Should You Start Squash, Cucumbers Indoors? (The ONLY Reasons I Start Squash & Melons in Trays!)

I rarely plant my squash seeds in trays!

Should You Start Squash, Cucumbers Indoors? (The ONLY Reasons I Start Squash & Melons in Trays!)

    I'll be the first one to tell you: never, ever start your squash and melons in trays for transplanting. 

    They don't like it at all! 

    ... But here I am, starting them in trays this year.

    Here's the thing: 

    I'd rather have rebellious squash and melon plants over none at all.

    This year is off to a bad start, and a gardener’s gotta do what a gardener’s gotta do. 

    What's a garden without squash, anywho?

Drought: Dry Soil Isn't a Great Start to Spring

 

   There are two reasons that I will start my squash, cucumbers, and melons in flats, and the first one is drought. 

    This year, the drought is really whooping me.

Irrigating my rare tomato plants via planting ditches during the 2026 drought. Tennessee is 10+ behind on rain currently in the month of May.

     I don't feel like tending germinating seeds and seedlings in this dry clay. We're 10”+ behind on rain this year, and that's a lot of buckets of water to get these seeds going and thriving. 

    Instead, I started them in cells so that I can transplant them out after some heavy rain, which seems to be in the forecast later this week. With one good rain, my seedlings should be okay after transplant, establishing quickly.

     I just saved myself two weeks of extra labor, and I didn't have to sacrifice days to harvest. 

Tatume squash seedlings started in a seedling flat with coco coir and potting mix.

Cucumber Beetles: The Quickest Way to Exhaust Your Seed Supply of Squash, Cucumbers, and Melons

    The other reason is cucumber beetles. 

    If I notice that cucumber beetle populations are particularly bad on early volunteers, I sow my seeds in flats. 

    Cucumber beetles will wipe out seedlings incredibly quickly, attacking them the moment they pop up out of the soil. 

    Squash, melons, and cucumbers don't stand a chance against these pests at that size, especially during years where the population explodes. 

Cucumber beetles can overpower seedlings quickly, causing significant damage. This was from the worst cucumber beetle year I ever had; the stem is terribly scarred, and the plant is sickly.

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You Just Never Know: Will It Be a Good Planting Season, or a Bad One?

    Some years, I don't deal with either of these issues during planting season; other years, I may end up with both drought and high cucumber beetle populations, requiring me to sow my seeds indoors in flats in order to protect the young seedlings. 

Orange Flesh Honeydew Melon & Armenian Yard Long Cucumber Seedlings in the flat.

    This year, I didn't feel like fooling with the drought, whether that be added work or delayed sprouting. 

    We went into planting season under drought, and we knew it would likely persist as it only worsened. We occasionally have years like this, but it is not normal. 

    Spring is typically windy, wet, and lush. As a matter of fact, trying to find a nice day to till without the soil being mucky is about like hunting for a unicorn.

Muncher Cucumber seedlings just beginning to sprout in my seedling tray.

Thank You for Visiting The Aberrant Garden's Blog!

    If you're new here, I'm an experimental gardener who's been at this for going on my tenth season, and I love to spill my secrets & share my experiences, both good and bad, here on the blog, on YouTube,  and on Facebook. 

    Our family farm now has a seed shop over on Etsy to help offset costs and fund projects- all seeds are grown and hand harvested by me! 

    Thank you all for dropping by, don't forget to grab your free eBook that's included with the newsletter signup, and thank you for your support!