what do butternuts look like?!

[mrsflibble]

I know what the large cfull grown fruit looks like, but what does a baby one look like? my butternut is beginning to fruit; the fruit is grean and stripey like a marrow, but shaped like a butternut!!! could it have cross polinated with one of my neighbours? could I be "mummy" to a mongrel squash?!

[Millymollymandy]

Yes that is what a baby butternut looks like. It will slowly start to turn nutty coloured whilst keeping that stripeyness (which changes to white) for quite a long time. You can continue to ripen your fruit on a sunny windowsill indoors once picked in the autumn and watch the colour change!

[hedgewitch]

You mean like this missus F?

[mrsflibble]

a bit like thet hedgewitch, only it's tiny weeny right now.

[hedgewitch]

yeah this one's quite a whopper!!

*licks lips in anticipation*

[pumpy]

Don't forget to pick-off the flowers,as they die off.Otherwise,they will rot back,into the fruit.

[Millymollymandy]

Mine are never that green! More of a pale green with some darker stripes and I've grown quite a few different varieties.

This year they've nearly all split though and are tiny. I will try a different variety next year!

[hedgewitch]

*rushes out and picks flowers off!*

Thanks pumpy.

[mrsflibble]

*does the same as hedgewitch*

[Peggy Sue]

I never knew you had to pick flowers of- is it just butternut or all squash?

[Millymollymandy]

I rarely do, and have never had any rot because of it. It's practically impossible to get in at the fruit anyway in amongst all the foliage and stems!

[JR]

I was very impressed with our plants over the weekend. Lots of squashes on each one (around 10-15) although small (5" high x 3" across) they are all starting go change colour slightly. I had assumed they would get bigger then change colour. I didnt think they would be ready until November but I would not be suprised if they were sooner.

I have pulled up a couple of swedes which I thought would be November/December.

[MAdam Cholet]

I don't know where I am going wrong. For the 2nd year running I have tried growing butternuts and had no females on the plants. I have other pumpkins and squashes growing successfully - do butternuts need dfferent treatment?

[Millymollymandy]

I don't think so, but sometimes I've found plants very slow to start getting female flowers - melons this year took ages, and of course now it is a bit late as the plants are succumbing to downy mildew so I don't think the fruit will ever grow big enough or ripen. My butternuts are all small and split and they also took a long time for the female flowers to open yet the other pumpkins planted at the same time already had large fruit on by this time!

[mrsflibble]

mine took ages to get a female flower. the plant was about 5ft long before it decided it wanted to fruit. I've not done anything to it except practically ignore the thing.

one thing though, some of the bottom laves are turning a desturbing shade of yellow... what does this mean?!