butternut question: aborted fruits? PICS

JRinPA · July 16, 2015

This is the first year I have tried to grow butternut squash. The yard is not huge and with the dogs there is not really room for them to sprawl, so we never tried it. I read a little about trellising them this year, and decided I would try it. I used an unfinished duck boat scissor blind made from 1" EMT - round thin wall galv steel tubing. With a little bit of welding and drilling I finished up with a free standing X frame that is about 10 ft long and stands 7 feet high. The top is in tension, three spans of 550 cord. From this frame, I hung CRW wire. The result is two solidly supported vertical steel fences with 6"x6" openings with 3-4 ft separation between them. It can be easily diassembled and stored in the shed during the winter.

The seeds were saved from local garden butternuts I traded for last season. From pics on the internet I believe they are waltham butternut. We started them in a glass aquarium outside in April. 9/10 seeds germinated and we took care of them and they transplanted fine.

The soil was lawn, rototilled, amended with some aged horse manure, and some vermicompost. I have done avct drench a couple times. Other than that I don't use fertilzer or sprays.

Being the first year, I did not attempt to trim out anything. There are now quite a few "suckers/new vines" growing off the original vines. I tried a couple different yarn patterns to help them climb but they don't really climb themselves, and require active weaving or tying. I end up corkscrewing the tendrils on and they do hold if that is done in the correct twist direction. Of course, they will grab each other for a helping hand - or throat. I had to save one butternut from being choked out by another's vine. That left a big crease.

All told it was has worked out really well. We transplated six butternuts, spaced 4 ft each way. One plant did not really grow a long main vine at first but the other five I was able to start weaving them on the trellis about the same time. I can't say for sure if that one has any butternuts growing yet. It is tough to follow the vines to know which plant is which. A couple days back I counted 22 butternuts that are growing/grown, but there is an increasing ratio of the yellow / rubbery females. They are yellow BEFORE the flower opens, so it does not seem like a pollination problem?

What causes these yellow, rubbery fruits? Are these what is considered "aborted"? Is this a pollination problem or are the plants just saying "enough is enough"? The yellow ones die, often before even getting the flower open. They are not attached firmly. The green/striped "normal" ones that are hard shelled seem to do fine.

The yellow ones started a few weeks back after a good number of normal squash were set. I have not taken perfect notes, so it is possible some of the larger yellow rubber ones were growing normally but missed pollination. Clearly though, many are yellow before flowers even open.

color comparison, yellow is rubbery/rotten,

snaps off with little force

flower not open yet, already yellow

flower not open yet, yellow

I am going to try hand pollinating the remaining normal ones that make it to flower, but other than that, I'm not sure what to do to maximize production. I will do an avct drench tomorrow. Maybe I should start trimming vines other than the mains?

July 16, 2015	#1
JRinPA Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: SE PA Posts: 964	butternut question: aborted fruits? PICS This is the first year I have tried to grow butternut squash. The yard is not huge and with the dogs there is not really room for them to sprawl, so we never tried it. I read a little about trellising them this year, and decided I would try it. I used an unfinished duck boat scissor blind made from 1" EMT - round thin wall galv steel tubing. With a little bit of welding and drilling I finished up with a free standing X frame that is about 10 ft long and stands 7 feet high. The top is in tension, three spans of 550 cord. From this frame, I hung CRW wire. The result is two solidly supported vertical steel fences with 6"x6" openings with 3-4 ft separation between them. It can be easily diassembled and stored in the shed during the winter. The seeds were saved from local garden butternuts I traded for last season. From pics on the internet I believe they are waltham butternut. We started them in a glass aquarium outside in April. 9/10 seeds germinated and we took care of them and they transplanted fine. The soil was lawn, rototilled, amended with some aged horse manure, and some vermicompost. I have done avct drench a couple times. Other than that I don't use fertilzer or sprays. Being the first year, I did not attempt to trim out anything. There are now quite a few "suckers/new vines" growing off the original vines. I tried a couple different yarn patterns to help them climb but they don't really climb themselves, and require active weaving or tying. I end up corkscrewing the tendrils on and they do hold if that is done in the correct twist direction. Of course, they will grab each other for a helping hand - or throat. I had to save one butternut from being choked out by another's vine. That left a big crease. All told it was has worked out really well. We transplated six butternuts, spaced 4 ft each way. One plant did not really grow a long main vine at first but the other five I was able to start weaving them on the trellis about the same time. I can't say for sure if that one has any butternuts growing yet. It is tough to follow the vines to know which plant is which. A couple days back I counted 22 butternuts that are growing/grown, but there is an increasing ratio of the yellow / rubbery females. They are yellow BEFORE the flower opens, so it does not seem like a pollination problem? What causes these yellow, rubbery fruits? Are these what is considered "aborted"? Is this a pollination problem or are the plants just saying "enough is enough"? The yellow ones die, often before even getting the flower open. They are not attached firmly. The green/striped "normal" ones that are hard shelled seem to do fine. The yellow ones started a few weeks back after a good number of normal squash were set. I have not taken perfect notes, so it is possible some of the larger yellow rubber ones were growing normally but missed pollination. Clearly though, many are yellow before flowers even open. color comparison, yellow is rubbery/rotten, snaps off with little force flower not open yet, already yellow flower not open yet, yellow I am going to try hand pollinating the remaining normal ones that make it to flower, but other than that, I'm not sure what to do to maximize production. I will do an avct drench tomorrow. Maybe I should start trimming vines other than the mains?