Too late for squash?

[MissC]

You lot didn't warn me these things are like bloody triffids

I planted the seeds in a heated prop on Sunday, went away Monday-Friday on a residential trip with my class and have returned to this...

[muddled]

What a lovely welcome home!

[Snoop Puss]

MissC, I did warn you they'd fairly race away!

SusieG, sorry for not replying, I've had trouble with my internet connection. Thelma Sanders is a squash expert, as you'd expect from her name. If she replies to this thread, go by whatever she says rather than what I say below.

What are the temperatures like where you are? How many leaves have the plants got? Might it be time to plant them out? If so, do that and then feed with a general fertiliser to start. When the flowers start, give them something P and K rich. I feed mine once a month, but a bit might depend on your soil.

If you're very lucky, you might get a second flush of flowers after you pick the first harvest. When I pick my first lot, I put a bit of muck on the bed, almost like a thin mulch. My muck is a few years old and well rotted, so depending on your stuff, you might not be able to do that. If you can't, add something nitrogen rich and repeat as above for your first crop.

First frost here is mid-October, but we usually get very cold nights from late September onwards. Most years, my tom plants die at the end of September. Even so, my squash plants usually give me two crops.

[Alison]

I planted the seeds in a heated prop on Sunday

I don't think you need a heated propagator this late in the season as it promotes fast and soft growth as you've seen. Squashes grow so quickly that an extra day or two to germinate is no big issue. Doesn't matter for this year but might be worth thinking about for the future.

[MissC]

I don't think you need a heated propagator this late in the season as it promotes fast and soft growth as you've seen. Squashes grow so quickly that an extra day or two to germinate is no big issue. Doesn't matter for this year but might be worth thinking about for the future.

To be honest it was more a little experiment for me, I shoved half in the prop and half in the greenhouse and they're all within an inch or so of each other so I'm not really sure it made that much of a difference at all...

[Thelma Sanders]

They need to go into bigger pots, and start putting them outside during the day, somewhere sunny and sheltered preferably - to get them used to normal conditions.
When they have a few more leaves they can be planted out. Give them some slug protection - pellets or whatever method you choose.
I plant with generous helping of manure, or homemade compost and BF&B fertiliser. Then feed with seaweed liquid fertiliser every other week.

[SusieG]

Snoop, thanks for the feeding advice

And Thelma, I planted out 2 x tromboncino yesterday into soil that had been previously manured and also BFB, watered in well too. I'm doing the same today with pumpkins.

My one and only butternut squash (only the one germinated....) is still a bit small, so I potted that on a few days ago. It seems happy enough, but thought I'd let it grow a wee bit more before I put him out!

Thanks!

[MissC]

They need to go into bigger pots, and start putting them outside during the day, somewhere sunny and sheltered preferably - to get them used to normal conditions.
When they have a few more leaves they can be planted out. Give them some slug protection - pellets or whatever method you choose.
I plant with generous helping of manure, or homemade compost and BF&B fertiliser. Then feed with seaweed liquid fertiliser every other week.

Thanks Thelma! This is exactly what I needed. Am I right in thinking I can bury them deeper when I pot on? Like tomatoes?

[Thelma Sanders]

I wouldn't bury deeper, as like cucumbers, the necks can rot if they get wet.
Once they're up and away the stems will harden up, so I don't worry about them.