Not sure where you are, but winter squashes do not perform as well in south as in the north. Best performers here in Georgia are Cushaws and butternut types. Of the few types that are bush ( acorns and butternuts) I get a much greater yield per square yard of earth than with the vining types. C. maximas are a tough go here. I do have several C. Moshata (cheese wheel types) that performed reasonably well this year. Beung Karn being the best.

I've always found that if I buy seed from a reputable seed catalog, they always tell me if a plant will be "bush," so I'm wondering if you haven't used a reputable, commercial company or if you haven't read the descriptions carefully.

I'd also think you'd look for varieties that are resistant or tolerant of mildews, IF that is your main problem. I know I had terrible mildews this year, and will try to get better varieties with built-in resistance next year.

One of the best things for getting better production, at least in my neck of the woods, is to grow them on black plastic. I plant all squashes one foot apart, with about 8 feet between rows. The numbers of fruit seem okay to me. The black plastic takes some of the stress off the plants, both from weeds (which don't grow where the plastic is) and from keeping the soil more evenly moist since the water doesn't evaporate from the soil due to the plastic barrier.

Hope this helps.
Ann

Atash
You have a PM from me. I tried to post pictures of my Winter Squash on this website but unable to figure out how to do it. I'm able to,from the MY PICTURES file, send them but can't post them. Sure wish I knew how to do it. I have some Tomatoes that I'm proud of and want to show them as well.

I have tried the smaller bush varieties but they did not do well for me. They set squash but the plants ended up dying. My latest was Burpee's Bush Pink Banana. I have tried for several years to grow this squash but the plants end up dying on me.

Sweet Meat, Lakota, and Butternut
{{gwi:112874}}

I know the smaller varieties are for single servings but that is not necessary. I had an aunt who grew the Blue Hubbard squash and they were huge. She used to cut off what she wanted and then wrap it up until she needed it again.

My favorite is Lakota from Burpee's but I also tried Sweet Meat this year which did well for me and is supposed to be a good eating squash.

I don't think winter squashes are grown as much as they used to be. Local seed racks only have 1 or 2 varieties. But I stumbled onto the Seed Saver's Exchange site after someone else mentioned it, and noticed they had a significant selection.

>>Not sure where you are

Pacific Northwest. Specifically, Seattle. I think my neck pumpkins are a cushaw type or related to them.

When I was a kid, I remember squashes growing luxuriently. I also remember more variety of them.

Hi, JWR, I didn't get your message. Sometimes that feature works and sometimes it doesn't. I checked my junk mail folder and didn't see it there. But I have exchanged a few emails with you in the past so will see if I have your email.

I'd love to see your pix.

>>I have tried the smaller bush varieties but they did not do well for me. They set squash but the plants ended up dying.

I'm suspicious the dwarfing makes some of them less vigorous. One of my bush types did fine; the other a total waste of time. I think they just need to be tested and the losers avoided. The winner, tho, was a hull-less type; the flesh is probably thin because they were bred for seeds not flesh. These were bred in Austria for pumpin-seed-oil production, but we will eat the whole seeds obviously. More convenient than sunflowers because you don't have to figure out how to get rid of the hulls. Also, the squirrels don't get to them ("our" cat being useless; the squirrels have learned to ignore her).

>>I know the smaller varieties are for single servings but that is not necessary.

I suppose that there is one clever use for them: some people cut the top, scoop out the seeds, stuff them, and cook them in a microwave for a very quick supper! But I am doing research on lower-energy living, and clearly the big ones are favorable for self-storing and having available much later in the year. I think a major reason for breeding small ones is that they are "cute". My daughter nags me to grow them.

Beautiful squashes you have. So Lakota is a good-tasting one?

>>I've always found that if I buy seed from a reputable seed catalog, they always tell me if a plant will be "bush," so I'm wondering if you haven't used a reputable, commercial company or if you haven't read the descriptions carefully.

Oh I'm a good reader. I'm located at 47.5 degrees North latitude, and I save seed, so I often buy from smaller companies. I don't know that they are not reputable so much as don't have the resources to produce fancier packages. Most of my seedpacks have a single typewritten line on them, some only have descriptions verbatim from the breeder that are full of advertising hype but no real details, and some just have the name of the variety and generic advice telling me not to plant them out until after frost!

But I have seen even big seed companies use stock photography in their catalogs and seed packets--so that the plant I grew does NOT always look like the one on the package. Another problem that is becoming very common is that seed distributors buy their stock overseas, usually from multiple growers, and it is sometimes not true to name. Thompson and Morgan, the largest seed company in the world, has burned me many times sending seed that is not true to name.

I am not sure I'd consider the biggest seed company in the world (by whose definition???) as being reputable because of its size. And if a small seed company can't give you specifics, with or without pics, they are not doing you a favor. Try some of the companies that also sell to commercial growers since they HAVE to give seed that is true to type or they'd loose their customer base.
Try Johnny's, Stokes, Harris, Territorial Seed, etc.
MOst better seed companies will give you some hype, but also enough information so that you can choose the best variety for your purpose. It is in their best interest to strive for that goal because it means repeat customers.