Topic: Butternut squash problems

[blackkitty2]

For the past couple of years we have grown butternut squashes and it seems that we always have very few actual fruits - last year only one - which was really disappointing.

We are obviously doing something wrong somewhere along the line and never have any problems with pumpkins or courgettes in the numbers of fruit.

We put the seeds in early this year just in case we needed a longer growing season as we seem to get an awful lot of plants with tiny fruits (plum sized) by the time they should really be harvested. They are now big plants and ready to be planted out.

We would be grateful for any tips as we don't really know where the problem lies.

[Bugloss2009]

the general opinion is i think, that for us butternuts are a poor choice to grow. There are lots of other ones to choose from, and there;s still lots of time to sow - i;ve only just started
You'll probably get lots of recommendations...I'm growing little gem, sweet dumpling (very good), red kuri (v good), bon bon, and a great one from Franchi with no real name
the first 4 of mine and also butternut grow very well over an arch by the way

[blackkitty2]

I have put some Gem Rolet F1 squash seeds in as I am not holding my breath for much in the line of squash fruit.

I gave my friend's mother some similar seeds as she said that she grew them in South Africa when they lived there. She gave us a couple of them to try and I chopped one of the cricket ball sized fruit in half and boiled it. When the gem squash was soft I drained and added a thingy of butter and dug in! It was so sweet and tasty and melted in the mouth. I am so hungry just describing it.

Even the OH loved it and he usually wrinkles his nose up at anything weird. We also tried Harlequin last year and they were fabulous too - again sweet and mouth watering. This is driving me nuts with hunger thinking about it. I may put some more seeds in so that we can have a later crop.

I'd still like to see some butternuts come good though!

[small]

I'm not an experienced squash grower so maybe I've had beginners luck - last year I grew Hunter, started in a cold greenhouse early April, planted out beginning of June with loads of compost (plant remains only, no chicken poo mixed or anything), watered all the time - I got 15 fruits from 3 plants, 1 is still solid now. My patch was pretty much full sun, sheltered from winds though - where in the country are you? Anyway, good luck for this year - worth persisting with IMO.

[Bugloss2009]

I have put some Gem Rolet F1 squash seeds in as I am not holding my breath for much in the line of squash fruit.

I gave my friend's mother some similar seeds as she said that she grew them in South Africa when they lived there. She gave us a couple of them to try and I chopped one of the cricket ball sized fruit in half and boiled it. When the gem squash was soft I drained and added a thingy of butter and dug in! It was so sweet and tasty and melted in the mouth. I am so hungry just describing it.

Even the OH loved it and he usually wrinkles his nose up at anything weird. We also tried Harlequin last year and they were fabulous too - again sweet and mouth watering. This is driving me nuts with hunger thinking about it. I may put some more seeds in so that we can have a later crop.

I'd still like to see some butternuts come good though!

I know the gem squash is popular in South Africa but I didn't recommend it as it;s quite different in texture to butternut.  Dead easy to grow and extremely prolific

have you looked at this SA food blog by the way?
http://www.cooksister.com/

here she is on gem squash.....
http://www.cooksister.com/2010/10/gem-squash-central-finding-them-growing-them-and-eating-them.html

[pumkinlover]

I wasn't a fan of Butternuts but  last year I grew one from The organic gardening catalogue called Cobnut and really liked it. I'm only just sowing them at moment on kitchen roll so I'll put a couple extra in for you to try when I get over for the sarracenias.  Mind you they haven't germinated yet :-[ 1

[Jeannine]

There  are many strains of Butternut squash, some have a longer growing season than others . If you know the variety I can give you info on time to harvest and probable yeilds. They also come in variuous growing types..eg some grow long vines and some are semi bush or  bush.. and yet again the fruit size is very different between varieties, some have been bred as minis whereas some are bred to be very big.

Your packet should give you a name as well as Butternut then I can let you know what to expect with the one you have.

XX Jeannine

[blackkitty2]

Hi think the variety was just Winter butternut squash from Wilkos. I will bear in mind everyone's comments about conditions as maybe the plants have not been in ideal positions and the addition of compost sounds a good idea.

I will persevere and if they don't come good then I have some spaghetti squash to fall back and some Jumbo Pink banana that I put in as well. Failing that it's pumpkin pie all around again.

Many thanks everyone!

[Bugloss2009]

remember spaghetti squash is a summer squash, so you can use that during the summer, like courgette

[Robert_Brenchley]

I'll put a couple extra in for you to try when I get over for the sarracenias.  Mind you they haven't germinated yet :-[ 1

Are you growing them from seed? If so, let us know how you get on. As far as I've been able to find out, you need fresh seed, and they grow slowly. My one attempt was a total failure.

[non-stick]

I grew Avalon last year and they were fantastic. Ended up with quite a few and they were huge. It says on the packet  it's early to ripen which is I think key to the UK as some varieties have, I've read, a long growing season. The ones we grew the previous year, can't remember the type, had much of the problems others have reported with few fruits and those we had didn't start till late.

We love butternut - roasted or in soup. Keeps better than pumpkins as well

[lewic]

The most successfull for me have been Waltham butternut. The first year I bought 2 small plants at garden centres, the Waltham produced loads of massive ones and the other (unidentified) produced a mouldy tennis ball.

Bought some Waltham seeds from Realseeds.com last year and had so many squash I didnt know what to do with them. Unfortunately last years leftover seeds didnt germinate this year, so I am on the hunt for Waltham seedlings.

[picman]

WE had 10 fruits from 2 plants last year , ( Avalon and Barbara ) , I think what they need is a long growing season and good fertile conditions. Fingers crossed  :)