I have a butternut squash growing on just about every vine/leaf but most wither and die. I have hope for one that is about 6 inches now and yellow but the rest seem to come and go. Is this normal to lose alot of them? Also, I planted pumpkins in July and haven't seen a single one. Lots of flowers but then no Pumpkin. Flowers wither and die. I have just removed my sunscreen since it's cooled off this last week. Thanks for any advice. Should I cut watering back to once a day now that it's cooler?
Hi Dan--do make sure the female (with little fruit on the rear end of 'em) are pollinated by the other (male) flowers--you can dust the females with pollen in the mornings to make certain this is happening. Water is the other common problem, and your climate is so different from most of us it's hard to know what's needed. Hopefully someone in your area can advise you better. Butternut--the only squash worth growing, yeah :-)
Would I be dusting the little butternut itself with pollen or the flower on the end of it? How do you tell which flower is male? Are all the little butternuts females? They seem to be on every vine with a leaf. Is this pollination something I have to do daily or just once? Where are the bees? Aren't they supposed to do the pollinating? Can other insects pollinate? Thanks.
Dan the female flowers have mini-squash on the back end of em...males lack this. So take pollen from a male, or easier just pinch off a male flower and shove the pollen part into the centre of the female flower, leave it there. This has always worked for me. Not sure why the bees aren't doing their part...some places they are quite scarce, so you might have to do their job yourself!
