Growing squash on a string

Squash plants just take up too much garden space. So, how can I get the plants, even the  "bush" varieties, to grow upward and take less room?

I started by hanging the plants from the same plastic twine and clips I use with the tomatoes, but the vines didn't want to follow the string. The growing ends kept bending over. Next, I tried wrapping the plastic twine around the vine. This worked fairly well until the weight of the plant and the thinness of the twine started to cut through the plants. I was thinking I needed something softer like strips of cloth when I spotted a recycled ball of macrame string in the garage. The string is about 1/4" wide, soft, and wraps gently around the stem. Hooray, this worked, and after 4 months, the plants are still producing.

Second squash planting. This is the second planting of squash started a month later. They're not growing as fast in the cooler September air. Hopefully, we will get some warmer weather before the end of the growing season in October. I might try adding a plastic tent around the plants.

 

And a closer look.