Winter Squash ?

[semi_lucid]

How do you tell when Kabocha squash are ready to pick.

I have some that I planted very late, in early August.

One fruit has reached full size and is no longer growing, and 8 or 9 more are close to full size.

Would you leave them until the plants die back? (Not allowing them to freeze of course.)

John

[tjg911]

Originally Posted by Direct Sunlight

Zucchini rampicante and Musquee de provence look healthier than they have in months. Butternuts, are exactly as you said.

i see you are in texas. just to be clear about what i said, my reply was to someone in ct and would apply to people in this general location and latitude/elevation. i have no idea what winter squashes are doing in the south, interesting to hear they are behaving the same. i never have lived outside of connecticut so i have no experience about gardening outside of my latitude and location. and i should add latitude is not always accurate, someone at 42 N but at 5,000' above sea level probably experiences different gardening responses than i would at 850'.

tom

[tjg911]

Originally Posted by KevinCT

I have around 15 butternut squash, the bigger ones I suspect are the Walthams and the small ones seem to be of the burpee hybrid variety.
Giving them another week or so, before harvesting.

i am surprised you have squash plants that are alive! it's the end of the 1st week in october so it must be that your climate is moderated by long island sound. my butternut and buttercup were all cut off the vines around 9/16 or 9/20 and that is a little late it's usually 9/8 to 9/15. my plants are dead with a few vines that have green growth at the ends of younger vines but we had frost the past 2 nights so that would have killed them. on thursday i took out all the vines and ran them thru the chipper shredder along with sweet peppers, cuke vines and most of the pole beans leaving one variety i'm allowing to produce seed.

tom

[Elizabeth]

Semilucid,

Leave them go for as long as you can so they get as mature as possible. The rate of maturation is slower this time of year, but depending on your first frost date you may be able to get them done before you have to harvest them. Squash vines can get pretty ugly and brown at the end, but they continue feeding the squash until they are dead, dead. If you get any new blossoms on the plant, take them off so the vine directs everything to the existing fruit. The general rule of thumb for winter squash is they are ripe when you can't dent the rind with a fingernail and the stem next to the fruit will be brown and hard. If you are expecting a frost, harvest them all and cure them well - the ripest of them will last the longest in storage, immature ones won't last as long.

[semi_lucid]

Elizabeth

I've never grown winter squash before. It was crazy to plant them so late, but I pulled some other plants and had an empty space.

I only allowed one fruit per plant, and terminated the vines at about eight feet in length.

Growth was very fast, and the biggest Kabocha hasn't increased in size for about a week, and the stem on it is starting to get some brown looking skin. The plants are still pretty vigorous.

You mention 'curing'. I planned to follow the advice on Wikipedia.

Quoting from Wikipedia:

"When kabocha is just harvested, it is still growing. Therefore, unlike other vegetables and fruits, freshness is not as important. It should be fully matured first, in order to become flavorful. First, kabocha is ripened in a warm place (77 °F) for 13 days, during which some of the starch converts to sugar content. Then it is transferred to a cool place (50 °F) and stored for about a month in order to increase its carbohydrate content. In this way the just-harvested, dry, bland-tasting kabocha is transformed into smooth, sweet kabocha. Fully ripened, succulent kabocha will have reddish-yellow flesh and a hard skin with a dry, corky stem. It reaches the peak of ripeness about 1.5–3 months after it is harvested." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabocha

I also have some spaghetti squash planted at the same time. The fruits seem to be reaching full size, but the are still very white in color. I was expecting them to start turning yellow by now.

The ten day weather forecast still looks good, so I may have several more weeks, and I have plastic sheet to cover with if the first freeze isn't to harsh.

John

[Elizabeth]

John,

That curing advice will work for any winter squash - they get better after they are off the vine and cured - kinda like wine I guess

If you find yourself in a similar situation next year, try planting a summer squash in July/August. Some garden references refer to planting "winter zucchini" at that time but really any summer squash will do. Then you can have fresh zukes or summer squash of choice until frost wipes out the plant. It's nice having fresh young squash at the end of the season when most of your spring planted ones have conked out or are too tired to do much.

Good luck with your Kabocha and Spaghetti Squash. I hope you leave space in your Spring garden for some winter squash - there are so many wonderful varieties to choose from.

[Direct Sunlight]

Originally Posted by tjg911

i see you are in texas. just to be clear about what i said, my reply was to someone in ct and would apply to people in this general location and latitude/elevation. i have no idea what winter squashes are doing in the south, interesting to hear they are behaving the same. i never have lived outside of connecticut so i have no experience about gardening outside of my latitude and location. and i should add latitude is not always accurate, someone at 42 N but at 5,000' above sea level probably experiences different gardening responses than i would at 850'.

tom

Apples to oranges then, or should I say pumpkins to cushaws?

I didn't mention that here, until the plant actually dies, butternuts continue to produce, yellowing leaves and reduced vines or no. I don't know if that compares to anywhere else.

[lakelady]

My Rogosa Violina had horrible issues with powdery mildew this year. I should have started spraying sooner. Half the vines were dying, but the living ones and the newly rooted ones from shoots kept it going . I left my squash on the vine until the stem looked brown and woody. My sister harvested green ...and I have one of hers on my kitchen counter that is now turning orange, go figure. It was harvested green over 6 weeks ago. I guess they do continue to cure with age, even off the vine

[tjg911]

use fish milk for curcurbits and i used it on tomatoes this year too.

fish milk is easy to make, use this as a foliar spray:

o 2 cups of milk i prefer whole milk but low fat is ok
o 1 teaspoon dish detergent NOT ANTIBACTERIAL as it'll kill beneficial bacteria on the plant
o fish emulsion or fish and seaweed emulsion concentrate use the amount specified for 2 quarts of water. i use neptune's harvest and i use 1/2 tablespoon
o 2 quarts of water

spray plants every 5 days when it rains or every 3 weeks when it is dry. spray in the morning on a sunny day as the sun activates the protective properties. do not store this, mix it fresh each time. if i have any left over i spray cukes and squashes. there is very little research about this. i don't drink milk so i buy a gallon and let it sit in the basement fridge. it can go beyond the expire date so long as it is not turning to yogurt! if you drink milk, then you'll have a fresh supply all the time.

[lakelady]

Thanks I'm going to try that next year (hopefully it won't be raining most of the summer again)....it should also work on the lilacs then too, yes? They had the powdery first, and I'm quite sure they spread it to the squash since they were so close. Even my Peonies which have NEVER had powdery mildew got it this year. It was bad. I'll do the fish milk!

Antoniette

[tjg911]

i would think so but i never sprayed it on anything but curcurbits and tomatoes.

tom

[FILMNET]

Do you Pepperdew
http://www.peppadew.com/main/sa