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Three sisters are severely underrated (thelemmy.club)
submitted 4 months ago by to c/historymemes@piefed.social
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[–] 4 points 4 months ago (4 children)

I would imagine it's because you'd need to be careful not to harm one plant when helping or harvesting the other.

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  • [–] 6 points 4 months ago (3 children)

    That doesn't sound like a lot more labor.

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  • [–] 4 points 4 months ago (2 children)

    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.

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  • [–] 5 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    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.

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  • [–] 5 points 4 months ago

    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.

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