Yes so I might be missing something. I tried it once, but all I learned was you can’t really manage 3 sisters in one pot on your balcony. Those roots need to go deep. I got 3 bean pods, a half-cob of corn and a couple male squash blossoms before they all caught mildew and died.
I paintbrush-pollinated my one corn, it obviously didn’t do that well but it tried, made a small multicolored ear. The “Trail of Tears” bean plant made pretty little pink flowers but I had to add a tomato cage because my corn was too spindly to support it. I let one pod ripen fully and steamed the other two, they were good. Yeah the squash never really had a chance.
But it’s all good fun, and I do have success with cherry tomatoes, lemons, and blueberries.
I would imagine it’s because you’d need to be careful not to harm one plant when helping or harvesting the other.
That doesn’t sound like a lot more labor.
Yes so I might be missing something. I tried it once, but all I learned was you can’t really manage 3 sisters in one pot on your balcony. Those roots need to go deep. I got 3 bean pods, a half-cob of corn and a couple male squash blossoms before they all caught mildew and died.
Corn is wind-pollinated. You can’t just grow one stalk, you need dozens at minimum so they can pollinate each other.
Squash plants need tons of space on the ground. The stems/vines will actually send out roots wherever they touch moist soil.
I paintbrush-pollinated my one corn, it obviously didn’t do that well but it tried, made a small multicolored ear. The “Trail of Tears” bean plant made pretty little pink flowers but I had to add a tomato cage because my corn was too spindly to support it. I let one pod ripen fully and steamed the other two, they were good. Yeah the squash never really had a chance.
But it’s all good fun, and I do have success with cherry tomatoes, lemons, and blueberries.