Butternut squash Avalon with no fruit.

[Catherine]

I have grown three Avalon Butternut squashes and they were and still are very healthy, with loads of flower heads, all seem to be male and I have one very little butternut squash showing now. Should I pull them out or leave them hoping something will happen.

They are in a bed with plenty of room, lots of well rotted horse manure went in before they did, and five courgette plants and one winter hubbard squash, with only three squashes on it. (Not grown these before so how long do I leave the squashes on before I can pick them)?

Any suggestions, even my courgettes have not been as prolific as usual this year.

[Colin Miles]

Hi Catherine,

I am in a similar situation with 3 Harrier Squash. They started to go backwards so I repotted them and grew them on in the greenhouse, then put them out in a cold frame - very squashed I might add. They have, in the last week, produced both male and female flowers and there is evidence of some fruit. But I fear it is much too late for them to do anything. The dull cool Climate Change weather has really affected them and the courgettes. As for the Hubbard squash, I would suggest leaving them as long as possible. Forecast for the rest of the month and next isn't too promising, but as long as we don't get any frost there is always some hope.

[Primrose]

I fear your squash will probably not develop enough to eat unless we have a very unexpected Indian summer in September which certainly isn't forecast at the moment. I have just one squash growing which has two tiny fruits smaller than the size of a golf ball. I'll leave them in but don't expect to pick anything worth eating because around mid Sept I find their leaves, like courgettes, go mildewy and the plants virtually give up.
It's been a bad summer for a lot of things this year, including my courgettes.

[peter]

As always don't give up hope till the leaves die, usually in the first frost. But get the fruits in quick then.

Squashes overall have been poor for me and I grow a half plot of them every year, 5 rod.
Patty Pan started late and have been slow in production.
Crown Prince, what fruits I can see are distinctly below normal average.
The random buy of Spaghetti Squash has paid off with a barrow load of usable fruits from four plants which started to die back in both leaf & stem over a week ago and so were harvested last Sunday.

[Colin Miles]

Hi Peter,

My Crown Prince have done quite well all things considered - with a lot of TLC and there are about 9 largish fruits from 5 plants. But I was most interested in your spaghetti squash. Does it store well?

[Monika]

Catherine, we gave up trying to grow squash two years ago, having tried several different varieties over the years - none ever ripened. In our case, it's certainly the lack of warmth and sun in these climes and I fear the same might apply to you. The plants were always healthy but no decent fruit!

[realfood]

For those of us in the North of the UK, it is so much easier to forget the butternuts and grow other varieties of Winter Squash. These can be just as sweet but will flower and can mature at least a month earlier, if you choose a quick maturing variety.

[Catherine]

This is the second year I have not managed to grow any fruits so I think I will look for other things next year.

[peter]

Hi Peter,

My Crown Prince have done quite well all things considered - with a lot of TLC and there are about 9 largish fruits from 5 plants. But I was most interested in your spaghetti squash. Does it store well?

If we don't eat them too quick I'll let you know how well they keep.
The bigger, riper ones have good tough butternut skins, the immature ones are a bit "courgette".

[FelixLeiter]

I have only succeeded with butternut squash in a polytunnel. Even then, the fruits were full-sized but did not develop the hard skin that they need to store well, and so they did not keep. I don't rate this type of squash as being suitable for the British climate. There are so many other types to grow which are just as worthwhile in the kitchen and reliable in the garden.
I remember a couple of years back Gardeners' World including butternuts in the their free seeds, as a way of encouraging viewers to grow their own. I always thought this was a poor choice because it's difficult to succeed with them, even for old hands; certainly not encouraging for the beginner.