Butternut Squash

[Derry]

The nice people at the BBC sent me some seeds (id completely forgotten that id ordered them) and in the selection was Hunter butternut squash. I sowed them, and the pack says theyll take 7-10 days to appear.. that was 12 days ago. Ive been to check on them, and they are starting to show, veeeeeryyy slowly

The big question is, when theyre actually big enough to go into a huuuuge pot ive got waiting for them, will it be too late to actually get a decent harvest? I dont really know much about them tbh, so i dont know what sort of growing time they have

Any advice is welcome =D

[Muscroj]

I think butternut squash have a similar habit to corgette, ie they put out LOADS of growth & trail along the ground taking up loads of room & every so often putting out a squash. If you're planting in a pot I'd guess you'd only want 1, max 2 plants per pot, even for a huge pot

[thesunflowergal]

I am growing Hunters this year too!! I found that they needed a really warm window sil, to get going. Can't advise any further though, as this is my first year of growing them.

Good luck!!

[Derry]

re: the courgette growth.. argh! haha, ive got one in my veg patch and i dont want it spreading eeeeeeeeverywhere, so i was thinking of caging it? so it grows upwards instead of out.. would that work for cucumbers & the squash too?

the pot ive got for the squash is one of those huge urn type jobbys, and ive only got 2 seedlings making an appearance, so maybe thats all i have =[

[Jandra]

In my experience most courgettes don't ramble so much. They aren't small plants by any stretch of the imagination, but many modern varieties are bush-type. So I'm not sure if a cage will be necessary.

I plant my squash/pumpkins one to a square meter (sq yard), so I'd put just one plant in a big pot, no more than that. They are hungry plants.

Happy growing,
Jandra

[Derry]

ill see how it goes then, with regards to the cage idea. both courgettes (one in the patch and one in the greenhouse) are starting to get flower buds already =O excited much =D

[Muscroj]

Did anyone else try saving seeds from their squash for germinating? I had fantastic results with a squash cal;led 'price of squash' and a plain old butternut, which both germinated much quicker than the packet of seeds that we'd already bought (I think they were F1 Harrier). I found the same with Aubergines last year too, they germinated quicker than the bought packet & fruited better too, so I'm planning on saving as many seeds as I can this year instead of buying seeds. Very exciting, real 'food for free'

[eccentric_emma]

My mum tried to save seeds however she left them on top of the microwave for several months and they didn't germinate. If you are saving seeds though, don't bother with stuff marked F1's as they will either be sterile or won't grow true to type.

[StripyPixieSocks]

Yep I saved seeds and germinated them too and they are going crazy!

This might be of interest to you (despite the fact he uses Miracle Grow though )

http://www.allaboutliverpool.com/allabo ... ernut.html

[Derry]

cheers for the link, i was actually looking at that last week sometime =D

ive got 4 squash seedlings, i planted 6, YAAY. thought i was either ganna get none, or 2, so i suppose 4 is quite good. ganna have to find more urn type pots for them though..

[godfreyrob]

I grow my butternuts inside as they seem to want warmer conditions than any other squash to get any fruit at all. Our garden is fairly sheltered but they just sulk and only grow about 4 leaves every month outside!

[Derry]

we havent got the room to grow them inside =[ our main greenhouse is used for starting seeds, and the other greenhouse still hasnt got any glass in it =/

i had a dream about my butternut squashes the other night! the seedlings were huuuuuuuuuuuge. but theyre not in real life =[

[ina]

Have never managed to grow butternut up here. And my courgettes were hopeless the last two years, too. Just too wet and cold. Btw courgettes - there are bushy types you could look out for, if you don't want them to go sneaking off over to your neighbours' garden, through the fence!

I'm trying buttercup pumpkin this year, from saved seeds. No idea if they'll grow here, but as it's saved seeds, there's nothing lost...

[Peggy Sue]

I tried butternut last year here (Cambridgeshire) and despite the poor summer I had quite a few- lots small but some the shops would be proud of!
The pumpkins seemed easier, all large so maybe they are more forgiving on temperature. Will be intersting to see what happens this year.
My pumpkin seed packet was full of broken seed, I was very annoyed but no time to complain so just planted all of them assuming I'd be lucky to get a handful germinating- they pretty much ALL germinated so struggling a bit to place them all!

[CyberPaddy66]

We just put out squash seedlings (:lol: they are almost 2 foot tall!) into type planters this weekend, fingers crossed they don't die from the move outside.