Topic: Huge Butternut Squash

[shambasarfi]

Hiya,

Our butternut squash have been very successful this year but we have 3 that have grown extra large, are still very green, whereas the normal ones are almost ready to pick.  Will these ever ripen or would it be better to pick them to allow the plant to put in its stregth to develop the smaller ones?

[RenishawPhil]

We have exceptionally large boston squash this yr! Cured nicely.

As the weather forecast is set decent for sometime to come I would leave them on.

[antipodes]

That vine is still very fresh looking, I think you can leave them to ripen for a good while. Butternuts seem to better support several fruit on the vine. Get the leaves out of the way and get the sun on them! Butternuts will also ripen and cure further once they have been cut (but not as unripe as yours there!).

[chriscross1966]

That looks like a Lunga di Napoli to me....

[antipodes]

chriscross, looking on google I think you are right!  I did think it was rather a green butternut but you never can tell. Usually butternuts start off a pale green and soon turn a beige colour. Actually that Lunga di Napoli looks rather good!

[Digeroo]

Lungo di Napoli can get huge I had a couple of giant ones a couple of years ago.

[chriscross1966]

Gotta echo Digeroo here, I had  an LdN a few years ago that was one of the biggest things I've ever grown, only really topped by a couple of Atlantic Giants and an unfeasibly large Boston Winter squash ....d**n thing was about the size of my thigh,,,

[shambasarfi]

Since starting this post, we have actually cut one of these huge butternut squashes open and the flesh inside is perfectly normal and tastes the same as our regular sized butternut squash.

Shamba