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Butternut Squash Plant is, well .... squashed!

StrangethingieStrangethingie Posts: 29
in Problem solving

I've got 2 butternut squashes in the green house at the moment (too cold oop north for them to go out yet). One is growing absolutely fine, and the other, well it just looks like its squashed up! It's kind of trying to bush out instead of growing in to a vine!!

I've grown butternut squash before, in exactly the same way and never had a problem. Both plants have had exactly the same treatment too. I can't find nothing anywhere that might give any clue to whats wrong with my squashed up squash!

Any ideas peeps?

Posts

  • StrangethingieStrangethingie Posts: 29

    image

    That's the 'squashed' one! Just noticed its starting to set fruit!!!

    image

    Compared to the normal one.

    It's the most bizarre thing I've seen a squash plant do!!! 

  • SwissSueSwissSue Posts: 1,447

    Strangethingie, could it be that your squashed "butternut" is actually a Squash?! I'd let it get on with it and wait for the surprise!image

  • StrangethingieStrangethingie Posts: 29

    Yeah I think I'm just going to let it get on with it and see what happens! It seems to be behaving more like a courgette! It's most bizarre!! So It will be a surprise to see what happens!! image

    Hmm... I'm quite certain it's a Butternut squash, I bought them both from the same nursery at the same time! image 

     

  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,384

    There are a few winter squash with that growth habit - Harrier is one.  I suppose it's possible there was some cross-pollination at the nursery?  If so it will be easier to control than the usual butternuts which seem to want to take over the world! image

    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • StrangethingieStrangethingie Posts: 29

    Ahh, I never thought of cross pollination! I shall ask next time I'm at the nursery! Could be that or the plants have been mixed up! Should be interesting to see the results though! 

    1st time I grew butternuts I very nearly had no garden left!!! I grow them up a trellis up and over on to the shed roof now! 

  • LeifUKLeifUK Posts: 573

    I had a blue hyssop with white flowers. Labels do get mixed up. 

  • StrangethingieStrangethingie Posts: 29
    Well the 'squashed' butternut squash eventually died a death. It tried to flower then just give up the ghost. Pulled it up and it hardly had any roots on it! Oddly same happened with my cucumbers I grew from seed, they started to flower and fruit and just died! Pulled them up and hardly any roots on them! :/
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,384

    Something in the soil eating the roots like vine weevil grubs?  You could try tipping the soil out onto a sheet of plastic etc and look for small white C shaped grubs like the image at the bottom of the RHS page:

    https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=234

     

    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • StrangethingieStrangethingie Posts: 29
    Hmmm... Don't think it's vine weevil, I've reused the compost since and everything growing in it is fine!!
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