A teeny tiny squash question...

[maytreefrannie]

...to go with my teeny tiny butternut squash.

I have five plants spreading themselves about but no joy except for two tiny fruits which are smaller than marbles (perfectly formed) and one on another plant that's even smaller than them.

Here's the thing: is it possible at all that these might grow big enough and ripen or are they just too late in fruiting?

Would it help if I fleeced them?

[shambayango]

I'm in the same boat as you. I have one small butternut squash. There are masses of flowers on them (5 plants like you) but the bees are not coming to pollinate them. Perhaps we should plant some marigolds or something to encourage the bees to come.

Shamba

[Alice]

We're in September Maytreefrannie and sadly I think it's too late for them now. By this time they should be fully grown and skins ripenng so that they will store for the winter.
When did you plant them ? They need a long hot summer.
I plant them early so that they are ready to plant out at the end of May when frost has passed and they have all summer to get on with it. Better luck for next year.

[Two_Sheds]

I sowed my squash pretty late (May I think) ... they grew fast in their pots, and I planted them out in June.
Then we got weeks of rain & gales and I thought they would never grow. I kept pinching out the growing tips to force the energy into fruit production instead of leaves.
Last week I peeked under the foliage and found dozens of really big fruits. I have hacked off the leaves covering the fruit to let the sun get to them.

I still don't know if we'll get enough sun this month to ripen them off, but it's the best I could do.

The best year I ever had for squash was 2005, which was pretty dry and warm as I remember.

[maytreefrannie]

I sowed 7 seeds on 11th March - indoors. During late April/May I put them outside on warm afternoons, then planted them out end of May. At that stage they were quite big plants.

They grew foliage all over the place but were slow in producing flowers. I didn't pinch out the growing tips and having read TS' post, I think I might have done better if I had.

They were sown and planted out the same time as the courgettes and also the pumpkin, both of which have done really well and are I think all related.

Thanks for the comments and advice, I guess I'll try again next year - meantime, I've loads of compostable squash leaves.