Butternut

[bigdumbird]

When will my butternuts be ready?

Ive got two lovely butternuts on one plant that are about 10inch long and look lovely.

They are however still green and stripy.

Do I have to harvest them before the frosts... or leave them to ripen on the plant?

   ???

[bigdumbird]

[undercarriage plan]

Hey BDB! Think you're best to pick them and ripen on a windowsill, but first year myself. If you scroll through, you should come to a post about butternuts that will answer all the questions you wanted to ask, but didn't dare!! Don't be shy, I had to post pic to get ID of mine!! Good luck. Lottie  ;D

[Doris_Pinks]

I am leaving mine as long as possible on the vine, it is "said" they will take a light frost, but I have never been brave enough to try ;D 
If you harvest early  they need to"cure" to store, so a windowsill will do the job.
Try this link

http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/yabbse/index.php/topic,12896.0.html

[wardy]

I've got two very healthy looking plants with fabulous massive leaves but not one single solitary fruit.  I thought I had one but it was a Blue Hubbard which was growing into the butternuts

[kentishchloe]

harumph - i have an enormous butternut plant which had one large & four middle-sized squashes on it. then i accidentally cut back the wrong bit and harvested my biggest squash ::) it's now sitting on my greenhouse benching & getting orangier by the day. i've left the others where they are for the time being, they're still yellow & stripey

[MarthaMad]

harumph - i have an enormous butternut plant which had one large & four middle-sized squashes on it. then i accidentally cut back the wrong bit and harvested my biggest squash ::)

I did almost the samething, my butternut and snake courgette musty have got the wrong labels, I yanked up what I though was the Snake Courgette and found loads of baby butternuts. d**n!

[daisymay]

I didn't know I had to cure them, so I cut into my 7lb one I was boasting about on the competition thread the day I picked it to get it really fresh, it had gone quite yellow but tasted of nothing, ended up chunking it up and freezing it to use as a bulker in stews etc..

:( :( :(

have got two more growing - have put a bit of fleece over them, so will know for next time!

[Anne Robertson]

Just harvested the last of my butternuts and pumpkins.
From 4 butternut plants I got a total of 21, ranging in weight from 422g to 3.300kg, total weight 37.845kg!
From 3 pumpkin plants I got 7, ranging from 4.700kg to 14.900kg , totaling 60.600kg I am so pleased. One of the pumpkins is going to the nursery that my daughter works in for the children to carve and make soup with.
OH is now complaining that I am taking over the garage (only 'cos there isn't enough room for his golf stuff!)

[Icyberjunkie]

Quite agree with OH Ani you need to get priorities right - is a good excuse to be allowed the golf stuff in the house though..... ;D

[real food]

I would be interested to know where all the successfull growers of butternut squashes are living, as I have tried them for several years in the Glasgow area, without any usable crop.
However, every year, I have had success with winter squashes. Red Kurie, First taste and Winter Festival have all produced large crops of very sweet fruits, which are now hardening off, either in a greenhouse or in a sunny window.
I have also tried growing Sweet Dumpling, again with no usable crop over several years trying.
I can only assume that they are not suitable for so far north and west.

[wardy]

Winter festival is a beautiful squash.  Looks too good to eat  :)

[real food]

It is so prolific that I have no qualms about giving them away or eating them!!! And they are not too big either.
After experimentation, I have found that winter squashes can be successfully microwaved. Leave the skins on, cut into segments and remove the seeds, place skin side down in an OPEN container and microwave for 10 to 15 mins. This concentrates the flavour and sugars. Scoop the soft flesh off the skins and enjoy!

[flowerofshona]

I did my squash over a frame so they where of the ground and didnt feed them as i did it one year and ended up with just leaves !!!! doing them over an 'A' frame keeps them tidy and they seam to ripen quicker, i do all my courgettes and small squash like it now and they do really well :)

[Svea]

ani - you must have a feeding regime. admit it! what is your secret?
that is some harvest!!!

[Anne Robertson]

Svea, I didn't feed them at all, just left them to it. They took over such a huge area though.
Trouble is, mum has bagged 2 of them as has my sister, neighbour, friend etc etc I'm keeping the garage firmly locked from now on! And it will be the last time I boast about my produce to family!

[Robert_Brenchley]

I only got one butternut, about two inches long. I'm not complaining too much though; I only planted them at the end of June when I read about them on this site, and I suspected at the time that it would be too late. I'll get them in earlier next year.

[john_miller]

However, every year, I have had success with winter squashes. Red Kurie, First taste and Winter Festival have all produced large crops of very sweet fruits, which are now hardening off, either in a greenhouse or in a sunny window.
I have also tried growing Sweet Dumpling, again with no usable crop over several years trying.

Whether a squash matures in your climate will depend upon their relative maturity times. Both Sweet Dumpling and the more common varieties of butternut have a relative maturity of roughly 100 days. Red Kuri has a quoted relative maturity at about 90 days, Winter Festival is quoted at 60 days. This site:
http://www.seedswestgardenseeds.com/Wintersquashindex.html
has a butternut with a relative maturity of 80 days. Mr. Fothergills carries a cv. called "Pilgrim" which I believe is also a fast maturing butternut type, although not as quick as Early America. They may be worth your trying to see if you can get a successful crop.

[real food]

Yes, I think that you probably have the answer there. I have just looked at 4 different seed catalogues but not one of them gives the length of time to maturity for their winter squashes. The butternut that I had attempted to grow, was bred in Britain, but still not suitable for the Glasgow area.