What I do is plant them as is, give them a week or two, then thin out the weaker plants by cutting with scissors at soil level. This allows time for transplant shock etc. to be sorted out before you cut.

ok great. i went ahead and separated the ones that were easily separated.. the rest i will thin out in a few days.

i guess it is better to have one healthy plant than two unhealthy ones!

one more box left to fill&plant- to be done tomorrow...

I have a similar question about the cukes and zuchinis, etc. SFG aside, if you DON'T thin them out, will the two plants together not thrive as well as 1 plant alone? I mean, are they competing for soil/nutrient space, or is it OK to actually leave them together from a plant biology standpoint.

I know mel makes recommendations about spacing because of the limited space requirements, but for my zuchini for example, I have PLENTY of room for them and my little 4" plantlet from the nursery came with 2 shoots out of it. Both have flowers on them right now, and I can't bear to cut one. Then again, if they aren't going to grow because of that, I'll cut it right now. LOL.

Thanks,
kristi

They will compete in the soil, but they will compete much more for light - a cuke plant can get pretty big. Will both survive? Probably. Will both thrive? Maybe. Common wisdom says no, as does Mel's experience.

Gardening is experimenting. If you're willing to run a risk, then give it a shot, and learn something (then come back and tell us about it).

But I would not run that risk just out of romantic notions about not being able to choose between them! :)

Thanks, Q.
So, I'm still a ---smidghen--- unsure how to proceed. (Read, I'm in denial. LOL)

MELONS: mine came with 2 very healthy shoots from the nursery pot. Both are flowering. Mel says 1 per 2 square feet, but he also does 4' trellises. I have 8' trellises, so I'm wondering if I can get away with both. Or if I really DO need to cut one. Someone, please... just... tell... me... to... do... it. LOL.

DELICATA/WINTER SQUASH: Similar question as the melons. LOL (I planted 2 nursery pots in a 4 square foot spot. But each plant/pot has 3 lovely shoots... I guess I am wondering if letting them grow up to 8' allows you to do more in a closer space, or if at some point they need the additional soil, too.

CUKES: these are on a 4' trellis. The spacing says 2 per square foot. And I only have 3 in a 2 square foot area, but they're all from the same nursery pot. So 3 clustered pretty close together. Do they need to be spaced evenly apart to grow well, or are they OK close like that? (i.e. do I need to cut 2 of these 3 back, then go and plant another pot spaced away from it, and then cut that to one, too. Hope that makes sense.

ZUKES: (growing on the ground), spacing for SFG is 1 per 9 square feet (which is how I've planted it)... that's pretty straight forward. But I just noticed my little plant has a second smaller shoot coming out of the ground. Don't remember if it was there when i planted it or if it's part of this one plant. Do I cut it? (It has a cluster of flowers on it, too.)

Thanks for the help!
-k

I'd plant them just the way they came but hey that's me. When you try to separate them - you can easily loose all of them.

You're not baking a cake - plant 'em.

I hereby grant you permission to grow your plants the way you want to. We were giving advice based on what we think is best for the plants, but ultimately, you should do what's right for you - if you want, stick them in the ground, watch them do what they will, and let us know how it went! :)

Thanks guys. I am new to this, so I appreciate your patience and your shared experience. If 3 plants ultimately will yield only 1 squash, but 1 plant will yield more, then that's what I need to hear. LOL

This is my first time growing EVER, and I just figured everyone throws their whole pot into the ground until I started seeing all these posts about thinning. One of my nursery says you can thin 'em. Another nursery says just plant 'em as is. So I guess I just need to play G*d and do something.

And FWIW, they're already in the ground for about a month. So I know what survived the transplanting.

Thanks,
k