Pumkin/squash advice - how many fruits

[Bruce]

I'm growing several plants of invincible pumpkin and butternut squash. New to growing them, so I need some advice.

All my pants are growing well. Many are growing like crazy at the moment. Some of the plants cover an area more than 10 feet sq, and have dozens of fruits developing. Most are quite small of course. Should I remove a lot of these? I'm assuming that not all will grow to maturity. Or is it safe to leave them, and just harvest the ones that do mature. Some fruit are about the size of grapefruit already. I'm growing for food, not competition, so I don't need to get the biggest pumpkin. Just ones that taste good :)

[Bruce]

[Jeannine]

Just leave them, you can use them all .The small ones that don't mature can be used as summer squash.

XX Jeannine

[Bruce]

thanks for the advice. currently the vines are growing about a foot a day, while we have plenty of sunshine. running out of room, so I'm getting them growing up canes. about 8 foot high and climbing!

what's the difference with winter and summer squash? sorry I'm not sure what you would do differently with unripe fruit

[Jeannine]

Summer squash includes all the courgettes, the pattypans etc, they don`t keep, they keep producing for a long time once they get going and start producing fruit earlier, the rind id soft and in fact stays that way.

Winter squash included pumpkins and all the squash that keep well though the winter, they have hard rinds once cured, they only produce 3  or 4  fruits per vine usually depending on the type and they take almost double the time to produce mature fruit.

Most are on long vines but not all, some are bush. Butternut is a winter squash.

The flesh is dense, dry  and sweet as compared to summer squash types which is more watery.

All female flowers on winter and summer squash have tiny fruit behind them, male flowers don;t, often folks thinb all the tiny fruit will grow into a full size fruit, they don`t..they will grow if pollinated .

Hope this helps

XX Jeannine

[Bruce]

Any fruit bigger than a golfball I assume are polinated. I have stopped counting the fruit. There's dozens on each of the big plants.

[John85]

This year my pumkins and squashes are not in a hurry to produce female flowers.Most of it are male.Why is that happening and how can i solve the problem?

[plainleaf]

I just happens. nothing you can do to solve it.
now be a good boy. go prune you tomatoes.

[Jeannine]

They are simply running late,there is nothing you can do, they will come in their own time. If you have a shortage of male flowers on a plant but you have females and you have males on another plant you can hand pollinate from one to the other.

XX Jeannine