sqaush

[screwbylil]

im trying to grow butternut sqaush theres plent of growth but should there have been some sign of fruits by now? are you supposed to stop them after so many shoots not really sure as to how they work

[lottie dolly]

mine are the same this year,all leafs and barren,my son planted some on his lottie and they have started to flower,last year we both had success,some were allowed to ramble along,they will often put some new little roots down along the stem,son also grew some squashes up supports,but has gone back to letting them roam on the ground,if they can put down more roots,it should mean more nourishment for the long trailing plants,

[screwbylil]

oh well better luck next year i hope .....ive grown them on supports so ill try the trainling method next year
cheers

[jackie j]

Mine are on my allotment in the ground runners eveywhere lots of little buds and some flowers never grown them before so i assume this is right.

[Tracey]

Mine have produced lots of tiny fruit. Hard to believe they will gow big enough for even an Autumn harvest.

[Alice]

They won't produce any fruit unless they've flowered Screwbylil. It is getting a bit late for them to make a decent crop now. (Jings it's August already). When did you plant them. Maybe you could make an earlier start next year.

[SarzWix]

Mine are exactly the same screwbylil, I've pinched the end off mine in the hope that it'll branch out. But really, I think it's getting a bit late in the season for it now. Last year I managed to get one fruit So next year, it will be third time lucky I hope. I'll be constructing some kind of cold-frame/cloche to put over it I think, they don't seem to like the chilly North!

[kentvegplot]

Even down here in the soft South, my Butternuts are only now flowering - and no female flowers yet either. I think we'll be very lucky to get any fruit this year. Probably won't bother with them next year....

[Newbie]

I tried "Cobnut" last year, the 2 plants grew rampant but only managed on small fruit that got about tennisball sized before rotting & falling off. Tried it again this year, one in the veg plot (only about 2 foot long so far & not looking very happy) and one in a large pot (looking quite a lot happier & lots of little flower buds on it) but no signs of fruit yet.

I will attempt to move it into the greenhouse later on in the season as it starts to get colder to see if i have any more luck but i'm thinking this is their last chance! I am also growing "Festival" and "We Be Little" in large pots - both of which have one fruit on which is starting to ripen and they have all been treated the same. They were all started off in May so perhaps next year i need to get started sooner.

[screwbylil]

oh well

thanks for feedback guys thought i had them growing in good time maybe its just the weird weather weve had specially up here in the grim of grimsby
everything else ive tried is being RAMPANT!!!!!!!!!! so cant win em all x

[Alison]

My butternuts aren't doing too well (well the plants are but I've only had male flowers!) but I have quite a few mini pumpkins and one of my other squashes has a couple of golf ball sized fruits so not all lost.

[Matt.]

Mine are the same so we're all in the same boat. Loads of small flowers are just forming so the fruits can't be far behind - literally! The males always come before the female ones as I'm sure you all know...

I have every confidence of getting a crop and you should too. The weather just can't make its mind up and I think thats what's stunting the growth. All we need is a warm Autumn and we'll be fine. They should keep growing up to the first frost right?!

I think next year I'll sow a bit earlier than I did this year. This year I might just limit to two fruit per plant to help along. I'll pollonate at least three maybe four and the cull the weakest.

[Alison]

Oooooh, found a female flower last night, all very exciting!!!!!

[rainbowminx]

Oh thank goodness for you lot! I thought I was the only one with failing squashes! Screwbylil, I'm only t'other side of the Humber so know about our Northern weather also. I have two buttnernut squash plants and only one has a fruit on it which is about 3" now. The other plant has about 10 flower buds on (all male) but the flowers just won't open. I have two rampant pumpkin plants though with loads of little fruits on, one which is about small-child-head sized (I know this because my small child put his head nexst to it!).

Would it be worth putting them under a cloche later in the season to help them along (once they're pollinated, of course)?

Kris

[Storm]

i visited our squash plants last night at the lottie and all the golf ball sized baby squashes that had formed are starting to turn a very unappealking shade of brown, were going squidgy (like they are rotting) and are disconnecting from the plants.

anyone got any ideas why that might be? the plants are sprawling along over the ground and look very healthy. the pumpkins that they are mixed in with are doing fantastically (football sized pumkins already!).

The squashes flowered fine and both have been well watered. the lottie had a lot of weeds so the plants & fruit are resting on "weedtex" liner and/or hessian backed carpets rather than on bare earth.

any advice or hints as to why our lovely squash fruit are shrivelling up would be appreciated. are they putting too much energy into spreading and not enough into the fruit? too much watering? or just the crazy weather?