Grow your own Uchiki Kuri Squash 2010

PLANT: ‘Uchiki Kuri’ Squash (Red Kuri)

A Japanese Hubbard-type squash that has very attractive orange-red skin. The yellow and creamy flesh is firm, very sweet and nutty.  A very productive variety producing fruits of around 1.5kg (2-3 lbs) about 18x18cm in size that store well into winter.


I thought this variety of squash looked really sweet and I’ve read on some other blogs that it’s quite easy to grow. When I saw the blue seeds in the packet I was a bit concerned, but I’ve read that these seeds have been specially treated and coated with a fungicide to prevent wilting and other fungal problems during germination. So fingers crossed I’ll have more luck with these than last year’s butternuts.

 

Sow under cover:	March - May	1st Mar
Germination time:	7-10 days	10th Mar
Plant out:	June - July
Harvest:	October - November	28th Aug and 11th Sept
Time from seed to plate:	100 days

 

SOW: Sow seeds on their side to prevent rotting in 8cm pots full of seed compost at a depth of 2.5cm. Cover the pots and keep them at a temperature of 15-18°C.

GROW: Plant out when plants have grown 4 leaves, spacing them at least 1 metre apart as they will grow long trailing sideshoots.

CARE: Water regularly and feed with a general liquid fertiliser. When green fruits begin to swell remove some of the leaves to expose them to the sun. You can tie the sideshoots to canes to keep them neat and they can be trained up over fences, trellises or wigwams. You may need to pollinate by hand if the insects aren’t doing their job properly!

HARVEST: Leave to ripen for as long as possible. Cut each fruit from the plant with the stalk still intact.

 

I’ve sowed my seeds in small pots filled with seed compost, then I put them inside a clear plastic bag to maintain moisture.

I’ll be growing my squash in 14 litre Tubtrugs which measure 33cm wide and 23cm tall.

Useful websites:
http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/Premier-Seeds-Direct/Squash-and-Pumpkin-Instructions.html_

March 13th:

Unfortunately I haven’t been at home all week so I missed my squash sprouting, but Steve told me my squash had sprouted sometime in the middle of the week. The two on the right of the photo are the Uchiki Kuri and they have really leaned over towards the light as I haven’t been around to turn the pots. Hopefully they’ll straighten up a bit! They’re quite a bit taller than the butternut squash already, so it will be interesting to compare the growth rate between these two varieties of squash.

March 21st:

The Uchiki squash did straighten themselves out as I’ve been turning them quite regularly. Like the butternuts they’re starting to develop their second set of leaves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

APRIL 6TH:

The seedlings look like they’re ready to plant out as they’ve got 4 leaves. But it’s still cold outside, so I think I’ll leave them inside for a bit longer. I’ve had to use a bamboo skewer to support the one on the right as it was falling over. I think this was also due to a lack of water as it did manage to stand up straight after I gave them a little drink.

 

 

 

 

 

APRIL 15TH:

The Uchiki Kuri seeds are growing very rapidly. The bigger one is 24cm tall x 24cm wide (how far the leaves stretch out) and the smaller one is 16cm x 16cm. They’re much bigger than the butternut seedlings and they don’t stand up without the support of the bamboo skewers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

APRIL 27TH:

I know I’m a bit early, but I decided to plant my Uchiki Kuri squash out in the raised bed today as they’re getting a bit too big for their pots. One is 30cm tall and the other is 20cm. I read a great guide on Seed to Plate about growing this type of squash and it said you can grow them up canes. I’ve made a very rough teepee out of 4 canes and planted the 2 squash plants next to them, spaced about 30cm apart and I mounded up the soil. The construction of the teepee is a little bit crude at the moment as I might add some more canes, depending on how the squash grow. I’ll add some string around the canes to give the tendrils something to grab onto later. I’ve covered the empty space in the bed with some chicken wire to deter anything digging up the soil. I’ll cover the squash with a fleece during the night for protection.

 

3rd July:

Well I didn’t realise that I hadn’t posted any updates on my squash since April! That is pretty bad!

 

As you can see from the photo, it has grown rather a lot in just over a month. This sprawling mass of leaves is what I returned to after a week’s holiday! I cut back a lot of the leaves so that the flowers/fruit were more exposed for pollination and exposure to the sun. The trailing leaves on the ground are an easy way for slugs/snails to get into the raised bed, which is what has been eating my mange tout pea plants!

 

Here’s a photo after I’ve got busy with the secateurs – quite a difference!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s one of the squash that’s growing with the flower still attached. I’ve learned from last year not to get too excited at this early stage because the fruit can easily be lost due to them not being pollinated properly. So I will just have to keep my fingers crossed that this year will be better.

 

 

 

6th July:

My worst fears have come true – brown dead squash! I’m only guessing it was due to poor pollination because maybe the bees couldn’t get to the flowers underneath all those leaves before I cut them. So I quickly hand pollinated the other squash that have started to grow. I’ll be so gutted if I don’t get any squash this year!

 

 

 

 

13th July:

The squash that I hand pollinated are so far doing very well and are growing bigger! I’m not completely convinced this was the reason the others turned brown and died, as I think that I might have been overwatering my squash. Last week when it was incredibly hot, I was watering everyday, even though the soil didn’t look dry. I’d taken the advice that “squash are thirsty plants” too seriously and completely overdid it by giving them a drink when they didn’t need it. Luckily Steve’s Mum suggested I give them a break, so I haven’t watered them at all over the last few days. It rained a bit today, but I don’t think it will have done them any harm, in fact a bit of rainwater is good for plants.

 

I did a bit of research online today and some other people agree that overwatering can kill off the fruit. So I will be more careful in future and only water every few days, even when the weather is really hot.

 

31st July:

Well the squash that I hand pollinated died. So I’m still not sure if it was bad pollination or the watering that killed it.

 

So I started giving the plants a feed of Miracle Gro and only watered every few days. Then I noticed one of the tentacles had attached itself to the trellis on the wall and this squash had started growing. I’m pretty excited as it’s nearly the size of my fist now! I’ve got a couple more which are slightly smaller than this one, so I’m hoping that the Miracle Gro is what has made the difference and that they don’t die on me!

 

15th August:

I switched from using Miracle Gro to tomato feed once a week and I now have two squashes that are doing extremely well. The one I photographed on 31st July has grown much bigger and has changed to a very pleasing orange colour. I am looking forward to when they change to a red colour, as this will be a good indication that they are ready for harvesting.

 

 

I have another one which is even bigger than this one, hiding underneath a lot of leaves (so it’s a bit difficult to photograph). This contradicts my previous belief that squash need a lot of direct sunlight to grow. I am amazed at how the stems can manage to hold the heavy weight of the squash.

 

It has rained an awful lot over the last few days, which is great for the garden, but I’m hoping we will get enough sunshine for my two squash to finish ripening as I don’t have any others to look forward to!

 

28th August:

This is the larger of my 2 surviving squash. But I got a bit snipper-happy with my secateurs and whilst I was pruning a lot of the dead leaves/vines, I managed to cut this off the plant by accident! It looks quite ripe, but I think it needs to spend some more time in the sun to harden the skin. The problem is it’s been raining non-stop for the past week, so it’s not going to get much sun. I’ve left a long stalk on it and rested it on some wire to stop it sitting in the wet soil. I’m not sure if it will be OK left outside overnight – or should I bring it indoors? My poor squash needs an owner who knows what it’s doing!

 

11th September:

Well the squash I accidentally cut from the plant has survived being left outdoors for 2 weeks. It has been raining quite heavily, but it’s not been too cold at night and we have had some warm sunny days.

 

So I decided to cut the other squash as I wanted the space in the raised bed to put one of my Purple Sprouting Broccoli plants in its place, as it’s getting a bit big for its pot/trug.

 

As you can see there’s quite a difference in size between my 2 squashes! I’m really looking forward to tasting them as I’ve never eaten this variety of squash before.

 

 

 

 

18th September:

Today I cooked the large squash. Just out of interest I weighed them both before I started preparing it. The large one was 1.1kg and the smaller one was 863g.

 

When I cut it open, it looked like a squash should with a nice uniform colour and the seeds inside fully developed, so I assumed it was properly ripe. I prepared it as I do butternut squash, by scooping out the seeds and peeling it. Then I roasted half with sage and rosemary picked from the garden, drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. The other half I simmered in stock for my risotto as per this recipe I’ve made before. I wasn’t too keen on the roasted squash at first as the texture was a bit like undercooked potato (but Steve said it was OK) and the flavour was quite nutty which is what this variety of squash should taste like. This time I mixed the roasted squash with some fried bacon, ham, mushrooms and asparagus (as I’d predicted that Steve would say “Where’s the meat?”).

 

The puree for the risotto was good though. As I’ve never eaten a Uchiki Kuri squash before I can’t say if mine had the correct texture or flavour! Maybe I will find one in a supermarket to compare it with, as Autumn approaches and they start stocking more pumpkins/squashes for Halloween!

 

I don’t think I’ll be growing any squashes next year as they’re too much effort and space for such little return.

Grow your own Butternut Squash 2010

PLANT: ‘Waltham’ Butternut

Light tan-coloured with small seed cavities and thick, cylindrical necks without crooks. It yields heavily (approx. 3-4 fruits per plant) showing remarkable uniformity with fruits averaging 23cm long and 2kg in weight. The flesh colour is richer than others, is smooth-textured and has a unique sweet flavour, particularly after 2 months' storage.

I absolutely love butternut squash so I tried growing it last year, but I didn’t have much success. A lot of the fruits died due to lack of proper pollination and the ones that did grow to maturity weren’t very big. The variety of seed I tried last year were Hunter and they were a freebie from the BBC Dig In campaign. I’m hoping that this Waltham seed I’ve bought from Premier Seeds Direct will be better.

 

Sow under cover:	March - May	1st Mar
Sow direct:
Germination time:	7-10 days	10th Mar
Plant out:	June - July
Harvest:	October - November
Time from seed to plate:	100 days

SOW: Sow seeds on their side to prevent rotting.

GROW: Plant out when plants have grown 4 leaves, 1 metre apart

CARE: When green fruits begin to swell remove some of the leaves to expose them to the sun.

HARVEST: Leave to ripen for as long as possible. Cut each fruit from the plant with the stalk still intact.

I’ve sowed my seeds in small pots filled with seed compost, then I put them inside a clear plastic bag to maintain moisture.

I’ll be growing my squash in 14 litre Tubtrugs which measure 33cm wide and 23cm tall.

Useful websites:
http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/Premier-Seeds-Direct/Squash-and-Pumpkin-Instructions.html_

March 13th:

I haven’t been at home all week but Steve told me my squash had sprouted sometime in the middle of the week. I was still surprised to see that they had grown this much though! The two at the front of the photo are the butternuts and at this stage the leaves look actually like the Uchiki Kuri ones, so luckily I labelled the pots!

March 21st:

The butternuts are starting to develop their second set of leaves. I think they haven’t grown as much as the Uchiki squash because I have been putting water in the container underneath and because I’d squashed (no pun intended!) 4 pots into the container, the butternuts weren’t touching the bottom so they couldn’t soak up the water.

 

 

april 6th:

My butternut squash plants now have 4 leaves but it’s too early to plant them out. They’re looking pretty healthy so I’ll keep them in their pots for now. If they look like they’re struggling then I might re-pot them into bigger pots.

 

 

 

 

APRIL 15TH:

I thought the butternut squash plants had grown quite a lot in the last 9 days, but comparing the photos taken on the 6th it doesn’t look like they’ve grown much. The smaller one is 13cm tall x 13cm wide (how far the leaves stretch out) and the bigger one is 15cm x 15cm. After growing butternuts last year, I’m fully aware of how much they spread so it’s not such a shock this time around!

 

4th July:

The frequency of my blogging has been very poor. I can’t remember when I planted out the butternut squash – sometime in mid-June I think. I lost one of the plants as I was very heavy-handed and it snapped. Steve tried to play plant doctor but sello-taping the breakage but it didn’t work.

 

The plant that did survive the transplanting is doing OK but not great. There was only one flower I think and it didn’t become a fruit. I’m thinking that maybe the trug is too small for it, as the Uchiki Kuri squash are doing brilliantly in the raised bed.

Grow Your Own 2009

MAY 19TH:

I’ve finally received my raised bed from Harrod Horticultural! There were 3 parts to the delivery and I received 2 parts on Friday 15th May, which were the boards and the corner links and one 1 metre dowel, but the other 2 metre dowel didn’t arrive until Monday 18th May. I went away for the weekend so I couldn’t have put it together anyway, but I would have preferred if the whole lot had been delivered altogether just for peace of mind!

 

The kit I ordered is called the Children’s Link-A-Bord kit and it costs £29.95 but I used a 10% discount code so I got it cheaper. I chose this kit because it measures 1 metre wide x 0.5 metre deep, so it fits really well in the space we have on the patio. Harrod Horticultural also sell a kit which is exactly the same size as the one I bought (product code GDN-749), but they are charging £30.40 for it, so I saved a few pennies getting the Children’s one!

I was going to buy my kit directly from www.linkabord.co.uk but they don’t have this sized kit, although you can order parts separately but that worked out more expensive.

 

Anyway, as you can see from the photo I’ve managed to put it together. The boards and the corner links fitted together quite easily, but I had a bit of trouble getting the dowels through the holes as this kit is 2 raised beds stacked on top of each other. I cut the dowels with a hacksaw which was easy and I left them longer than the depth of the bed as I thought I might need to tie things onto them, like a cover or net.

 

The seedlings need to acclimatise for a week before I plant them outside permanently, so I’ll leave them in the empty bed during the day and bring them in at night. The weather is really unsettled at the moment and it’s very windy, so the bed is offering some protection.

As the bed has no base, when I put the soil in I will be putting it directly onto the patio as it’s just concrete. I did check with the Link-a-Bord customer services and they said this was fine to do. Obviously I’ll put some broken crocks at the bottom for drainage and I’ve got 2 bags of multi-purpose compost at 40 litres each, so that should fill it up. I’m still debating about whether to buy some Miracle-Gro Fruit and Vegetable Feed to mix in with the compost before I put my plants in. There’s probably enough nutrients in the compost, so I’ll probably just put some feed on once the fruits appear on the plants.

 

MARCH 22ND:

 

The plants have been outside during the day and brought in at night all week, getting ready to be planted in the raised bed permanently.

 

1. I bought some copper tape to deter the slugs from B&Q. It cost £4.98 for 4 metres so I had plenty to go all the way around. Apparently copper gives slugs and snails a little electric shock, so they steer clear of it. I wanted to use this instead of slug pellets as I’m growing veggies and want to keep it as free from chemicals as possible. It was really easy to use as you just peel off the backing paper and stick on the copper layer. It’s very thin and it’s a bit like that gold leaf that you put on poncey cakes/desserts!
2. I chucked in some crocks for drainage, it was a total guess if this would be enough! I used a pot that had been smashed by the bloke who lives across the road, as he lost control of his car and drove straight into the pot which was on the front doorstep! Lucky he didn’t go through the front door! Idiot!
3. I really thought 2 bags of 40 litre compost would be enough to fill the bed! Oh how wrong I was! Photo 3 shows the bed after I’d put only 1 bag of compost in – not even half full!
4. So I did a quick search on Google and read that the bed should be filled a couple of inches from the top. I also read a mixture of compost and soil would be OK so I went around the garden and collected about 6-7 buckets of soil. It had loads of stones and other stuff like dead leaves, but I guessed this would be good for drainage and possibly nutrients (I’m such an amateur!). So I mixed the soil in with the other bag of compost and managed to fill the bed up just over half full.

If I’d used my brain I would have easily realised that 2 bags of compost wasn’t enough! If I’d stacked the bags on top of each other inside the empty bed then I would have seen how much of the bed they would have filled. So I think you need at least 5 bags of compost (40 litres) to fill the bed, which could work out quite expensive!

 

I bought a 1kg bag of Slow Release Plant Food from Wilkinsons, so I put in about a quarter of the bag and mixed it into the soil and compost.

 

So I’ll be planting my seedlings out over the weekend, which will hopefully make them happier as they’re looking a bit droopy right now!

JUNE 1ST:

Steve’s Mum kindly let me use a bag of compost she’d bought, so the raised bed is a bit fuller now. I’d watered the soil/compost the day before, so I thought it would be OK to plant everything today.

 

As you can see from the lovely photo I took (and decorated in Photoshop, isn’t it colourful!) I’ve tried to space things out so the plants have room to grow.

 

I grew almost everything from seed in peat pots, but I took almost all the seedlings out of the peat pots as I planted them in the bed to give the roots more freedom. The butternut squash were planted still in their peat pots as their roots had grown right through the peat pots.

 

• TOMATOES: I read they needed to be 45cm apart, but I’ve also bought a grow bag and I just used the same spacing as marked out on the grow bag. So I’ve put 3 plants at the back of the bed and I’ll put 3 more in the grow bag.
• BASIL: I read the tomatoes like to be grown near basil as it improves the flavour, so I’ve planted some in between each tomato plant.
• BUTTERNUT SQUASH: These needed to be 100cm apart, but as my bed is only 100cm long I decided I’d try and put one plant at each end and hope for the best! They apparently grow quite big so I’ve left quite a bit of space around them, but I’m hoping they won’t take over the whole bed. I’ve also planted another plant in a big pot 11 inches in diameter.
• BEETROOT: These needed to be about 2cm apart, so I planted the 6 seedlings in 2 short rows. I didn’t plant them very deep, only about 2.5cm.
• CARROTS: I sprinkled the seeds straight into a 1cm deep trench and covered lightly with compost, then watered. Hopefully these will sprout!
• ONIONS: Steve’s sister gave me some onion sets as she had loads leftover, so I’ve planted 3 in a row as they need to be about 10cm apart.
• LETTUCE: The lettuce has been growing but it’s never looked healthy and I’m really hoping it will do better in the bed. I’ve also put some in a deeper pot as I think the ice cream tub I sowed the seeds in was too shallow.
• PEPPER: When I went to Wilkinson’s I couldn’t resist buying a Pepper plant as it was reduced to 75p! It was already quite established so hopefully it will bear some lovely peppers.

As you can see from the above photo, I’ve put some green plastic things (they came with some plants Steve’s mum bought)over the plants to protect them from cats and squirrels. I’m also hoping I can train the butternut squash to grow around them in a circle. I’ve also used an empty plastic tray to cover some of the beetroots that weren’t growing too well.

 

 

 

Something dug a big hole where my carrots were! We suspect it was a squirrel as they’re always digging things up in the garden and I saw one nearby when I found the hole – pesky thing! So I’ve put chicken wire over the plants to protect them as that seems quite effective. You can buy something similar from Harrod Horticultural called Rabbit Wire.

 

This is the cover I made from a Medium Plant Fleece Jacket, which I’d bought from Harrod Horticultural last Winter. I just cut it so that it was one flat piece of fabric. As it was a drawstring bag I just put a cane through where the string had been on both ends and then staked each cane at opposite ends of the bed. I pull the cover down when it’s too hot and I don’t want the plants to get too much sun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can see the progress of all my plants on these pages:

• Herbs
• Butternut Squash and Pollinating Squash by Hand
• Tomatoes
• Basil
• Beetroot
• Carrots
• Onions
• Lettuce
• Peppers
• Strawberries
• Blueberries
• Chilies
• Chives
• Parsley

Grow your own Butternut Squash 2009

• PLANT: ‘Hunter’ Butternut Squash
• PLANTED IN COMPOST: 6 May
• PLANT OUT: In June (I did it a bit early on 22 May!)
• FRUITS PER PLANTS: 4 or more

This butternut squash has been specially bred to grow in the British climate.
I planted them in moist compost in peat pots, covered with cling film and left them on the windowsill. The instructions said to plant them vertically, but as they’re tear-drop shaped I wasn’t exactly sure which way up to plant them. So I planted 3 with the point-up and 3 with the point-down.

The photo below was taken on 11 May:

2 out of 3 of the point-up seeds sprouted.
Only 1 of the point-down seeds sprouted and the sprout was pointing down into the soil, so I used a pair of tweezers to extract it and turned it upside down.

 

 

The photo below was taken 18 May:

Well I can’t being to tell you how amazed I am at the growth rate of the butternut squash in just one week! 3 of the other seeds have started to sprout which is good.
I’ve been reading that these plants grow pretty big and grow 4 or more fruits, so I’m a bit worried about planting them in my raised bed, in case they take over all the other vegetables! So I’ll probably grow most of them on in large pots.

 

The photo below was taken 22 May:

Of all the plants I’ve grown from seed, I’m most shocked and pleased with the butternut squash. I still can’t believe how quickly they’ve grown and they seem to be really strong plants. The roots have totally busted out of the bottom of the peat pots! So I planted the whole thing in the raised bed. I’m a bit early planting them outside, but I think they’ll be better off out in the sunshine and with more room to grow.









I’ve got 4 strong seedlings, but only planted 2 in the raised bed and 1 in a large pot (11 inches diameter) as they need a lot of space.

 

 

 

 

 

The photo below was take 1 June:

The squash are all doing really well – the 2 in the raised beds and 2 in separate pots. I’m not sure when they will start to grow flowers for the fruits, but it’s looking good so far!

 

 

 

The photos below were taken on 13 June:

Most of the squashes are doing really well, but this one that’s in a pot on its own is doing the best! I think they like a lot of space and this one has its own water source using a water spike I got from Harrod Horticultural, which is good as they’re thirsty plants.

 

 

The photos below were taken on 25 June:

As you can see the squash plants are getting MASSIVE! They are about 13 inches wide and 15 inches tall now. I am using green plastic things that Steve’s Mum got with some plants she bought (as seen in the small brown pot in front) to train them to grow upwards as I don’t want them spreading too much. Not quite sure what I’m going to do once the fruits start growing!
Here’s a close up shot of the new leaves growing and I’m wondering if that little tendril thing in the middle is the start of some fruit growing?

The photos below were taken 29 June:

The weather has been very hot during the past week and a heat-wave is expected this week! So all the plants have grown a lot in a week and the squash are fast outgrowing their pots/containers! They are growing really long trails/branches and they’re already about 18 inches long, so not sure how big they’re going to get! So I would advise anyone thinking of growing squash to make sure they have plenty of space!


I think I might have some flowers growing on the squash now but I’m not 100% sure – they could just be new leaves! So I’ll be keeping an eye on these. I’ve just done a quick search online for pictures of the flowers and they’re yellow and look like courgette flowers. Apparently one butternut squash plant produces both male and female flowers, so the bees need to do their handiwork to pollinate them.

The photos below were taken 11 July:

The squash plants have gone absolutely mental! They’re trailing all over the place and getting quite tangled up with each other, so I had to separate them and I used a cane to tie some of the longer ones up to train them to grow upwards, rather than all over the floor.






The squash plant growing in a pot on its own is the first to bear fruit! It has 4 fruits growing on the long trailing bits, so I’ve got rid of my lettuce (I wasn’t eating it anyway) and given that space to 2 of the fruits.



















In this photo you can see a bit more of the flower, which will open up into a pretty yellow flower just like courgettes. I had no idea how the squash would grow, so I’m pretty excited about these!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The photos below were taken 18 July:

The squash plants grew loads during the week, so I had to detangle all the trailing bits. The snails had somehow made their way into the raised bed and had munched on some of the leaves, but luckily the squash weren’t affected as you can see here they’re doing rather nicely! I didn’t get to see the flowers open which is a shame, but I’m still so excited at the progress of the squash!





The plant in the pot on its own has the biggest fruit so far.





















I saw on the Good Food channel a man talking about growing giant vegetables and he said he put them in his wife’s stockings and tied the stocking to a cane. This will support the fruit and the stocking will stretch as it grows, so I thought I’d give it a go. I’ve left the other one just resting on the soil in the pot.












With the squash in the raised bed I’ve tied all the trailing bits to canes as well to try and keep them off the floor as I think that’s how the snails got in, even though the trailing bits have spiky little hairs all over them. I’ve got at least 4 fruits on each plant now, so I have cut back any trailing bits that don’t have any fruit attached.

 

 

 

 

The photos below were taken 25 July:

The largest squash fruits are  from the plant growing in the large pot and they are now 3.5 inches long. I have removed the stocking, as Steve thought it might rot if it remained wet. I have used a rubber band to tie the fruit up on a cane so that it gets lots of sun. The other one is just resting on the side of the pot so it’s not sitting in soggy soil.






There are now quite a few open flowers and I think they're quite pretty. They are 5 inches in diameter and the ants are getting stuck inside!









Here you can see the flower at the end of a squash fruit. The flower dies and falls off when the fruit gets bigger.

The photos below were taken on 1 August:

The squash resting on the pot has grown quite a lot in the past week and it’s now about 4 inches long.











The one that I had hanging up on a cane is still making progress, but isn’t as big as the other one, so I’ve taken it down and I’ve rested it on the edge of the pot as well.






















Here you can see the difference in size and shape.

The photos below were taken 4 August:

I was so impressed with the squash that were growing in the pot that I failed to spot this beast growing in the raised bed! It’s 5 inches long and a completely different shape to the others! I’ve used some chicken wire to create something for them to rest on, so that they’re not directly on the soil.





Some of the squash aren’t doing too well and I think it’s because I had them tied up on canes. So I’ve now removed all the canes and am letting them grow at ground level. I’ll give them a week to recover and if there are no signs of improvement then I will cut these bad fruits off.

The photos below were taken 9 August:

This is the squash that is growing in a brown plastic pot at the back of the garden. I don’t check on these plants as often as the ones in the raised bed which is right by the back door. So I didn’t notice how big it had grown and it’s now 4 inches long.




















This is the other fruit that was growing on the same plant and unfortunately like many other fruits it has gone rotten. I did some research as to why this was happening and it’s because the female flowers weren’t being pollinated properly. So I have done a separate post for how to pollinate by hand in case the bees aren’t doing their job properly!





The other problem I’m having is some of the leaves have yellow spots on them. I have a whole list of pests and diseases that could be causing this, but to be honest it’s all a bit over my head and it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact cause!

The photos below were taken on 15 August:

These are the fruits that I pollinated by hand and unfortunately it didn’t seem to work as they are starting to go all wrinkly. The flowers did drop off the day after I did it, so maybe I didn’t do it in time? I must have lost about 10 fruits already which is really disappointing.






I moved the squash in the terracotta pot to the back of the garden with the other squash and the tomatoes in pots because it was being eaten by a slug or snail (well the slime trails were all over the leaves but I could never find the culprit!). The leaves are still yellow on both plants and the squashes don’t seem to be growing any bigger. Steve’s Mum suggested I add some more compost and some fertiliser, so I’ve done that and fingers crossed they will grow a bit more!

The photo below was taken 18 August:

My largest squash, which is growing in the raised bed, has started to rot! It feels all squidgy at the end where the flower was. I’ve looked on the Internet for what might be the cause, but I can’t find anything. I have been watering the raised bed almost everyday as the weather has been quite warm recently, so maybe I’ve been overwatering? I’m pretty gutted this squash is poorly as it was doing really well growing – it’s 5 inches long and the circumference around the largest part is 10 inches, so it was well on it’s way to looking like a proper squash!

The photos below were taken 21 August:

Steve and I went away for a few days and I was hoping their would be some improvement in the rotting squash, but my optimism wasn’t rewarded and I came home to find it had got worse. So with a heavy heart I cut this bad fruit off to give some new fruits a chance. I did some more pollinating by hand on the new fruits, so fingers crossed they will do better!






I spotted this one hiding at the back of my raised bed and it’s doing pretty well at 4 inches long. I cut back some of the leaves to allow some sunlight to get to it.








The plants at the back of the garden growing in pots are not showing any signs of improvement since I added more compost and slow-release fertiliser. The leaves have lots of yellow spots and from what I’ve read, this could be mosaic virus OR a magnesium deficiency – it’s so difficult to tell!
The mosaic virus is spread by aphids and apparently you should destroy all affected plants to prevent it spreading to your other healthy plants. You should wash your hands and tools to stop the disease spreading. I really don’t want to destroy the affected plants in case it’s not the mosaic virus and it’s just a case of magnesium deficiency, which can be cured by spraying with Epsom Salts.
So I’m really not sure what to do. I’ve removed all of the yellowing leaves and I think I will just follow the advice from this website.

The photo below was taken on 23 August:

These are the squash growing on the plants that I believe to be suffering from the mosaic virus. It looks quite healthy in this photo because I’ve removed all the yellowing leaves. But the squash haven’t grown since the beginning of August and they are now changing colour, so I doubt they will grow any bigger. I decided to not destroy the plants and just see how they get on – the squash might be really tasty! The other plants in the raised bed are still doing OK and I’ve got new fruits growing, so fingers crossed I will have some decent sized fruit!

The photos below were taken 29 August:

I’ve had so many squash fruits that have started growing, only to go bad and rot. The hand-pollinating doesn’t seem to be working, so I’m not sure what else to do. So now I’ve only got 5 squashes and 3 of them are the ones that have stopped growing and are changing colour already.




But the one shown above and below are still growing steadily. The one above is now 4.5 inches long and growing rounder. The one below is about 3 inches long and just seems to be growing straight. Hopefully they won’t go bad like the other big one I had – it was almost heartbreaking when that happened! The chicken wire is doing a really good job of keeping them off the soil.

The photo below was taken 5 September:

Another day, another squash problem! I think these white furry spots are mildew. There are 2 types of mildew:

• Powdery mildew affects both sides of the leaf.
• Downy mildew usually appears just on the undersides.

The leaves only have the white spots on the top of the leaves, so I’m pretty sure it must be downy mildew. Apparently this type is caused by splashing water, whereas powdery mildew is airborne. An organic treatment is apparently milk, as it has anti fungal properties. You should make up a spray of 1 part milk to 9 parts water. I’ve cut off all the affected leaves and I will spray the remaining leaves and the plant itself tomorrow, as it’s a bit late in the day to be making the plant wet (I don’t want to encourage more mildew!). This treatment should be applied at least once a week. So we’ll see how well it works!

The photos below were taken 19 September:

I had a couple more fruits making attempts to grow, but it’s far too late for them now as next month is the time to harvest. So I’ve removed those new tiny fruits and most of the leaves so that all the energy is going into allowing the mature fruit to ripen.


The 4 mature fruits that have fought against all odds (mainly the diseases that I have dubiously identified) and have made it this far are changing colour and ripening. However, they have all only grown to a pitiful 4 inches long! It will be interesting to see how these miniature squashes will taste.

The photo below was taken 1 October:

My 3 smallest squash looked like they had ripened to the right colour and they sounded hollow when I tapped them, so I followed the advice I’d read in books and cut them off the plants, leaving as long a stalk as possible. Then I left them in the sun to harden the skins for storing, although I already had in my mind that I would eat them rather than store them because it’s not as if I had a bumper crop! As you can see from the photo, the larger squash are still a bit green.

The photo below was taken 3 October:

Well today was the day that I took the plunge and decided to eat my baby butternuts. I was very dubious that they would even remotely look like normal butternuts inside, so I was pleasantly surprised when I cut them in half to reveal vivid orange flesh. Once they were peeled and chopped into chunks, I had enough to make my Winter Vegetable Soup and it was just as tasty.

The photos below were taken 13 October:

Despite the mild weather we’ve been having lately, I’m not holding out much hope for my last 2 squash going ripe as they’re still pretty green and it’s just getting colder and colder. It’s a shame as it’s been a bit of a struggle to grow the little blighters and I was hoping to be able to eat the fruits of my labour! Ah well, I’m looking forward to trying again next year with a different variety of squash. I’ve already bought my Uchiki Kuri (Red Kuri) seeds and they’re bright blue which is pretty cool!

The photos below were taken 3 November:

Well I finally picked my last two squashes. The weather has been so mild for the time of year that they did ripen quite a bit, so I’m pleased I left them on the plants. I basically completely ignored them for the last 3 weeks. Didn’t water them. Didn’t even look at them. So when I went to pick them yesterday I was really surprised that they had changed colour. They are still a little bit green, so they probably won’t taste amazing. I’m going to simply roast them to bring out as much sweetness as possible.

I was curious as to how much they weighed, as these were the biggest ones that I managed to grow. 381g and 341g is pretty pathetic compared to the ones you get from the supermarket, but I’m still proud that I’ve grown these from seed and they survived!