Your little butternut squash seedling can grow into a 15-foot long vine and produce loads of fruit in just a few months. This fact always astonishes me.
The only problem with squash is they are total space hogs. Leave them to their own devices and they will quickly take over your entire garden and smother every vegetable in their path.
But there is a solution. It can be grown upward on a fence or trellis. Considering my lack of sprawling space, I grow everything upwards. The pyramid-shaped trellis for squash is really easy and inexpensive to build It is just two triangular ladders propped against each other.
To build each ladder, hook two 8-foot long 2×2 cedar boards together with a carriage bolt, spread the legs out into a triangle shape, and then screw 1×3 cedar rungs at regular intervals onto the legs. The base of our trellis is about 4-feet wide. I added an extra layer of stability by pounding wooden stakes next to each leg and then tying the legs to the stakes with twine.
Since growing space is at a premium in our garden, I grew spinach underneath the trellis and lettuce and arugula around the sides By mid-summer the squash completely covers the trellis—and shades out the greens—and it looks like a big, leafy pyramid in the garden.
For plants growing on a trellis, you will have to take care to protect the squash as they get larger. The plant won’t be able to support them up in the air on its own. You can use various slings or nets. Pantyhose, old t-shirts, mesh produce bags can all be of help to make a squash hammock. Just tie them to the trellis, not the vines.
If you have beautiful squash plants with plenty of blooms, yet no fruit, you may have a problem with pollination. So many people still use pesticides with no regard to the destruction of beneficial insects that it has reduced the number of honeybees, bumblebees, and other beneficial insects in our gardens.
We had that problem for the first few years. Just terrific butternut squash plants and little or no production. After we brought a couple of hives of honeybees in, the problem ceased.
Now, every bloom produces. Honeybees and bumblebees are the best pollinators. Bad weather may lessen the bees’ activity, so that may slow a crop’s production. When it rains for days, they aren’t as active, for instance.
Squash plants have both female and male blooms. Sometimes, a plant will have all male blooms at first, and then the female ones appear. It is necessary for both sexes of blooms to be present to produce. Female blossoms have a little, round “ovary” at the base of their flowers. Male blossoms have a long, thin stem at the base of theirs.
If you don’t have enough bees for good pollination, or if it has been raining frequently (making the bees less active), you can easily pollinate the blossoms yourself. I use two methods:
- Take a male blossom from a squash plant, and just lightly brush female flowers with it. Use one male blossom for up to 10 females.
- Use a slender brush (such as an eye shadow makeup brush), or a cotton swab to transfer the dust-like pollen from the male to the female blossoms. The best time to do this is early morning.
The butternut squash is a thirsty plant. It requires lots of water to thrive. This is because their leaves have a large surface area and tend to lose moisture quickly. You may want to develop an irrigation system for your plants or just make sure they are watered frequently.
Your butternut squash is ripe after the rind has hardened and when there is about 2 inches of stem. If you pick it before it is ripe it will lack flavor, and if you cut the stem while it is too short, it will not keep very long.
Want to know more about butternut squash? Then, click here:
Butternut Squash: Go Beyond Flavor With Nutrition For A Healthier You! | Natural Health Solutions
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Yours truly, Polly – Organic Gardener
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I love gardens & lawns but at times got scared of the insects they develop. Lucky to have palmers “exterminators” in command & would refer their services to everyone here in Miami. One could keep & enjoy the gardens, only if they’ve a professional pest control / exterminator in contact.