Rubbish squash

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I only wanted one plant this year. It was really slow to get going, and although it's growing well now, I still have no flowers at all. I tend to think that there's no chance of getting a ripened fruit at this point in time, and that I'm wasting time and energy on it. What do people think? It's  a butternut, Hunter.

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[ACE]

Pop down lidlyaldi and get one that's on the go already, too late for seed.

[sparrow]

Mine don't tend to do anything till late August. I still get fruits, but I am further south than you. Squashes have been weird this year though.

[Jayb]

I agree it's been a bit of an odd year for squash, mine have really only got going in the last 2 weeks and some of the butternuts haven't flowered yet mostly the Waltham. But I can see very baby flowers are forming so with a bit of luck they still have time to do something. I think most plants get the idea they have to get a move on once the days start shortening. If your plant is growing well I'd leave it longer to see, unless you could really do with the space to plant something else up.

[Deb P]

Here in the Midlands I've never managed to get butternut squash to maturity, I did get some to a good size one year but they didn't ripen properly so I never got to eat any!
I have a few fast growing pumpkins on my somewhat scrawny plants, others have several aborted little fruits that have fallen off.....

[astraman1]

did you expose them to the sun deb

[Digeroo]

I think tromba d'albenga are more reliable.  They do not have the touch skins and fewer seeds either so more to eat.   I  have given up on true BNS.

[Deb P]

did you expose them to the sun deb

Yes I kept them emailed in my greenhouse for ages but they just gradually rotted. I think they need a long season to get to the ripening point, some years they didn't get even that far....

[squeezyjohn]

Autocorrect is making this thread very surreal indeed! 

Any chance you could use the modify button to let us know what "touch skins" and "emailed them in my greenhouse" actually is supposed to be?

[squeezyjohn]

By the way - I grew tromba d'albegna squash last year and they were truly the most productive and impressive squashes I've ever grown - the kids loved our snake jack-o'-lanterns made with them ... however - I kept most of them to use as winter squash and they were absolutely horrible.

Not only did they taste very bland with no sweetness, but they also had a horrible sap in them that irritated our skins and gave us the most dreadful indigestion ... I'm sure they were slightly toxic.  Does anyone else have this problem with tromba squashes?

[Redalder]

In Cornwall my butternut Hunter have only really got going in the last few weeks after sitting doing nothing for months. Flowers just coming so unless we get an Indian Summer not much hope of getting anything useful.

Sweet corn are forming cobs OK but plants are only about 3ft high, good crop of broadbeans off naked plants - leaves all eaten by something while we were away. Tomato leaves and plum tomatoes chewed by caterpillars in the greenhouse, had a queue of blackbirds outside as I plucked them off and threw them out onto the grass.

Sowed some late peas and carrots- hope rather than expectation.

Funny old year this year!

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Deb, I'm surprised you can't grow them....I got started from a plant I bought at your allotment sale some years ago! I usually get super crops, at least 4 big squash per plant....my one has now got some embryo fruit on, so I'm giving it a chance in case we get a late hot summer.

[Deb P]

Well I can germinate them and grow them into young plants ok, it's after that it all goes pearshaped!!

Yeah my autocorrect is a bit rubbish on my kindle, it has a very odd way of going back and altering things I had already written! I think I meant inside my greenhouse, not emailed.....