Need help with butternut squash

[Gretchen]

Ok, here goes the story. My family picked up a (large) butternut squash, and I planted some of the seeds, and now we have a squash plant. Well, we have some squash, and I have some questions about the ripening and picking/storing of the squash.

1) A butternut squash is ripe when the skin turns a tan color. Well, one of them is turning tan...on the bottom. Is this normal?

2) What is the best way to store them after they are picked?

3) I heard you cut it off the vine leaving about two inches (about 5 centimeters) of stem. This supposedly increases the shelf life. Is it true?

[Wingnut]

I know nothing about squash, but a quick Google search of the phrase growing butternut squash yielded (among others) the following results, which I hope will be helpful to you:

inquiry-when to pick butternut squash - Harvest Forum - GardenWeb
How to Grow Butternut Squash - Monsterguide.net (Scroll down to the questions section after the article.)
How to Grow Butternut Squash | eHow.com (Pay attention to step 6.)

Good luck!

[ryanh]

The greenhouse show on KSL radio (ksl.com) was talking about growing butternuts from seed this am. You might check to see if a podcast is available there.

Seed grown from squash likely are not be true to the originator variety. As it was put, squash are very "promiscuous", and depending on what pollen fertilized the fruit that you got seeds from will affect what hybrid you actually get. You may not even be growing butternuts!

[Gretchen]

All I can say is this; they look like butternuts. They are the same shape as butternuts. the underside is the same color as a butternut. So my guess is that it's a butternut.

[Moksha]

Originally Posted by ryanh

Seed grown from squash likely are not be true to the originator variety. As it was put, squash are very "promiscuous", and depending on what pollen fertilized the fruit that you got seeds from will affect what hybrid you actually get. You may not even be growing butternuts!

What better way for alien plants to begin their invasion of Earth than cuddling up to these pushover butternut squash. They must be stopped!

[Gretchen]

Well, thanks to Google, I found out what type of squash I'm growing. It's a Waltham butternut squash.



Picture not mine, got it from Google images.