Squash question

[bikermike]

I have got one of those [ball-shaped with a frill like a cornish pasty crimping round the middle] (pattypan?) Squashes to fruit (did i say what a good season for squash/courgettes i'm having), but is staying green nd is getting bigger. Is there any way to persuade it to stop growing and ripen?

Aslo i have some butternut squash growing well. When do they generally happen?

[Small pumpkin]

A lot of the patty pans stay green. I’ve found that what ever colour it is when the flower opens is the colour stays

[bario1]

Aslo i have some butternut squash growing well. When do they generally happen?

You mean when do they set fruit? Don’t know I’m waiting for mine too!

[bikermike]

You mean when do they set fruit? Don’t know I’m waiting for mine too!

*smug face* i have fruit (seriously, i have had four non-cucubrit years and it's all worked this year, no idea how or why), and they are currently green and about 1/2 the size in the shop. At what point do i stop feeling smug and start worrying they aren't going to ripen? (Assuming all butternut squash go brown colour)

[bikermike]

A lot of the patty pans stay green. I’ve found that what ever colour it is when the flower opens is the colour stays

So i could probably pick it now? I assume like most squash they are nicer when small?

[bario1]

*smug face* i have fruit (seriously, i have had four non-cucubrit years and it's all worked this year, no idea how or why), and they are currently green and about 1/2 the size in the shop. At what point do i stop feeling smug and start worrying they aren't going to ripen? (Assuming all butternut squash go brown colour)

Now you’ve got me worried. I thought my plants were doing ok!

[SarrissUK]

I've never grown green pattypans - only white and yellow. They are the colour they will ever be when they are tiny, tiny, so I think yours are green and will stay green! Pick them - they're great at any size I think

[ameno]

*smug face* i have fruit (seriously, i have had four non-cucubrit years and it's all worked this year, no idea how or why), and they are currently green and about 1/2 the size in the shop. At what point do i stop feeling smug and start worrying they aren't going to ripen? (Assuming all butternut squash go brown colour)

Pattypan squash don't really "ripen". Eventually, the seeds will be mature and the skin will get tougher, but the flavour doesn't improve or really change much, nor do keeping qualities improve.
Summer squash, like pattypan, are basically the same as courgettes and marrows, just a different shape. They have the same fairly mild flavour no matter the size, and you can pick them at any time. They don't last long: maybe a couple weeks in the fridge.
So if it has stopped growing larger, just pick it now.

For great flavour and long keeping, you need winter squash.
Butternut is one type of winter squash, but it's a bit too cold here for butternut, really. They tend not to ripen properly in our climate. They also only reliably keep until around Christmas.
You may be better off with another variety of winter squash. Something like Bon Bon, Marina di Chioggia, Crown Prince, or Kabocha. They taste just as good, grow and ripen in our climate pretty reliably, even in a bad summer, and will usually last well into March.

[Snoop Puss]

^I'm surprised you say that about butternut squash, Ameno. My impression is that quite a few people on this forum do quite well with butternut squash. Plus, so long as you don't pile one on top of another, they last quite well in my experience.

Zelenina gives some great info about squash in post 32 of this thread, Bikermike:
http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ml#post1554386

Check what variety of butternut you're growing and look at the colours. They almost certainly won't be as dark on the plant as they are after a couple of months in storage. I'm growing Barbara this year, and I remember in the past they're still a little greenish when I pick them but by mid-November that's not a hint of green to them.

[ameno]

Check what variety of butternut you're growing and look at the colours. They almost certainly won't be as dark on the plant as they are after a couple of months in storage. I'm growing Barbara this year, and I remember in the past they're still a little greenish when I pick them but by mid-November that's not a hint of green to them.

That's the problem with them.
They rarely fully ripen on the plant, and although they will ripen in storage, the flavour is never quite as good as one properly ripened on the plant.
And the fact that butternut don't store as well as other winter squash is well documented. Exactly how long they'll last depends on how you store them, but it's never as long as properly cured squash of other types.

Squash of the species Cucurbita maxima are best suited to our climate, and most taste just as good as butternut, too (some are a bit poorer, admittedly).
Butternut squash is a different species, Cucurbita moschata, and just doesn't find our summers warm or long enough.
There are also winter squash in the species Cucurbita pepo, but they all have fairly disappointing flavour compared to the above two, as one might expect, seeing as it's the same species as courgettes and marrows.

[mcdood]

I had some excellent butternut squash last year that ripened on the plant (some very large too) although I know the weather was exceptional. A lot damper and duller this year but I have some decent sized butternuts so far and I'm hopeful they will be ripe later in the year. They go from green to a light orange colour and are ready to pick when the attached stem starts to turn from green to brown. To protect the fruits from lying in a puddle in very wet weather I place mine on upturned seed trays.

[Snadger]

I have a squash plant in a pot in the greenhouse which looks to be a pattypan. It wasn't sown as such, and according to the picture on the seed packet should be a round winter squash. It has three fruit on which are cream coloured and I intend using it like a courgette.

[bikermike]

Id my squash

Is this a pattypan?

I have average-sized hands if that helps...

Thanks

Mike

[greenishfing]

Sorry, don't know. It looks like it's just landed from outer space!

[Scarlet]

Yes that is a patty pan! Did you lose your seed labels?