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Florida Gardening

Some questions on Butternut Squash?

15 years ago

I'm growing Butternut Squash for the first time and have a few questions; when do you determine the squash is ready to harvest? Once the squash turns tan in color, will it continue to increase in size? I have a very small tan squash that doesn't appear to be increasing in size. I also have a large one, but I thought you waited for the stem to turn brown and the squash to lose all of the green lines?

I sure could use the advice of some experienced growers of butternut on this forum. I love butternut squash and really want success with this vegetable. By-the-way, I'm having to hand pollinate the squash myself.

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Comments (7)

featherhoof
15 years ago
This year was my first, and I just harvested mine after they turned tan. I did not wait for the stem to die off. I'm hoping that the plant might decide to make more fruit. The plants are still very healthy. Mine did not grow any larger after it turned tan. They tasted good.
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marymilkweed
Original Author
15 years ago
featherhoof - your beautiful picture of your squash harvest is what prompted my question. I was glad to hear they turned out to be tasty. I had read that the squash needed several days to sort of harden-off before eating. Did you eat them right after picking, or did you wait a few days? I believe I will test my little one with the thumbnail test and if it seems hard enough, go ahead and cut it from the vine, wait several days, and roast it. Thanks for your response, Mary
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Leave them on the vine..they don't continue to ripen once picked. On the stem end if there are distinct green stripes it's not ready for picking. It wants to develop a good,warm tan color skin overall.
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I let mine run on the ground. Running them above ground may pose stress on the plants since the squash is quite heavy and will be hanging downwards. If I had to grow them on a trellis I would support the fruits with some kind of bag to releive the plant stress
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Generally, leave them on the vine until frost. The leaves will start to yellow (mine are now) and the stems will turn tan and crack. Some folks say that a light frost won't hurt them, my experience is that a 'light' frost can sometimes be colder than that and it does do some damage. We grow several different varieties of winter squash, and I now can keep them until April / May of the following year by washing off the dirt carefully, and leaving them in a light, airy room ( a greenhouse) on newspaper. Leave several inches of stem. The fruit that isn't completely ripe on the vine will often ripen up in storage, although the amount of flesh might not be that impressive, and the taste not that great.
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I don't know how long it takes but it should be on the seed package or a seed site online. I leave them in the field until after the first light frost, oh yeah, you're in Florida! ( sorry, I forgot. lol!) You'll have to go by the number of days. The little curly thing near the fruit should be dead when it's ready, or you can thump it to see if it sounds hollow. (I have never been able to get that, myself. ) When I lived in Ontario I kept my squash in a damp stone root cellar under the very old house spread out on wooden pallets. Many didn't last very long, occasionally one would keep into Jan and the mice nibbled on them, even with two cats. Here in BC, I live on the top floor of a house, our office is on the ground floor and there's a large basement under that. I kept the squash in the office, closed in the wintertime, on an open wire shelf unit with the heat set at 10c to keep the pipes from freezing. It's much drier here than in Ontario also. They all kept much longer. We cooked the last one last week and it was still hard! Last year I left them out in the garden to harden in the sun for a few weeks after cutting off the vine, rolling them every few days or so then brought them in. I didn't do that in Ontario because of the fall rain and the damage from deer running over them, which happened a lot. I'm doing it again this year. I'm impressed with how long they lasted here last winter! I have read that they keep well at a cool room temp so if you have a cool room in your house, I would look at storing them there, someplace with good air circulation and spread out so not to touch each other. They're space hogs.
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whgille
15 years ago
Mary

When the squash is ready, it will break off the vine easily.

I grew Seminole pumpkins last year, and this year I am growing Delicata squash.

Winter squash and sweet potatoes need time to cure for at least a few days. They become sweeter this way. Otherwise they have a more starchy flavor. Some people prefer them this way.

You could do the test yourself. Eat one just picked, and other after 7 days of picking. I did that last year with the Seminole and I could taste the difference.

Silvia
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marymilkweed
Original Author
15 years ago
Thank you, Silvia, for your response. Both of my butternut squashs are undersize, the larger one weighing only 1 lb. But, I went ahead and cut them from the vine this morning and will let them rest for several days before roasting them. I have new green ones developing and wanted to let them have the plant's energy. I would be most interested in growing the Seminole pumpkins, can you please give me your source for the seeds? Thanks, Mary
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linchat
15 years ago
Butternut squash... Mmmmm.... Squash......

I grew BS ( Not that kind of BS ) this year for the first time. After it turned tan, it still had green streaks running where the vine attaches. I left it on for a while longer. The vine had not turned brown and I could not stand it anymore.

I ate it. It was delicious. End of story. :)

Seriously, it was very good and appeared ripe. Looking forward to the fall to try again.
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whgille
15 years ago
Mary

I have plenty of seminole seeds. They are so easy to grow, you will be giving pumpkins to all your friends!

Send me an email.

Silvia
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featherhoof
15 years ago
mine cured about a week and a half before eating.
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