How are your Squashes?

[Colin_M]

For anyone growing squashes, can you share some info on:
- The variety
- When you planted them
- How they're looking at the moment?

This year I have 3 types, but some aren't doing very well. All were started from seed in the greenhouse around May. I finally planted them in June, in the following order. They are:

(a) Bon Bon (doing well, stem around 2-3m long, each plant has 1-3 fruit around 5cm in diameter)
(b) Crown Prince (seedlings were fine, but the plants are struggling, around 20cm stem, with anaemic leaves.
Some flowers forming).
(c) Butternut Sprinter (seedlings were the slowest to get going, the planst are the least developed of the three)

I think the Bon Bons were the strongest of the seedlings I planted out. The rest may have been at an earlier stage as the weather started going downhill late June/early July.


How are the rest of you faring? Any tips (eg. keeping them under fleece during the current wind, cold & rain)?


Colin

[Beryl]

Mine are a bit slow this year Colin. I would think due to the weather conditions.

Butternut and Turks Turban are just beginning to flower. Courgettes doing better both yellow the round one and long one. I am harvesting now.

What is doing very well is several plants that have seeded themselves which I have left to ramble on. They were obviously F1s. I would think one is a marrow, the others are making large over-grown courgettes of half green and yellow. and a very pretty pale green one.

Beryl.

[Primrose]

Courgettes are finally start to crop well but Buternut squash a bit of a disaster. Several small fruits have formed but so far all have rotted. I think it's the cold they don't like because they're pretty thirsty plants and should have had plenty of water with all the rain. Perhaps covering them in fleece might have helped. Like Beryl, I have several self seeded plants doing well but no flowers yet so don't know whether they will turn out to be courgettes or squash.

[mandylew]

I have crown prince, butternut sprinter and a couple of peters giant pumkins from last years seeds, but none are doing well at all, very anaemic looking, I cant understand it, the holes were filled with plenty of home compost and the plants were great when they went out at the beginning of june, the ground has not dried out, they have had plenty of rain! I also planted 3 courgette trombolino, these were enormously sucessful for me last year, smothered everything in sight, but they have that same withered look about them this year. I was beginning to wonder if i need a soil analysis but its reassuring to know i am not the only one.

[Mike Vogel]

I sowed Buttertnut and Tom Fox pumpkins, as well as green courgettes [Niro di Milan and Parthenon] and Yellow ones [gold bush] and some Ushiki Kuri.

The U.K. and Gold Bush germinated OK but the others were very slow. The green courgettes were a disaster, but I should add that the seed was all old seed, at least one year old. The butternut germinated when I had just about given up hope. All these were kept indoors on windowsills until after germination, when they went in an unheated greenhouse.

I planted out in the last week of May, but then we got a cold night and that put paid to one or two plants. Unfortunately, such is the frantic hurry at that time of year that I forgot to take note of what I had planted where.

I had some gold Bush and Tom Fox seeds left, so in despair I just sowed them in the ground at the beginning of June. Their germination has been better than indoors earlier.

Right now the Ushiki Kuri and one of the tOm Fox pumpkins have fruits. The Buternut squashes look a bit yellow, but are surviving in the raised bed I have them in. I think they'll produce, but I don't ever get any signs of fruiting this early, so I'm not worried. I have had some green cougettes from 2 plants given me by a friend. Oh, I forgot, I've got Custard White patti-pan type marrows, which germinated fine but a couple may have succumbed to the cold snap I mentioned.

It's fruatrating when you have to do in a hurry what should take time, but I know I've got lots of plants, so I can let you know later which ones actually produce anything.

Good luck all.

mike

[sue-the-recycler]

All of them, pumpkin, crystal ball, all green bush, assorted gourds...all rubbish, 2 pumpkins left and they were self seeded out of the compost

[Colin_M]

I cant understand it, the holes were filled with plenty of home compost

Hi Mandy, interesting point this.

I try to plant certain plants with a good base of compost or rotted manure in the holes beneath them. Generally, I've done this with squash & sweetcorn in the past and I did it with my Bon Bon's this year. The other squashes have had to make do with some rotted manure sprinkled on the soil around them, after planting.

However I don't think this is the whole answer to the slow progress of the Butternuts & Crown Princes.

As for others mentioning their courgettes, mine slid backwards after planting, but are now just gathering their strength & have produced 1 pickable fruit. Others on our allotment have big courgette plants & fruit.


Colin

[Johnboy]

Hi Colin,
We are still getting some very low night temperatures
and have just looked at the min/max outside my backdoor and it is slightly below 9C. I know that they have had more than a good watering of late but we have not had to weather for converting to growth which is what uses the most water so these soakings, to my mind, have not done the plants much good. With this rain of late the ground temperatures will have fallen considerably as well which again is not helpful. I really think that this is the basis, if perhaps not all, of the problems people are experiencing this year. I feel it is a case of fingers crossed for some good warm weather with just the occasional shower.
JB.

[Piglet]

The only squash that are doing well here are the ones that were planted in raised beds, the others look a little washed out and are not as vigourous as usual.

[June]

I've got Crown Prince and Buttercup.
Both have formed fruits which are the size of cherry toms, the plants look very small and sad though and I doubt they'll come to much. Nothing like last year!!
The plants are on the allotment in the ground with glass sheets propped up trying to keep the wind off the worst side!
They were sown early May in pots, starting off in a propagator and moved to a cold greenhouse when germinated. They were planted out first week in June.
June

[Geoff]

Similarly a bit slow caused by the strange weather but looking like they are about to launch themselves if we get a bit of an improvement. This year in the main bed I am growing :
Courgettes :-
Geodi - 2 nice plants just starting to crop
One Ball - 2 slightly smaller plants but still starting to crop
Parador - 2 weaker plants but with fruit set
Patriot - again 2 nice plants just starting to crop
Summer Crookneck - 2 small plants with only male flowers but look ready to go
Patty Pan - just 1 plant not very big but with fruit set
Pumpkins :-
Triple Treat - 2 plants just taken off got to about 1 metre with male flowers
Rouge vif d’etamps - again 2 healthy plants just over a metre with male flowers
Squashes :-
Potimarron - 2 yellowish looking plants but well over a metre with male and female flower buds
Red Kuri - 2 very weak looking plants
Musque de Provence - 2 plants about 1 metre with male and female flowers
Crown Prince - 1 fairly small plant just started to take off with male and female buds
Pink Banana – 1 plant of about 1 metre with male buds
Blue Banana – 2 nice plants of about 2 metres with male and female buds
Queensland Blue – 3 healthy plants with male and female buds

In a shed with a plastic roof I have 2 each of Butternut and Butternut Metro (I have never had success with Butternuts outside) that are all about 1½ metres but only with male buds.

In another part of the garden I have 5 big type pumpkins but they are very poor with the odd male flower so are unlikely to do much this year.

Everything was sown on 7th May in a propagator and mainly planted out on 7th June.

[Colin_M]

the plants look very small and sad though and I doubt they'll come to much. Nothing like last year!!

Sounds like a common theme June. Amazingly, I after the initial harvest of Butternuts last year, our plants then produced a second crop, which also ripened in that amazing summer/autumn.

No such luck this year I fear.

Thanks for the info JB. Sounds like either screening, raised beds or (not really feasible) under-soil heating cables if we wanted to compensate for the low soil temperatures.

Interesting though that our Bon Bon squashes are surviving & fruiting better than our others (all next to each other).

Colin

[peter]

Butternut & Crown Prince only this year.

Nothing above two foot long and no leaf larger than a saucer.

Johnboy has it right I fear, not seasonable enough weather, particularly warm sunshine.

[King Carrot]

3 Baby bear are looking very good and flowering,

3 Butternut have hardly grown in comparison and have a slight yellow tint. We've not had excessive rain here(for a change) so it's probably the temperature at night, I've seen a low of 9C on the mim/max though can't vouch for its accuracy.

KC

[Chantal]

My courgettes are doing incredibly well and I'm picking a dozen a day. The Golden Hubbard pumpkins are now tennis ball sized but the Butternut's are just sitting there doing very little at the moment.

Interestly I planted out all my courgettes (bar 3 of them) on the first weekend in June. They are great. The other 3, which are a T&M trial seed, went out 3 weeks later when it was warmer and they've hardly grown since then. The others have tripled in size over the same period.