I have about 18 butternut squash plants grown from seed. They are thriving and producing copious flowers, but not one flower has grown a fruit at its base. So I guess all my flowers are male. Is there something wrong with my soil, perhaps? I would greatly appreciate some advice on what to do before it's too late.Thanks.
Hi Susan==couple a things. This has been about the worst possible butternut season possible so far, very cool for a plant that barely ripens fruit in a good year, so don't feel too bad. Second, the only variety I've found that will ripen decently hereabouts is the Early Butternut Hybrid, seeds available from Stokes and more recently West Coast seeds. Even Zenith which is supposed to be quite adapted to the west coast is pretty useless in my garden, and the other large fruited butternuts that Stokes and others sell are pointless here. My plants have been slow off the mark but are setting fruit well now. It will require a good September to give us any kind of crop this year, it ain't lookin good, but it ain't over yet either! Are your plants at least growing in size well, or stunted at this point? I find they do need some nitrogen, etc. to get some size to the plants before they will start flowering and developing the fruits. Puny, yellow leaved plants won't produce much if anything.
I have three butternut plants and not one has produced any fruit yet. They are nice healthy plants with lots of flowers. A couple of times I thought I saw a fruit growing, but it always seemed to disappear. I still have hope that I might get a squash this year, but I won't hold my breath. I think it has been just too wet this year. Even my zucchini is not doing well this year.
Thanks, guys. My plants are healthy and growing, and making lots of male flowers. Just no females yet. I have found a website that says to be patient, that this is often the case and that they may produce female flowers yet. So I will.
Today I found a couple of very small fruit about 3 inches long. It will be a miracle if they mature before the first frost, which in only about a month away at the most.
My squash plants look great but have not been flowering for long. They have produced some small fruit but when they reached the size of golf balls or smaller most dropped from the vine. I really don't know why, although it has been a rainy summer. I have pulled off the flowers now to concentrate the energy to the ones which have started already. Apparently the flowers are good deep fried....so if no fruit is forthcoming maybe the flowers will be small reward for the hard work :)
Steve Solomon's book on "growing veggies west of the Cascades" explains some of our frustrations. Butternuts are actually a different, more tropical species than the other squashes and zucchini we grow. Much tastier in my opinion, but far more of a gamble trying to get them to ripen well in Canada other than in southern Ontario. Personally I'll struggle with my squash and sleep comfortably on summer nights thanks, but especially in this cool wet August I see a butternut free winter around my place...:-(
I am so surprised! I actually ended up with several butternut squash after all! The plants are large and healthy and are producing flowers steady....I keep picking them off to put the energy into the squash....but alas our season is too short and the frost will kill the plants in a few days. Next year I will try different squash. Zuchinni grows very well here!
hi I am really embarrassed...they weren't butternut squash after all........they were acorn squash.........blush blush....apologies!
This is due to insufficient pollination Janr, the female flower opens, does not get pollinated, or pollination is poor, and the fruit withers and disappears... Hand polinate them. The female has a small squash at the base of the flower... The wife and I have competed in Giant Pumpkin growing for competition, this is standard practice amongst the competitive growers here's a link to a pictorial "HOW To" I did awhile back.. Hand Pollination How-To. The squash will set male flowers sometimes for weeks before a female appear, the cool weather, or extremely hot humid weather will also effect pollination
I did end up with a couple of small squash. I think the garden was just a little shady for them to do well, especially with our very rainy summer. I did fertilize the female flowers when I saw them. I will try and pick a variety that matures a little earlier next year.
