservations if we had planned earlier.
BobsBurners420
Buckle up
ohsheepdip
Yea and that’s still a baby lol
Mediocre_Anteater_56
Id recommend rehoming the peppers and letting the zucchini stay for a few more weeks. Let the zuc root out till it has filled out the container, then once it is slightly root bound it can be transplanted. I find squash transplant better when they have a solid root ball vs loose roots. Note It will need water often after putting in the ground until it gets situated
heimermestert
Agreed
drcigg
Zucchini plants get huge. I also underestimated that as well.
plymouthvan
I love zucchini plants. I’ll stick a zucchini plant anywhere outside my prime real estate. Out behind the shed. Between some random shrubs. In a pot I found in the garage that’s not big enough, with dirt I probably meant to toss two seasons ago. I love those plants cause they’re prolific and they grow easy and die easy and it feels like of all the plants in the vegetable garden those are both the showy-est and the most pathetic. If they die out, who cares. If they live, they somehow make 500lbs of fruit. Of all the vegetable plants, I feel like those are living life to the fullest. Just balls to the wall, nothing to lose, with the unearned confidence of a 22 year old white boy. Cucumbers are similar. It’s fun to seed those where they don’t belong and watch them figure out how to climb whatever is nearby.
I say let it go and watch it be a petulant bastard.
olddummy22
Depending on soil conditions the roots of a zucchini can go 16 feet in every direction.
DrewIDIC_Tinker
Lol yeah me too man, every dang time
tigerbathtub
Canon event
age_of_No_fuxleft
Uh yep! In my garden I keep zucchini supported in cattle panel that’s been curved into a circle to make a huge cage about 3’ across to make it easy to lift and trim the leaves and harvest what’s underneath.
43 Comments
Zucchini grow to be huge! It might run out of room in that container, mine tend to take up a 3ft by 3ft square
Lol, my zucchini plant last year was 8’x4’. I planted it later and started chopping off leaves otherwise it may have gotten bigger.
Oh boy just you wait
I’ve grown zucchini many, many times and I still always underestimate the size of zucchini plants.
A classic (and rookie) mistake! Mis-sizing plants to container size is a rite of passage.
You are right – squash plants can grow very large and subsequently, need a large space. I’ve grown them with moderate success in 5-gallon containers but it was definitely underutilizing their potential. Yours might be 1) too small of a container altogether; 2) sharing space with other heavy-feeding plants (i.e. what seems like two peppers at the very least); and 3) is in a squarish space that isn’t conducive the the plants’ roots – the squash plant is effectively only able to use a part of the already-too small space.
https://preview.redd.it/yvyaow7ngn1f1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6854503f1375455c817677a5a52abdac9efa4c0c
My husbands hand vs the zucchini leaf. It is massive lol
We did for the first time this year as well and were cursed by the squash vine borer moth. Seems like a glitch in reality that creature
You can try staking it and teaching it to grow up vs horizontal but yeah the pepper plant right next to it needs to move
But wait….there’s more…..
https://preview.redd.it/xtdwpl13jn1f1.jpeg?width=1536&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a077f3c18da4c56e5082273e738c7a71dcc89335
Yes you have. This is a bush variety – the fence is 3.5 ft tall. This wasn’t even its biggest.
Yes, I have done this with pumpkins before ! fun stuff.
Oh you sweet summer child. Good luck
I would stake this one and grow it vertically if I were you… That pepper plant is probably going to have to learn to live in half shade.
Edit: or whatever plant that is to the right. Haha good luck
You ain’t seen nothin yet
Greatly
This plant is still pretty small. Just wait. I like to call mine the “Jolly Green Giants” (usually plant 3).
they’re spikey too :(((
FYI….. After it gets settled in it’s new digs and starts producing, you can remove any leaf below the lowest fruit. Make sure you stake it, but be careful of those roots when you do.
The pepper plant is like
My squash plants are about two and half months old and already pushing 4ft tall. I’m training them to a single main leader though with a heavy duty garden stake. I’m not gonna be surprised if they get taller than me at the rate they’re growing and the squash they’re making are pretty damn impressive. I know now I don’t need more than two plants for my household and I have 4 this year. Everyone gets squashes now as gifts lol.
Congratulations. Your plant has reached 1% of it’s eventual size.
You’ve also underestimated the size of pepper plants 🙂 (but not by as much)
I underestimated the size of zucchinis. As I later found out, their full name is *zucchini squash*. I was used to the zucchini I saw at the grocery store, like skinny cucumbers. I was rather surprised by the massive squash I ended up with.
I had that same planter box and did the same thing with my first year gardening. Seeing this made me so happy. My hs teacher gave me plants almost ten years ago this really brought me back thanks!
I have a raised bed on wheels and I’m realizing the same thing with my first zucchini plant =(
Yours looks incredibly healthy! Best of luck
Squash and zucchini plants can get really big.
Oh dear 😂 just give it a week and you’ll see lol.
I use as a rule of thumb, for each zucchini plant to.leave enough room for a big pallet. The UK sized ones. You don’t know how much each plant will grow and you will eat them for ages 😂. Time to move it!
MANY have underestimated the size of zucchini over the years…. If you have a bush type, it won’t be as bad. The standard type, on the other hand…..
Okay, same, but it can be legit difficult to find out what plants look like as full plants. We see images of plant starts a lot, but rarely something full pumping. It also varies by yard and region.
Yes this is a common problem. My wife and I have moved out of our house to make room for the zucchini and are planning to return sometime in the fall. We could have saved on hotel reservations if we had planned earlier.
Buckle up
Yea and that’s still a baby lol
Id recommend rehoming the peppers and letting the zucchini stay for a few more weeks. Let the zuc root out till it has filled out the container, then once it is slightly root bound it can be transplanted. I find squash transplant better when they have a solid root ball vs loose roots. Note It will need water often after putting in the ground until it gets situated
Agreed
Zucchini plants get huge. I also underestimated that as well.
I love zucchini plants. I’ll stick a zucchini plant anywhere outside my prime real estate. Out behind the shed. Between some random shrubs. In a pot I found in the garage that’s not big enough, with dirt I probably meant to toss two seasons ago. I love those plants cause they’re prolific and they grow easy and die easy and it feels like of all the plants in the vegetable garden those are both the showy-est and the most pathetic. If they die out, who cares. If they live, they somehow make 500lbs of fruit. Of all the vegetable plants, I feel like those are living life to the fullest. Just balls to the wall, nothing to lose, with the unearned confidence of a 22 year old white boy. Cucumbers are similar. It’s fun to seed those where they don’t belong and watch them figure out how to climb whatever is nearby.
I say let it go and watch it be a petulant bastard.
Depending on soil conditions the roots of a zucchini can go 16 feet in every direction.
Lol yeah me too man, every dang time
Canon event
Uh yep! In my garden I keep zucchini supported in cattle panel that’s been curved into a circle to make a huge cage about 3’ across to make it easy to lift and trim the leaves and harvest what’s underneath.
You’re gonna need a bigger pot!
https://preview.redd.it/2av5m83teo1f1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6fbc5bc3f9e55b225786e75ba4b9dd76f6640db9
I usually do two zucchini/summer squash per 4×2 or 1 per 1×4. This is sufficient space most of the time for me.