Problems with growing butternut squash

[Composta]

Last year I had a problem with growing this lovely veg, and it's happening again this year - Help!

There is excellent leaf and flower growth - then when the squashes start developing, the part of the flower that is still attached to the baby squash's 'bottom' starts to go black, as does the squash itself. I pulled off one of these flowers and it felt damp. The squash never develops beyond a couple of inches, shrivels and falls off. It's very depressing! I have one lovely big squash developing nicely plus another smaller one that looks OK. The rest all have this black damp lurgy. Last year was the same - I got about 6 good ones, and about 20 shrivelled, from 2 plants.

Is there a name for this problem and some emergency First Aid I can perform?

Best wishes and good growing, Composta.

[SueA]

Hi Composta & welcome to the vine. I'm not exactly sure but it sounds similar to the problems a lot of us have been having with courgettes this year, a sort of 'blossom end rot/mould' condition.I'd suggest giving them a good feed & mulch with some manure or similar & watching how you water them. Try to keep the watering even, not too much all at once & keep the plants well ventilated & spaced out & put some straw under the developing fruits. It could also be that the fruits aren't forming properly because they haven't been pollinated properly if they're aren't enough bees etc. around. You could try hand pollinating by taking something like a cotton bud or paintbrush & brushing the pollen from male flowers onto the female ones (these should have a noticable small swelling which is the fruit). Good luck.

[pickledtink]

Blossom end rot. It happens if the plant isn't getting enough feed and water. Squash plants are greedy feeders and need lots of water too! There's been a lot of it this year due to the prolonged heatwave and no rain. Also it's usual to get no more than 6 fruit per plant so if you were getting 3 that's not too bad. Although plenty appear the plant can't possibly sustain them all.
To get more pick off any fruit that appear to be not growing or shrivelling up.( usually the earlier ones but there's no rule) Once a fruit gets underway it'll grab all the goodness anyway. If you water daily when there is no rain and feed at least twice weekly once the first fruit has appeared you'll get maximum harvest. I can't remember the balance but fruiting plants need different fertiliser from when they're putting on leaf.
Try a tomato feed. Preferably one with some seaweed in the mix. Same for any fruiting plant:Tomatoes, courgettes, Aubergines etc

[pickledtink]

SueA is spot on re pollinating too. There's lots of advice on how to and why on some of the older threads. Have a hunt back to the threads where everyone was lamenting their courgette problems. Masses of advice.
Good luck!

[Composta]

Last year I had a problem with growing this lovely veg, and it's happening again this year - Help!

There is excellent leaf and flower growth - then when the squashes start developing, the part of the flower that is still attached to the baby squash's 'bottom' starts to go black, as does the squash itself. I pulled off one of these flowers and it felt damp. The squash never develops beyond a couple of inches, shrivels and falls off. It's very depressing! I have one lovely big squash developing nicely plus another smaller one that looks OK. The rest all have this black damp lurgy. Last year was the same - I got about 6 good ones, and about 20 shrivelled, from 2 plants.

Is there a name for this problem and some emergency First Aid I can perform?

Best wishes and good growing, Composta.

Thanks for the helpful replies re butternut squash problem. I've given the 2 plants a couple of feeds, and touch wood they seem to be doing OK now.

Cheers, Composta

[cmorgan5]

Hi, This is my first year at growing vegetables and I have a butternut squash plant but nothing seems to be happening. I planted it in march/april time. I have watered it well and feed it but all I get is flowers then they fall off. Can anyone give me some tips as im not sure what im ment to be doing with it and I really would like some squashes off it. Please help!!!!!!!
Thanks.

[reetnproper]

Hi, This is my first year at growing vegetables and I have a butternut squash plant but nothing seems to be happening. I planted it in march/april time. I have watered it well and feed it but all I get is flowers then they fall off. Can anyone give me some tips as im not sure what im ment to be doing with it and I really would like some squashes off it. Please help!!!!!!!
Thanks.

Hello and first, welcome to the vine.

The advice given to Composta apllies to you as well I'd say. The key point is not to assume that the female flowers (they're the ones with the little butternut squash shaped bit behind them) are being successfully pollinated.

So once you see a female flower open, get a cotton bud or little paint brush, find an open male flower and carefully dip it into the middle of the flower and remove some of the pollen. Then dab the pollen coated cotton bud/paint brush carefully into the female flower.

If possible do this a couple of times using different males to give your flower the best chance of fertilisation .

HTH and good luck
Reet
x

[gojiberry]

From my experience Butternuts are not huge producers ( someone will probably come along and disagree) and 6 squashes from 2 plants is about average. It seems to be that once a couple of squash have formed the plant seems to think that that is enough. Some people advise taking the first fruits of to encourage the plant to produce a flush of fruits but that has never worked for me and I just accept 3 or 4 fruits per plant.

Ian

[Crisiwisi]

When to harvest Butternut Squash

My single plant has produced extensive growth - 16ft or more with about 10 stems, some climbing an adjacent trellis. I've had to remove several stems as they were swamping other plants. And I have poor chalky soil and only dug in a little compost!

I have only 3 maturing fruits (all on the same stem), which seems to be par for the course according to previous correspondence. Do I leave these on the plant to fully mature before picking and thus be able to store overwinter? Butternut squash I buy in the shops is a yellow colour and really firm - a tough nut to prepare for cooking! I have one now which has been in a fruit bowl for several weeks and still seems usable. My garden fruits are currently looking light greenish with stripes.

Advice, please!

[reetnproper]

A ripe butternut should keep for several months, in dry conditions and they make such an interesting display , although I wouldn't say the same for shop bought ones as you don't know how long these have been picked.

I picked 12 cobnuts last October and displayed them, with other winter squashes, right through until I used the last one which was in February this year.

So I'd certainly recommend keeping your fruit on the vine until the very last moment (or until they look ripe ).

That said, I've cut my 4 ripe winter squashes and brought them in but 3 of the plants were looking a little tired and I half hope to stimulate the one decent looking plant to produce some more.

Regards
Reet
x

[jludtxs]

Why are my butternutts so small?

I live in Texas so we have a very long growing season. First frost is in novermber usually and it starts warming in february. If I could just get this right, I could do 2 crops. My first try they were small and the space surrounding the seeds was green like an overboiled egg. It didn't affect the flavor or smell at all. I figured that one out by trial and error and what fixed it was adding iron to the soil. So.. last year I had about even numbers of big and small, but none big like they should be. This year, I added a lot of horse manure hoping for the best and I have little squash again. They are ripening now already and should be done in the next couple weeks. What Am I doing Wrong? I grew up in illinois and all you had to do was throw seeds on the ground and huge fruit would grow. Here in Texas, I have a sandy soil which I added peat moss, humus and manure. Full sun and plenty of water in a raised bed. It actually just rained for 8 days straight and had some rain each day for the next three. I used an all purpose vegetable granular fertilizer with the middle number highest. In the same soil I am growing pretty good watermelon and canteloupe. Any Ideas? I could use some sugestions, Thanks